User experience on trial ...
If you are on the path of website development or would like to upgrade your existing website / store and you have heard of optimizing the user experience, you are on the right page.
In this article, we will look in detail at the user experience on the site, define it and present the work of the user experience designer.
We will also present the stages of the user experience design process. Of course, define what a good user experience basically means and what we gain or gain from it. what our users gain from it.
UX is focused on the user and his requirements, expectations and pain.
In short, UX or. the user experience is the path a user takes when they come to your site. The user experience is measured by how quickly the user finds his way from point A to point B. The factors are speed, understanding, navigation and additional information.
UX is only part of a broader process of designing and building a website, store or application.
Let’s define what UX is and what falls into that realm
UX is part of the process of designing and building a website. When we talk about the user experience, we have in mind the idea of how the user feels on our site. Which is not necessarily true. UX designers take care of the flow of information and create a user path from point A (page entry) to point B (conversion).
This includes :
- Plan to place items on the page,
- Buttons,
- Image,
- Side Lines,
- Navigation and content.
This applies ONLY to the layout. Everything that is in line with the appearance (colors, fonts, sizes, etc.) is the work of the UI designer or. user interface designer.
What would you like to achieve by optimizing the user experience?
An example of a good user experience is when a user comes to a page and easily navigates through content without searching under a page or a buy button. The site guides you through the entire process of buying or ordering and always knows where it is.
Good optimized page will always offer the user additional information or take him to the next page where he can read more. He always has the option of contacting, buying, subscribing, or simply sharing with his friends.
The elements are always where the user expects or needs them. When the process breaks down, there is always a way back or a quick help button.
How to proceed when opening: The page does not exist? The user has similar content that may be of interest to him.
User experience optimization
As we said, UX designer is concerned with process optimization. Whether it’s the process of shopping or browsing online recipes. That is why optimizing the user experience is such a successful step towards achieving the desired results on the website.
Just moving a button or easier navigation can bring huge results to a company.
Optimization occurs through site testing and implementation of already known practices. We often come across oversaturated texts; poor navigation menus; dead ends or delicious 404 pages, no content.
How is user experience planning?
The user experience is planned based on research, understanding and testing of websites / stores.
Let’s look at the main stages of planning:
Site goal definition
In the first step of any UX project, it is important to set goals that bring the company the most value. These can be specific purchases, subscriptions or subscribing to e-mail news. It makes sense to plan in accordance with the goals of the company or. its strategy.
Research
In the research phase, we will identify industry guidelines and trends. We will define user profiles (here we create a personality or persona that represents the selected target group) and identify their needs, desires and expectations.
Competition study
When we talk about study of competition </span >, we do not mean lengthy processes of inquiry, interviews, surveys, etc. Of course, if we want a very broad and deeper understanding of the market, this is also a direction we can take. But at this point, we can only type our activity into Google’s search engine and explore who’s online, how they present themselves, and how they have structured websites.
We want to figure out how to rank online, compared to the competition, so that you stand out and be different. It also makes sense to browse pages from abroad.
Many times we will get a good insight into the current trends used in your industry and ideas on how to present yourself even better.
This step would be described as one of the most important in the UX process. Now is the time to identify and determine the most relevant target group and present it in detail with a fictional person.
This person will serve as a reference point for future designs. When we are in a dilemma as to whether direction A or B would be better, let us ask ourselves what would make more sense to that person and what that person would expect or need.
Defining the target group and defining user profiles (persone)
If you are developing an additional page or refining functionality for an existing page / application, we may use data from an analytics platform such as Google Analitycs.
If we do not have this information, or we are developing a completely new page without previous information, this phase of the process is more creative.
Expiration:
first we can infer the functionality and usability of the product / service and decide which target group would be suitable for it. Here we can help you with some pages , which provide analytical data for a specific industry or products.
But we will definitely get the right information in testing phase, where we will promote the test site or hire a company to test it for us.
What information makes sense to choose for the selected person?
When creating the personality of the target group, it makes sense to determine the following information:
– First and last name (helps with persona visualization)
– demographic data (age, gender, location, status, job, education, social status)
– story (for a person we create a story about who he is, how his / her pain is born and what the solution means for him / her as well as what he / she gains with it)
– hobbies, habits, interests and preferences of brands,
– mobile device preferences (smartphone, mobile phone, tablet, laptop, desktop computer),
– frustration (what is user pain)
– wishes, needs and expectations .
Functionality
Once we have defined user profiles, we understand the needs and motivation of our target audience. Now we need to determine the functionality of the site, which makes the most sense for our users and in achieving business goals.
It is advisable to determine these functionalities through the system, as many times we have a limited budget or a very narrow timeline. Therefore, we need to think about which functions are most important to us and which ones we can successfully achieve within the given framework.
Wire drawing of the website or. wireframing
It is time to compose the flow of information through the page. When we talk about wireframes or. wire drawings, we only need to imagine rough sketches of the page. We are not yet making concrete layouts at this stage, because we need to be open to change. The goal is to create a flow of information in a way that makes sense to each person. So we create them with a strategy of achieving user goals. It is recommended to do min. 4-5 wire layouts for type page. So we don’t get caught up in the “play on the first ball” effect and allow ourselves to explore different options that might not have come up on the first ball.User experience and testing
We understand the product, we understand the motivation of users and their problem. We have created a channel of information and successfully combined everything into a final form that looks complete. Now comes the moment where we will find out if our theses were weighty and if we really put ourselves in the user’s shoes. It’s time for testing! Wire drawings are brought to life with programs such as Adobe XD, Figma or Sketch. The tested prototype is tested with real users. Testing can be done with acquaintances or family members; we can also post the ad and find testers or pay an outside company to test the site prototype for us. The ultimate goal is to hone the page to the point where we will be happy with the result. And without worries, we will never be completely satisfied, because there is always room for improvement. When we have honed the UX and are satisfied with the results achieved, the page is handed over to the UI designer, who takes care of colors, fonts, images and other multimedia content.
The user experience does not end on page
As the UX designer creates information channels, it is also his job to think about what the user will do when he leaves the site.
In this case, these are additional marketing channels, such as re-marketing, e-mail marketing, an abandoned shopping cart system, evaluation reminders or mailing, which wishes the user all the best when his day comes.
When we plan holistically, the sales impact is also much greater. So we sell more, we gain more followers, and our users have a sense that we remember them and that they are not just numbers. As a result, they are even more connected to our company, which has a strong effect on branding and the company’s reputation.
Useful content
For more information, we recommend the following Youtube channels, where you will find a lot of useful information:
- AJ & amp; Smart – UX Agency
- Designership </ span> – Table (UX Designer)
- Bring Your Laptop – Daniel Scoot (UX designer)
