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The massive rise in mobile device usage in recent years has created a buzz around UX, which is short for user experience.
Using a smartphone or tablet to browse a website that has not yet adapted a responsive website design can be a very frustrating experience. In the age of mobile devices, brands and businesses that wish to grow their online market and drive digital sales need to make their website’s UX a top priority.
What is UX?
In a nutshell, user experience (or UX) is the quality of experience that an end-user has when interacting with a website. It covers the who, what, when, where, and why of engaging with a product, and how people feel while doing it.
UX design, then, is a user-centric design process of enhancing a website or application’s usability and value to improve user satisfaction.
User-experience, however, is so much more than just good design. It involves a thorough study and analysis of the user’s needs, behavior, and motivation, and then taking those factors into account at every stage of the website design process to craft a positive digital experience.
Why Should You Care About User Experience?
At the core of every successful business venture is a well-designed UX strategy. No matter how good your products or services are, if your website’s user experience is less than ideal, consumers are less likely to continue browsing your website – let alone patronize the goods that you are offering.
UX plays an immensely significant role in engaging visitors and driving them to take action. Failing to provide a great user experience can put your venture in a bad light and become detrimental to business success.
Here are four critical reasons why UX matters:
Guarantee User Satisfaction
Your business is there to fulfill a need or solve a problem, and your consumers expect you to deliver these solutions in the best and most convenient ways possible.
It only takes users three seconds to decide whether a website or an app is actually worth their time. If they find your site unpleasant to use and difficult to navigate, they’re likely to quit browsing. Majority of consumers will not return to a website after a bad experience.
Establish Brand Reputation
User experience defines a customer’s journey on the website and creates the first impression that consumers have of the brand. Your website is the face of your company. And whether you like it or not, people will judge your brand based on what they see and experience while browsing your web pages.
If you want consumers to trust your brand, work on providing them with a stellar website experience.
Promote Customer Retention and Loyalty
Users are less likely to engage with a website with poor mobile experience. In fact, statistics show that 79% of people who don’t like what they find on one site will go back and search for another site.
Humans may be a complicated species, but when we like something, we tend to champion it. With good UX, people will enjoy exploring and coming back to your website. They may even take the time to recommend your brand to other people.
Is your brand having a hard time retaining customers? A better UX might help you solve that problem.
Hit Sales and Conversion Goals
The odds of you purchasing from a store with bad customer service would be slim to none, right? Well, the same goes for people shopping online.
User experience has a huge impact on a consumer’s decision to make the purchase, so make sure you provide your visitors with an experience that makes them feel their money’s worth. Put your users first and cater to their needs and wants with empathy.
How’s your website’s conversion rate? Are you hitting your targets? If not, your UX and website design could definitely use an upgrade.
About the Author: Sarah Munn is the Outreach Manager of Phoenix Web Design, a web design company based in Phoenix, Arizona that specializes in creating bespoke and responsive websites that will surely grab people’s attention. When not writing content, she spends time with her grandparents and also giving back to the community.