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6 UX Design Principles Every Business Owner Should Know
October 28th, 2015
The user experience, or UX, is one of the most important aspects to a website design that is often overlooked. If people don’t like visiting a website, then what purpose does it serve? This is a crucial question to ask since websites are built to foster interaction. A designer’s job is to make a user’s experience enjoyable, easy, and informative. Keeping these principles in mind will help you and your team achieve something spectacular – happy users.
People Are Not Always Rational
We like to believe that people are more rational than they are and that emotional decisions are rare, especially when it comes to making purchases or other meaningful choices. However, people tend to be very emotional in their decisions. This does not mean that they are unpredictable, just not predictable in the ways we’d like them to be. But, as human beings, we understand what causes certain emotions in others and our understanding of these emotions makes great UX design a powerful tool.
Users Need a Reason to Care
Always start by assuming that users don’t care about your website or its content. There are millions of websites out there, some of which are similar to your own. So, why should a user care about one website over the other? It’s a designer’s job to to make users care enough to click around while it is your job as the client to create compelling content that makes them stick around.
Aesthetics and Functionality are Equally Important
Yes, aesthetics really do matter. No matter how hard we might try, the majority of our first impressions are based on how something looks and secondly on how it performs or functions. We associate positive characteristics like trustworthiness and ease of use with things that look good. This is not to say that aesthetics are more important than usability, or how easy something is to use and learn, but it should not be ignored. Still, stunning graphics won’t mask inferior functionality for long.
Minimalist Design Can Be Complicated
A simplistic or minimalist design can make a site feel clean and organized. However, going overboard can actually make things more complicated for the user. Stripping away elements like text directions can make it confusing for a user to determine what they should do next. A designer should never assume that a user knows what they want them to do if the path is not clear.
Users’ Needs are Top Priority
Put yourself in your users’ shoes and truly see things from their perspectives. All people don’t visit a site for the same reason and they certainly do not visit the site for the same reason that the creator or owner does. Designers and business owners should detach themselves from their work/product/service and communicate with the average user to gain insight into what is best for them.
A Great User Experience Shouldn’t Be Optional
To understand the true importance of UX design, imagine it as a first impression: easy to mess up and difficult to fix. So, when a user visits a beautiful site only to get lost trying to find the “about” page, then a dire mistake has been made. The user probably won’t return unless something very impressive is done to win them back. This is why UX matters.
UX can be a deciding factor in how well your business does online. Making UX a priority means not only having your own business goals in mind, but the goals of the people who are interested in doing business with you.
If you’re ready to take the next step, get in touch with one of our designers and start a stellar UX design plan!
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