One of the biggest problems that can plague a website is poor user experience, or "UX," design. Poor UX can range from minimal design issues like complicated menus or poorly mapped content on a page to bigger issues such as potential customers not understanding a website's navigation. Even the smallest of design issues can start to have large repercussions, as you have about 7 seconds to hook potential customers that are viewing your site for the first time.
What is UX Design and why it’s relevant
A lot of individuals have heard of the term UX design and often get it confused with user interface (UI) design or believe that the two can be used interchangeably. The truth is that UX and UI design are two very different avenues, and understanding their differences is very important if you want to capture and maintain the attention of your potential customers. The basic process of UX design is creating site maps and having an understanding with how the potential customer will navigate and interact with the site, while UI design can be compared to basic graphic design. Emil Lamprecht from the Career Foundary does a great job of describing UX design and the differences between UX design and UI design.
UX Design Factors that Drive Potential Customers Away
Confusing Homepage
When a potential customer first visits your site, the first thing that they will see is often your homepage. This is your most important opportunity to draw them in to engage further your website. A good rule of thumb when designing a website's homepage is to ask yourself these questions: Does your homepage tell you what the site is all about? Does it draw you in and entice you to look further into the site? Does it show your potential customers what to do if they wish to become customers or subscribers? Lastly, is your website worth sharing?
If your homepage fails to do these things, then it’s time to start thinking seriously about redesigning it and possibly redesigning the rest of your website as well. Otherwise, you may be confusing your potential customers and driving them away.
Complicated website Navigation
Complicated navigation is the next element to look at when reviewing your website. Navigation is the primary way that potential customers will get around and interact with your website. If your potential customers cannot find the navigation, if it disappears on some pages, or it’s confusing, potential customers will leave your website. Your website's navigation should follow some basic UX principles.
The most important of these principles is to keep your navigation located at the top of or on the left side of your website. Placing the navigation in these locations is important because these are familiar to your potential customers. Also make sure that your navigation only has the pages and information that you need. Information overload is never good, but this is the last place you want to try and cram too in much information. Finally, make sure that the logo you use on the website also directs back to the homepage, as this is something that almost all websites do.
Too Much Text
We have already mentioned that information overload is never a good thing in your website's navigation, but it’s something to avoid across your entire website. This, unfortunately, is one of the easier points to overlook. As with navigation, it’s important to look at the information you want to share with potential customers and make sure you are using the optimal amount to get your message out without overwhelming them.
Once you have your information slimmed down, it’s important to format your text properly to not make it look condensed and blocky. No one likes to read through pages of large blocks of text. Let your content breathe, and remember to utilize white space effectively. Also remember that a picture is worth a thousand words; videos, infographics, and icons are all great ways to help break up your text and help draw your potential customers more deeply into your website.
Utilizing these basic UX principals can help keep your potential customers engaged with your website. Blue Frog is a marketing agency headquartered in Des Moines, Iowa, that specializes in creating websites and strategies that help keep your potential customers engaged. Click the link below for your free consultation!
