User Experience: definition and techniques for improving UX
User experience, generally referred to as UX, is a component of the customer experience. Building a good user experience makes it easy to buy or use a product or service, while creating a positive emotional impact.
In the digital world, good user experience design (UX design) enables you to offer your customers and prospects a quality point of contact on any technological interface (website, blog, app, tablet interface, etc.). It is particularly important in the context of the digital transformation of companies.
To build a better user experience, it's entirely possible to call on UX professionals who can bring you their specific expertise (image and communication professionals, developers, web designers, ergonomists, marketing experts, etc.). If you'd like to get started yourself, this article gives you the basics and shows you how to build a good user experience. Discover the opportunities for improvement that lie ahead!
What is user experience?
Definition of user experience
User eXperience ( UX ) is a broad concept that relates to the experience the user has when benefiting from your offering. It encompasses all the strategies and actions implemented to optimize the customer experience and, by extension, the relationship between a brand and its customers. It can be applied to products, services or digital systems.
The term "UX" was coined by Donald Norman, an expert in Human Centered Design who worked at Apple for many years. Let's start by listening to his definition of user experience in the following video:
Lead UX designer Pierre Lannes gives us the following definition:
User experience is the overall experience of the qualities of a product, service or system that make it more or less relevant or meaningful to the end user.
This overall feeling is the result of use, which produces a level of subjective satisfaction, and of the imprint left in the memory.
For a product, service or system, the user experience is built around the following 5 criteria:
- Is it accessible? Does it adapt to the user's context, profile and condition?
- Is it usable? Is it easy to understand and use, and therefore effective?
- Is it useful? Does it meet a real user need and add value?
- Is it desirable? Does it arouse desire and trust, and appeal to its audience?
- Is it credible? Does it offer reliable content, based on expertise?
Finally, it must also meet the company's objectives.
As this infographic summarizes, UX lies at the crossroads of three axes:
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User-centered design
The term UX is often associated with digital technology, but in reality, user experience is much more than that. It is omnipresent and essential.
Even more than the functional or technical characteristics of the product or service you're selling, it's the whole experience created around it and by it that's central: the sensations it provides, the ease it brings, the emotions it arouses, the memory it leaves behind, etc. This experience will encourage the interaction of users with your products and services. This experience will encourage a person to interact with a brand, and contribute to a good customer relationship.
Working on UX means adopting a " user-centric " vision.
A UX approach means adopting a user-centric approach, i.e. focusing on the needs and expectations of users. From the design of what you sell to the way you communicate your service or product offering, UX is above all based on emotion.
Design thinking : a UX design methodology
Design thinking is a process used by designers to carry out innovation projects. This process places the user at the center, i.e., it detects a problem and attempts to solve it by developing solutions that meet user needs. It is based on an iterative approach:
Bakeli.tech
Design thinking is used in UX design to conceive a good user experience by following the following steps:
- empathy: put yourself in people's shoes to understand how they will interact with the product;
- definition: defining the problems to be solved;
- ideation: finding solutions by giving free rein to your creativity (brainstorming);
- prototyping: selecting the most suitable solution and creating a trial version;
- testing: test the concept, welcome new ideas or redefine the problem in order to improve the prototype (and therefore the product).
[Focus] The user experience in a web project
UX design and UI design: two different concepts
The terms UX design and UI design are often confused. As we've seen, the former refers to user experience (UX) design in the broadest sense, while the latter refers to user interface (UI) design. These two concepts are different, but closely linked.
UI design is based on technique
UI design is based on the technical, codified aspect, and aims to organize textual and graphic elements based on technical standards. It includes visual identity, graphic design and editorial guidelines, all of which are primarily aesthetic in nature.
UX design focuses on the user
The user experience applied to digital interfaces (websites, applications, etc.) embodies the functional aspect in the broadest sense, and aims to present web users with a navigation system that is as intuitive as possible. It therefore includes the design of a good interface, but takes other parameters into account, such as accessibility, compatibility with different systems, consistency, etc., to create a fluid, harmonized experience across all digital media.
The product must be accessible, easy to use, intuitive and ergonomic.
The interface must not only be adapted to human capabilities, but must also give users their rightful place within the system. This is why UX is subject to user sensitivity: it takes into account the expectations and needs of the surfer, to offer him or her a fluid, pleasant and effortless environment.
The versatility of UX
Finally, UX encompasses many aspects, at the crossroads of various disciplines, of which UI is only one: ergonomics, graphic design, marketing, systems engineering and so on.
8 techniques to improve the UX of your website
Technique #1: simplify navigation and categorization
To make the experience fluid, it's advisable to prioritize information to highlight the most relevant. To achieve this, you need to :
- identify what visitors are looking for when they come to your site, and enable them to find the answers quickly;
- pay particular attention to category structuring and navigation.
In particular, you can :
- reduce the size of the menu using the drop-down option,
- place a secondary menu in the footer for less important pages,
- organize your main menu items in a precise, logical order according to the information that's important to your audience, and the steps you want them to follow, etc.
Technique no. 2: choose your visual environment carefully
It's important to carefully define a graphic charter to bring coherence and visual comfort to your visitors. This includes
- colors
- fonts
- illustrations
- visual sizes.
Keep in mind that it's your brand image that Internet users discover and experience when they start browsing your site.
Taking care of your showcase site means offering a pleasant experience and conveying a positive brand image.
Technique 3: Plan a home page
Some companies may have started out on the web with a blog, and don't yet have a home page. Internet users arriving directly on the blog have no overview of the site, no idea of what they can expect to find there, and may therefore lack orientation.
The home page plays the role of a gateway, the one they'll pass through to visit your site. The idea of the home page is to announce your offer and begin to orient your visitor. As the first point of contact, it needs to be carefully designed to hold visitors' attention and make them want to stay, since everything happens in a matter of seconds!
Technique No. 4: Add call-to-action buttons
A natural progression through your site's pages can be established with call-to-action buttons. A call-to-action button acts as a guiding sign. It directs the user, encouraging them to continue browsing and find out more, such as :
- discovering your company and mission,
- consult the offers available,
- filling in a contact form to obtain more information, etc.
The content of each web page should encourage the visitor to go on to the next page, so don't hesitate to place them on all your pages.
Technique 5: Insert a search bar
Navigating your website will be made easier by one or more search bars, especially if it contains a lot of information. The user will be able to obtain the desired information directly. The search bar should be easily visible on the page: in the header, sidebar, footer, etc.
Technique no. 6: enrich your editorial content
In addition to improving SEO, it's important to rely on a solid editorial strategy to create a quality experience. How do you achieve this? By focusing as much as possible on responding to users' needs. Your content should be :
- useful: it provides information that meets specific expectations ;
- targeted: aimed directly at a defined audience;
- qualified: it provides real, unique and differentiating value;
- personalized: creates links and engagement.
A good UX is directly linked to an editorial experience capable of offering readers high added value.
💡 To take care of your copywriting, keep the following ideas in mind:
- Precision and explanation, but always a certain conciseness,
- Adaptation to the interface and brand positioning,
- Proximity to the target: dynamic, positive and lively language,
- Choice of semantics, etc.
In addition, by working on UX through content, you can at the same time reinforce its presence time and limit bounce. To arouse visitors' interest and guide them through the pages of your site, it may be a good idea to highlight popular or recent content, using images, clickable graphics and so on. Last but not least, providing visitors with quality content helps to increase conversion rates.
Technique 7: Simplify the customer journey
Simplifying navigation on your site helps to make the customer journey smoother, and thus the purchasing experience. You can go a step further and offer assistance on your site.
💡 Why not install a chatbot, that virtual assistant with which your users interact in real time? Your visitors can interact with your brand, from a simple request for information to customer service. Then, two possibilities:
- they'll get an instant, automatic response;
- they will be redirected to the appropriate contact.
BOTNATION.AI's chatbot creation solution enables you to engage your audience, improve the customer journey and, ultimately, increase your sales, with ease.
Planning a conversational interface supports customer service and helps enrich the company's database. The iAdvize conversational commerce platform enables you to engage your customers, advise your visitors in real time, and also configure a chatbot.
👉 Optimizing the user journey helps increase customer satisfaction, loyalty and conversion.
Technique no. 8: analyze your data
By analyzing your website's data, you gain essential information about the preferences of your visitors and prospects. Choose the most relevant indicators to observe according to your activity, and exploit the results to improve the user experience and, at the same time, the performance of your website.
The Q°emotion software solution enables you to detect what your customers like or dislike about your company's services, notably by studying written content (comments and reviews on your digital platforms, messages sent to the chatbot, complaint forms, etc.). This analysis tool enables you to acquire, engage and retain customers, while offering the possibility of improving their customer experience.
Enchanting users to build loyalty
To give your users or customers the most enjoyable experience possible, you need to align the product's conception (design) with its actual use (usability). Even more than the functional aspect, it's emotion that will play a predominant role in the user experience.
On a digital interface, design is not an accessory: it's an integral part of your customer's buying journey. With a high-quality, high-value-added experience, the chances of attracting, retaining and converting customers increase considerably. Conversely, a poorly thought-out user experience has a radical consequence: the user will visit your competitor's site.
By implementing the techniques suggested in this article, you stand a good chance of improving the user experience to encourage your visitors to return. The aim of a successful user experience is therefore twofold: to provide satisfaction in order to achieve your objectives!
A successful UX 💫 = a delighted customer 😊 = a good ROI! 👑
What about you, have you given any thought to user experience? What means do you plan to implement to improve it?
Article translated from French