Nowadays smartphones, phablets and tablets have been vastly improved over the models offered just a few years ago and they have some very nice features and appearances. If you are looking to build a website, don’t take a shortcut and skimp on the UX design portion of the project. This can be one of the key areas for the success of your website. It is important you understand the trends in the market and what your site users are looking for out of your website. Your website needs to improve in the same way that the hardware it is viewed on has.
There are various trends that can help improve how consumers will respond to your web site. Tech-savvy users are the norm now and not the exception and, as such, they regularly demand more from web experiences. These items will help you design a site that is appealing to your users by allowing you to capitalize on the latest trends.
Replace Sliders with Hero Shots
There are some features on websites that not only look obsolete but they really do not work out very well because they tend to make the designs tedious and even distract from what the visitor of that site wants to do. Often sliders detract from the goal of making a sell, hence deterring the visitor from reaching his or her goal. Sliders are not an effective tool to be incorporated into designs but, that does not discourage many designers from inserting them in the projects that they make.
Nowadays, enlightened designers are avoiding and sliders and instead they use hero images. These images are very easy to load and they do not take time. Immediately the visitor lands on that page, a hero image floods that page and captures the visitor’s attention straight away. They are quite beneficial because they take minimum bandwidth and they do not make the visitor’s browser slow down like sliders do. They are good because if the design incorporates the hero image, your device will not hang up or tell you that your browser is not responding. Hero images should be images that are impressive and have a big impact when the visitor looks at them when first visiting the site.
Design User Interactions
For you to satisfy the needs of your users and for them to have a great experience with your design, you have to think about what the user wants and hence create your design according to their desires. After determining what the user wants and designing exactly according to their needs, the users will be satisfied and impressed by that design and therefore it will be used by them.
Pro designers usually care a lot about what the visitors to their sites have to say and hence consider all that information when designing. However, many designers are less considerate about the user experience of their web designs and hence stand the risk of losing visitors. It is necessary for designers to work closely with other marketers as well as clients research teams so that they can hear the client’s feedback, their experience and the different tastes and preferences of the consumers. It is necessary because the designs are made purposely for the users and not for the web designers.
For you to be in step with the clients, you need to get the fine details about their experiences through heat maps so that you can know where they enjoy reading most and what should be included to make the customer get even more interested. Moreover, to get all you need to know from the users, you can incorporate both the heat maps and user interviews with the clients so that you can hear their recommendations.
Focus on Micro-Commitments
After pitching your prospective client and then they respond positively, that becomes the ultimate turning point. After that, you just need to start thinking of how you can turn that client into a committed customer. Being able to convert a client is a skill that every designer should have at their fingertips. This is what we call conversion rate optimization.
For example, there are preliminary steps that you should take first before doing anything else so that you can engage your client smoothly. You need to ask simple questions from your clients first so that you can know where they stand. After getting a “yes” from them, then you can get the order from them. This is usually done step by step as you continue explaining to them the purpose of every requirement that you request from them. For instance, if you ask them to give you their email address, you should tell them why it is necessary so that they do not get alarmed and then go on until you finally convert them.
Copywriters Working With Designers
When it comes to marketing and engaging your clients one on one, combined effort is required. That is not the sole responsibility of a designer but it incorporates all the other stakeholders. Marketers and client research teams need to work together with the website and UX designer so that they can convert visitors into clients.
To begin with, the designer should make an exemplary design that will be very convenient to use without any hiccups. This gives the user a good and comfortable experience together with copy that addresses what the customer is looking for. This means it should be catchy and touch on the major points and concerns that the visitor is expecting.
Predominantly, projects are not usually created all in one go. It is usually a gradual process that involves about multiple people working together to complete it. The designer is the one who lays the foundation by building a wire-frame and designs then the copywriter writes the content and finally the marketer does the job of advertising it. When the work is done by marketers, designers and copywriters working altogether, it becomes easier for you to succeed.
Image: A man is holding a tablet with “UX DESIGN” texts on the screen.
