WEBSITE DESIGN ON PURPOSE

Have you ever felt like you needed a therapist after using a website? The user experience was awkward, confusing, and left you curled up in a fetal position on the floor! Contrast that with a website that left you feeling like all is right with the world. The user experience made sense; you were able to quickly accomplish the task that brought you to the website. Good UX (user experience) is not an accident. It is the result of a good user centered design (UCD) philosophy. Making sure users have a good experience on your website is arguably the most important factor in designing a website. Imagine That’s web development process is driven by best practices in user centered design – resulting in a good user experience for your customers. Let us show you how we can help your customers have a great experience with your website.

What is User Experience (UX)?

Like UCD, User Experience Design (UED, or UX) has been around for a long time. It first shows up in the 1940’s and becomes a driving force in the manufacturing arena. Since UX was an established science in the 1990’s, it’s funny how it did not make its way into mainstream web design until the mid 2000’s. This is largely due to the number of basement web designers who picked up coding HTML on the side and who were not trained in UX.

Good UX Addresses These Issues

1. Visual Design. Does the design of the website, its use of colors, enhance the user’s experience or does the design create “noise” that gets in the user’s way?
2. Information Architecture. Does the website’s layout and content make sense? Is there a logical flow to the content that aids users in quickly finding the content they want?
3. Content. Does the content match the user’s expectations? Is the content cohesive? Does the website offer content in a variety of media? Is the content accurately labeled? Is there an information hierarchy present?
4. Navigation. Does the navigation make sense? Is it built around the way users think versus the way programmers write code?
5. Accessibility. Does the website architecture and content comply with W3C standards for accessibility (i.e., can visually impaired persons use your website?)

So how do you know whether or not your website is providing users with a good experience? You ask them! Imagine That offers usability testing to see if users are having a good experience on your website. We hire a number of users from your demographic then have them attempt to complete a variety of tasks on your site. The entire process is recorded on audio and video. Imagine That, Inc. analyzes the results to identify the trouble spots in the user experience. This analysis can be used as a basis for redesigning or tweaking your websites to improve customer engagement.

Why is UX Important?

A well-designed website that provides your customers with a good experience on your website is similar to providing great customer service in your store. Would you keep an employee around who shows disinterest in your customers, who ignores them, or worse, sends them on rabbit trails to find the products they want? Of course not! So why would you be okay with that kind of behavior from your website. Remember the last time you experienced really bad customer service? Those are the same feelings people have who visit your site and have a bad experience.. Good UX means happier customers, more sales or leads, and more return customers.

UX Makes The Difference

Providing users with a great experience on your site makes the difference between a website being a glorified yellow pages ad, or being part of your customer service strategy. Imagine That can help improve the usability of your current site, or design a new site for you with good UX as part of is underpinning structure. Contact us and we’ll show you how.