What is User Experience and why is it so important?

You've probably heard a lot about user experience or UX, and how it’s important for your website. But what does user experience consist of, and what affect can it have on your site visitors?

The term user experience can refer to a multitude of different user interactions with products or services, but here we are referring to the interaction with websites. Pinning down a specific definition of the term is not simple, as the concept itself is constantly evolving. However, UX is generally determined by aspects of the site such as layout, design and text, together with the visitor’s perception and emotional response to these elements. The physical aspects include the site’s ease of use and overall efficiency.

Let’s take a closer look at the physical parts that make up user experience in more detail:

Layout
This incorporates all aspects of your site including navigational bars, products, footers etc, and how they are presented. A good user experience will have a clear layout that’s easy to follow.

Branding
How your brand identity comes across, is it consistent with your products and does it accurately represent your company?

Usability
How easy is your website to use? How simply can users undertake tasks such as completing web forms or navigating to the required information? A site with a good user experience will make these tasks as easy as possible for visitors.

Copy
Copy refers to all the text on your website, from product information to menu headings. Clear text that is readable and makes it obvious what action should be taken contributes to a good user experience.

Visual Design
Another important aspect of the web UX is the overall visual design of the site. This includes all colours and images, from your outline design to any additional features such as buttons or panels.

Why it’s important
Now we know some of the individual aspects that combine to make up user experience, why is it so important? The answer is an obvious one, but an effective UX has some enormous benefits. Businesses want website visitors to complete their desired tasks quickly and easily. It’s for this reason that overall usability is extremely important. If your visitors can easily find information or make their purchase, they’ll be more likely to return in the future. Here are the key benefits a good website User Experience can bring:

Increased Conversions
Website designers spend time optimising sites to increase conversion rates and pick up lost sales leads. A great user experience means it’s simple to find information, make comparisons and ultimately purchase. Removing obstacles and making processes easy improves your conversion rate and increases your return on investment.

Improved Efficiency
An effective user experience improves efficiency, allowing users to undertake and complete tasks quicker with fewer mistakes. Greater efficiency allows website visitors to make purchases or complete sign-ups in less time. The main point being that by making it simple to buy, you are creating the opportunity for more purchases to happen.

Increased Customer Satisfaction
Users love simplicity, by providing an enjoyable, simple purchasing process, your business is laying the foundations for a loyal, repeat customer base. Going back to our simple rules, if it’s easy to purchase, customers are more likely to return in the future.

If you have enjoyed this blog, look out for next week’s ‘Simple tips to improve your website User Experience'. Or alternatively, check out all our articles right here on our website.