User Experience should be considered the root of every part of program development. UX design is he process of creating products while carefully considering the usability and function. Successful UX Design results in a physical or digital product that enhances satisfaction and meaning for users. For software developers, User Experience design is integral for creating a positive experience from the moment the customer comes into contact with the product. To ensure a positive output is delivered, developers should ensure they implement end-to-end testing. These 9 ideas offer tips that can help you design brilliant software for users that can help increase customer engagement and purchases.
1. Know Your Customers
Understanding your target audience is the key to developing effective UX software. When programming, it’s important to put yourself in your customer’s shoes. Initially, you have to understand what the customer wants. Ask yourself why the customer might be using your software and how can you make a program that effectively and simply offers the solutions that they need. Secondly, you have to understand the characteristics of your customers. If you are aware of what is important to your customers as well as their preferences and dislikes, you will be able to develop a program that’s designed to suit your audience.
2. Make it Fast
One of the most important aspects of web design is ensuring that speed is prioritized. The longer a page takes to load, the more potential customers give up and leave. Within seconds, customers assume the page is broken and companies, sites and businesses are losing potential sales and profits simply because the design wasn’t as efficient or simple as it should have been. A design should be tested thoroughly before being approved and released for it’s performance and speed using 3G, 4G and Wi-Fi. The ideal development combines attractive web pages that draw the customer in and promote sales with a simplicity of design that optimizes page speed and ease of use.
3. Solve the problem
Customers are using your platform with a goal in mind or an issue they require the solution for. A good and successful development prioritizes the needs of the customers and works to provide simple solutions that make things as easy as possible for the customer. Developers should consider every step the customer will have to go through to satisfy their needs, from the first moment they interact with the program, through registering, searching, confirmation, purchase and feedback. Each stage and page the customer experiences should be designed with ease in mind. The inclusion of complicated or unnecessarily long processes in your development such as a cumbersome registration process, will cause a drop-in interaction and sales as customers are likely to abandon the site.
4. Anywhere, Anytime
With the internet constantly at our fingertips in the form of PCs, laptops, tablets and mobile phones, your customers could be accessing your program from anywhere and any device. It’s essential to optimize the program for use on every device in a way that is easy to use and attractive. Pages should retain the brand image so that the program is easily recognizable to customers but should be curated to ensure that fonts and graphics are aligned effectively to whichever device they may be viewed on. Additionally, each device and each user may have configured different accessibility settings and your program must be developed to honor these setting without compromising effectivity.
5. Mistakes Happen
Successful software has undergone extensive testing and retesting to minimize errors. Ensure your timeline factors in an adequate amount of time for error testing. This may take a while but it’s important that your customers are presented with as few errors as possible and you want to be confident that you have picked them up before your customer does. Sometimes errors for customers are inevitable, keep your customers from getting frustrated by including informative error messages that explain the complication. Helpful messages increase customer engagement and they will appreciate understanding what has gone wrong and what action they should take to get it fixed.
6. Icon Consistency
Icons help your customers keep track of how to navigate and understand an interface. Cultivating icon consistency by using the same color, appearance and location, makes for a much more simplified experience with your program. When developing or updating software, keep in mind that users appreciate regularity and want to see familiar icons where they expect them, so they feel oriented within the application. As long as their use is clear, developers are free to use their own icons, however, using well known visual cues for icons creates an immediately more user-friendly program. Additionally, keep the user experience simple by implementing easy to follow pathways. The easier it is for a customer to be able to arrive at the solution the happier they’ll be and more probable to make a purchase.
7. Customers in Control
An important aspect of software development is understanding that users like to feel in control of their actions and of the processes occurring on the website. Developers have to find a happy balance between making a program clear enough for users to follow easily and correctly without patronizing them. Customers resent being given orders which is why programs should refrain from enforcing rules of frequency of contact or use and instead of including a command, there should be a brief but clear explanation of what a link or button does. Giving a customer more perceived influence and flexibility with the program is a great way to give customers a great user experience. Fun customization options promote brand loyalty and establish an emotional connection that keeps customers engaged.
8. Offer Support
Your customers must be able to reach help at all times. This can come in many forms like personal assistance from a helpline, a linked explanation video or access to suggestions. Social media has become a very effective tool utilized by companies and customers alike to establish contact. Alternatively, many companies are turning to AI and implementing 24/7 chat bots to deal with arising questions or issues. There are a multitude of reasons that a customer might need help or a form of contact. Aside from general questions and queries, there could be a serious failure of processes that may affect the program functionality like issues with the site presentation, registration or payments.
9. Tell Me About it
Feedback is a win-win situation. Your customers feel listened to, respected and like they have influence over the product they’re interacting with. Meanwhile, developers get an endless source of ideas and input on how to make their program better. It’s important to implement an easy to use method of feedback where customers can express themselves. Once feedback is received, it’s vital to respond and let your customers know they’ve been heard.
Concentrating on user experience is beneficial to companies with regards to customer relations, reputation and even profits. Keeping customers happy is a valuable tool and a great user experience leads to durable brand loyalty, higher levels of conversion and most importantly, a sustainable business.
Beatrix Potter is a lifestyle blogger at Assignment Writing Service in Australia.