We recently discussed the importance of having a great UX web design for your business, and how often it is underestimated. If you’re thinking about investing in a better user experience for your customers, there are many factors to consider.
Each stage of the buyer’s journey must be strategically designed to maintain a seamless and consistent experience throughout the process. If any part of the experience is less than satisfactory, or certain functions of your website don’t work as expected, you risk losing a potential customer to your competitors.
To create the most effective user experience for your audience, we recommend utilizing at least a few of the following UX design trends:
1. Set Expectations with Estimated Read Times
If a visitor arrives on your site and is instantly informed of the average read time for content on that page, it sets the expectation upfront. Content that contains many visual aids and other formatting can appear to be longer than it actually is. By providing the estimated read time to the reader, they may decide to read something that otherwise looked too time consuming.
2. Appease Mobile Users with Scrolling Websites
With mobile usage higher than ever before, it’s especially important to provide the best user experience for these users. Mobile users often scroll through an entire page vs. clicking onto a new page in order to avoid having to wait for a new page to load. This habit can also translate to desktop and tablet viewers, and anyone looking to avoid having to click on several different pages to find information.
3. Design for Smaller Screens
In addition to utilizing a scrolling design, there are many additional design factors which cater to users on smaller devices. Image and page loading times must be lightning fast, and content must be laid out in a way that is easy to browse and digest. Not designing with the mobile user in mind will most definitely result in a poor user experience for the majority of your website visitors.
4. Personalize Your Brand with Custom Imagery
While stock photos serve an important purpose, there’s something about real-life photos and branded imagery that sets a company apart from the rest. The more your content and graphics are a reflection of your brand identity, the more likely you are to draw in your ideal customers, and provide them with a memorable and unique user experience.
5. Bring Back the Color
When it comes to website design, color can be a tricky thing. Experts have varying views of whether simple and flat colors are preferable (and easier to read) than a multi-colored site with an array of vibrant shades. While the colors you choose to represent your brand will ultimately depend on your audience and your brand personality, today’s users are okay with bold and attention-grabbing colors, as long as they are appropriate to the industry and don’t hurt your eyes.
These are just some of the UX trends that are popular right now, and who knows what tomorrow brings. Our team of skilled web design & development professionals at SMILE media can help your business to develop a functional and remarkable user experience for your target audience. Contact us to find out how we can help.
