Top 5 UX Design Mistakes to Avoid
The user experience (UX) has become a significant part of website design, not only because it's nice to have happy users, but also because it directly impacts your bottom line. Users who can easily find information are more likely to return, buy again, and recommend you.
“Design is really an act of communication, which means having a deep understanding of the person with whom the designer is communicating.”
The goal of UX Design is to ensure users stay on your site and continue exploring it by making everything accessible and enjoyable.
In order to keep your customers happy, it is time to improve your UX. For a successful start, here are five common mistakes to avoid:
1. Incorporating UX too late in the design process
Your user experience (UX) should be a vital component of every part of the content strategy. If you have already written your content, reviewed your analytics data, and created designs, you should make time for user experience design.
For a better user experience, ask yourself questions like:
What information are visitors looking for?
What are main obstacles when interacting with the website?
What encourages a user to keep exploring the website?
By interviewing your users on the questions above, you empathize with your users. You can instantly apply your research results to your website's design.
2. Focusing on visuals over usability
A common mistake is focusing too heavily on visual design. This can lead to a cluttered design that's difficult to navigate. On the other hand, a minimalistic design can also be problematic. Just as a site with too much information can turn visitors away, a lack of visuals can cause them to leave.
That's why it's important to remember you're designing for your users.
Avoid these mistakes:
Using many different hard-to-read fonts - better stick to one or two fonts
Prioritizing images over navigation - better use fewer images strategically
Poor contrast in color - using high contrasts makes it easier to read
Unclear layout - a clear, structured layout focuses on important information
Confusing Call to Action (CTA) buttons - create a CTA in the same button style
It's easy to become wrapped up in the colors, fonts, and layouts. Stick to your brand colors and make the navigation simple. In fact, 88% of online customers (UX Statistics) with a negative experience will not return, and 46.7% will share negative experiences with friends.
A cluttered website design confuses your users
3. Assuming you know what your users want
It's important to remember that you need to know what your users want. It takes time to discover their desires. Find out what your users want by analyzing their behavior.
You can easily assume because you like certain aspects of the site, other users will too. You may prefer the homepage slider but your users might not see it the same way.
To incorporate UX into your design process, you should create user personas. A user persona is a hypothetical profile of your typical user.
When creating user personas, consider your users'
job titles
ages
daily schedules
pain points when making purchases
browsing habits
It helps you define who the product is for from a user-centered perspective. This enhances the user experience at every touchpoint. It helps you determine how users will interact with your website.
4. Confining yourself to one screen size only
Not all your users will visit your site on a desktop computer. A growing number of users are accessing the internet on mobile devices.
Optimize your website for different screen sizes
Your design may look fabulous on a 27" iMac, but what happens when someone uses your site on a smaller laptop or a smartphone in portrait mode? Will they still be able to access the information they need? Will the buttons be too small to press? Your design needs to be flexible enough to accommodate different screen sizes.
“Design is not just what it looks like and feels like, design is how it works.”
5. Ignoring Analytics and User Behavior
The data you've gathered about your users' behavior can be valuable for incorporating UX into your design. You can use your analytics data to discover exactly how people use your website, where they're getting stuck, and what they want to see more of.
Analytics data is unique to your website and visitors!
Your analytics data will show you the following:
What pages your users visit.
What they are clicking on.
When and where your users leave the site.
If many users leave immediately after arriving at your homepage, consider adding a pop-up asking them why they came to your site and what they hoped to find.
UX Design is Vital to Your Website's Success
User experience is about so much more than the final visual design of a website. It's about providing an enjoyable experience for visitors viewing your site.
Just remember that your users don't care too much about your website's looks – they care about finding what they're looking for.
A great UX Design will help you grow your business.
Now that you know what to avoid in your website’s design, you can improve your website’s UX for more success and happy customers.
Your users will thank you for it!
We wish you lots of success!
Source: UX Statistics - 2023 | 99firms
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