There’s no commonly accepted definition for UX design. User experience design is a concept that has many dimensions, and it includes many different disciplines - such as interaction design, information architecture, visual design, usability, and human-computer interaction.
In this article, we will try to get a clearer picture of what that really means and see some great examples of what UX Design should look like.
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What is UX Design?
According to a study from the Oxford Journal Interacting With Computers:
UX Design is all about “improving customer satisfaction and loyalty through the utility, ease of use, and pleasure provided in the interaction with a product.”
In other words, User Experience design is the process of designing - digital or physical - products that are useful, easy to use and delightful to interact with. It’s about enhancing the experience that people have while interacting with your product, and making sure they find value in what you’re providing.
UX is how a person feels when interfacing with a system. This includes a website, web application, desktop software and basically any form of human/device interaction. It surrounds all the aspects of the end-user interaction with the company, its products and its services.
The focus of user experience is to find the synergy between the business goals and user needs.
In simple words, it is about how the user feels while using your application, website or software. It caters to the user with preferences, perceptions, emotions, feelings and much more.
A positive UX design enhances usability, accessibility and pleasure in the interaction with your website or app.
Why is UX Design important?
To put it simply, UX is important because it tries to fulfill the user’s needs. It aims to provide positive experiences that keep users loyal to the product or brand.
Additionally, a meaningful user experience allows you to define customer journeys on your website that are most conducive to business success.
Designs that allow a user to more efficiently and naturally navigate a service greatly increases the probability of maintaining that user.
Also, the longer they’re on your site, the more likely they are to complete targeted or directed actions.
Through proper UX design, engaging interaction covertly guides the user to a desired action. Great design brings value through user experience, as well as helping to direct those users towards a product goal.
Examples of Good UX Design
Disney tickets
Disney was looking to help fans buy movie and event tickets, since there was no digital hub for Disney shows in Latin America at the time.
So Disney’s UX Team developed a platform that geolocates users and allows them to see and buy tickets for movies and events.
Users receive information about cinemas and venues closest to them as well as information such as showtime, room, format, etc. improving the user experience and prioritizing clear calls to action while measuring the user journey.
This improved the User Experience and allowed Disney to track marketing efforts, sales, and conversions.
Google: Fast Loading
Fast loading has always been a priority for Google, but it’s especially important for ecommerce. Being fast and efficient helps users get what they want without waiting.
The Google Store site loads in just over a second, which is good because every extra second a user has to wait makes them more likely to leave.
The Google Store isn’t just fast loading though. It is efficient as well. Their checkout process allows the user to frictionlessly move from cart to confirmation.
Google knows if you are a new or returning user even if you aren’t logged in, so they don’t bother asking if you are a new/returning user or if you want to register/continue as a guest.
All these unnecessary questions just make it harder for a user to check out.
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Trello: letting users be
Both the Trello app and web app go much further than the competition when it comes to letting users do what they want.
Ultimately, it can be challenging to create a product that is meant to help people in their daily work. Workflows, tasks and responsibilities all change drastically from team to team.
By giving users complete control over their boards and user permissions, the app effectively blends into the workflow of the user without any friction.
Pizza Hut Loyalty Program
Pizza Hut UX & Loyalty teams formed a strategic plan for improving the overall experience of the loyalty program.
The objective for this project was to give users a clear understanding of the program structure, incentivizing them to not only join Hut Rewards, but begin engaging as an active member.
After some rapid design iteration, Pizza Hut research team tested a new checkout path against the existing one. This test confirmed that the new flow reduced time on task by 40%, with 100% of users preferring the new design.
Rover: Building trust with the user reviews
We all know dogs are not just pets, but family members. So who can you trust to take good care of the family dog when you’re out on vacation?
That’s where Rover comes in and not only makes it simple to pick out a sitter and book them, but also makes you feel good about your choice through online reviews and photo updates while you're gone.
What Rover understands about its users is how important trust is, particularly when it comes to leaving your furbaby with a stranger.
Nike: UX Design that sells
Nike’s website understands how proximity and visual cues play a huge part in the user experience.
Nike’s individual product pages are a perfect example of UX design that converts. More specifically, the relationship and proximity of the sizes of the items, the product pictures and the Add to Cart button is something everyone loves.
It means that users barely need to move their cursor and their eyes in order to make the decision to purchase the item or not.
It’s about encouraging people to buy things, both because of how the design showcases the products and because it doesn’t offer any resistance to users. Adding items to the cartis just so simple.
Santander bank platform
Santander, one of the 20 largest banks in the world, was aiming to digitize their process for mortgage loans and reduce its request time by more than 30%.
So the brand developed a multichannel tool that allows users to apply for a mortgage loan 100% online, where they can find and upload all the required documentation and follow up on the process from the website without having to attend a branch.
The new system not only simplified access for customers but made organization easier for bank employees to order and follow the documentation.
As a result, more than 20,000 transactions were made for the first month as well as 20 new requests each day.
Simple: Clarity and Digestibility
Simple not only has a sense of humor and personality as a brand, but they also have great customer service.
On top of that, their website and app are designed to add clarity to your personal finances.
The highlight is their Safe to Spend amount, which is calculated based on your available balance minus your bills and savings goals.
This clarity on what you have to spend makes online banking a much better experience. The information presented in their app is always simple and digestible, allowing you to clearly see where you are spending your money and how much you have saved.
Simple does this through both the simplicity of design and by understanding what information is most important to users.
Instagram: example of visual efficiency
Instagram’s design makes it easy for users to spend long hours scrolling through the endless stream of visual content, never overwhelming users in any way.
Instagram makes for a prime user experience design example that makes the maximum from the available space.
The app doesn’t compromise its features and settings in order to maintain this beautiful visual minimalism, either.
Instead, the design team found great ways to stow these options away, so they wouldn’t be in the way but within reach.
Using familiar faces like the hamburger menu, the app offers users a comfortable way to enjoy Instagram and all its features.
Fox international channels
Fox International, a leading international television content provider, has an understandably complex accounting system to deal with invoicing and payments across many countries, currencies and remote teams.
While it was powerful, their accounting system was sometimes hard to use and frequently caused input errors. The brand tackled one key pain point: how users applied payments to invoices.
Because Fox needed to move quickly and stakeholders were scattered throughout Central and Latin Americas, the problem called for a remote requirements gathering and design solution.
After composite sketch review and approval, Fox created a clickable prototype to demonstrate required functionality and behavior.
This prototype was then used to generate approval from all stakeholders including executives and the development team.
Benefits of UX Design
Before jumping into the examples, let’s see some of the benefits of UX Design:
Increases Conversions
Many websites are selling the same product. But customers chose to open websites with easy and effective user experience. Increase in the number of visitors results in a growing conversion rate.
Since investing in UX design increases the company revenue, partnering with a professional UX design agency is a sound strategy.
Lower Support Cost
Having the right user experience makes it easier for your visitors to get all the information about the product or services on your website.
If users are getting answers to all their queries on the website itself, they will not have to email you or call you. This will lower your support cost.
Increases brand loyalty
Brand loyalty is the tendency of a consumer to buy the same brand of goods repeatedly, rather than competing brands. Building brand loyalty is the core of any business.
Hassle-free user experience doesn’t just impress users on first sight but retain them for a long-lasting relationship.
A user-centred UX designing and continuous bug fixing are the keys to user retention and maintaining brand loyalty.
Right UX save cost in the long run
Paying attention to UX design in the initial stages of product development is very critical. If you don’t have the right UX and build the product after spending huge money, your customers will not stick to the product.
Rebuilding the product after launch will cost time and money, sometimes even forcing entrepreneurs to abandon their product.
Are you interested in UX/UI Design? Let us help you and show you how you can implement UX/UI Design in your projects!