With the recent tech advancements these days, everyone wants to experience the best technology without spending so much of their time and exhausting themselves. The same thing goes for websites. The faster and more efficient it is, the more successful the outcome. Meaning, it is all about your consumers. To improve user satisfaction, most technology firms lean towards UX/UI a User Interface (UI) and User Experience (UX) design.
But a lot of people still confuse the terms UX and UI. How do you distinguish one from the other?
Defining UX and UI
UX stands for “user experience.” It is the field of web design that deals with improving a user’s overall experience every time they interact with your app or website.
On the other hand, UI is the acronym for “user interface.” It is basically how your app or website looks like to your users, and whether or not it is easy for them to use and understand every design elements present.
The goal of UX is to provide maximum customer satisfaction. Its focus is wireframing an application and structuring its elements and components so that it creates a frictionless user flow. Thus, you need to keep your users in mind whenever you are working on your app or website’s basic framework and wireframe.
Meanwhile, UI is something that many web designers and developers tend to overlook. The goal of having a UI design is not about giving the user all the controls that they could possibly need. Instead, it is all about creating self-explanatory controls that they would understand in just a glance.
With a highly intuitive interface, the user does not really need to think about how to use an app or a website. Thus, making your users struggle in figuring out what the elements on your app or website do is considered a bad UI design.
Looking for the button and wasting a couple of seconds figuring out what the button does will distract your user from the entire experience of using the site.
Also Read More: 5 Design Principles You Must Follow To Improve Your UX
The Difference Between UX and UI
People tend to interchange UX and UI. What the do not know is that these are two different principles, although they work hand-in-hand.
Here’s how UX and UI differs:
User Experience
User experience is what people feel when using your app or website. It has to do with the following:
- Feelings
- Perceptions
- Preferences
- Emotions
UX focuses on the user flow, how users interact with your app or website’s design, and how they perceive its overall functionality. Luckily, there are digital marketing tools that can help you figure out whether your app or website is providing a great UX.
User Interface (UI)
UI focuses on how your website looks. An excellent user interface has to be aesthetically appealing, simple, and convenient for people to use. It covers several aspects, such as:
- Graphics
- Design Aesthetics
- Ease of Use
- Logic of Presentation
UI includes all controls, buttons, and other design elements on your site. Moreover, UI designers focus more on the design’s look and feel, while UX designers focus on the people that will actually use that design.
The Importance of Using UX and UI Design
Since businesses want to increase their sales and growth over time, having UX/UI design plays a key role in achieving this goal.
A UX/UI design enhances user experience and satisfaction. Because they do not have a lot of choices and alternatives with the products that you are offering to them, the amount of time that you will use to grab their attention and hit the bullseye is much shorter.
A UX and UI design will help win the confidence of your customers, compelling them to use your app or the website to find what they are looking for. The total amount of customers that you are getting from your app or website will measure the overall success of a great UI and UX.
If you are a startup or a small business, then the need for a UX and UI design is more important, because first impressions always last. A UX/UI design can make or break your brand recognition.
Anything less than that leads to unhappy customers, and they are unlikely to recommend you to others. You need to stand out from the rest of the competition, and simply being “good enough” is no longer enough.
Here are the eleven reasons UX and UI plays a vital role in web development.
1. Helps in understanding your audience
Before creating a UX/UI, you have to understand the needs of your audience. That’s because your website should be created with your target audience in mind. It will help attract the people that you have built it for.
A UX/UI design will help segment your audience which is vital in understanding your audience’s needs and wants. When you understand your audience, it is relatively easy to convert them into loyal customers and therefore increase your total sales.
2. Provides user satisfaction
Excellent web design will provide users with engaging content and navigation that is easy to use. As a result, your customers are more satisfied with what you have to offer.
Satisfied clients will go out of their way to recommend your brand to others. This results in an increase in the influx of customers. Aside from that, they will also be more loyal to your brand and become returning buyers, which boosts the ROI for your business.
Attracting and engaging users
With the right approach to user experience, you can better understand what works well and what does not with users.
When a user first visits your site, the first few steps are crucial. A user’s first impression with your website will help determine if they want to continue browsing or simply leave.
Engagement is another important factor. Ideally, you want the user to be interested in digging your site, without making it too hard for them to navigate their way through.
Ease of use
Comfort and usability is something that most users prioritize. A right combination of UX/UI makes your website easy to use.
Ideally, users should be able to easily browse through your site without obstructions. Moreover, creative design, relevant content, easy navigation, and other relevant elements are what your audience expects to see.
The more people that use your website, the more they will use your services.
3. Can boosts sales
A majority of people judge a website or an app based on its aesthetic design. Therefore, more people are likely going to buy from an aesthetically pleasing site than they would from an unappealing one.
The easier it is to use a website, the more users will be drawn to it. This is true with the journey the user experiences on your site ‒ from how fast a page loads to how simple it is to sign up and place an order.
If you make all the steps simple enough, users will likely progress to the final stages of purchasing or completing a desired action.
4. Increased Traffic
When UX/UI is implemented properly, this can help boost the traffic on your site. Thus, allowing you to acquire new customers and even help you retain them.
Also, because the competition is fierce these days, impeccable website design will give your website a firm ground that will help you get ahead of your competitors.
5. Builds brand awareness
A great UX/UI is an effective way to build strong brand awareness. When users have a happy and positive experience, they will certainly come back to your site.
Along with offering excellent experiences that cater to their problems, users also rely on how you make them feel. That’s why it is crucial to make improvements and upgrade your website to meet the users’ ever-changing needs and expectations.
It is all about the experience that you are giving your target audience.
Capitalizing on an excellent UX/UI design will help boost your customer’s satisfaction to a point where a lot of happy customers are more than happy to mention your brand to others.
When your customers are happy, that’s when the credibility of your brand also increases. The end result is the boost in value in your brand name.
6. Increases conversions
With a vast amount of websites that are available on the internet, only a few manage to stand out from the rest. These sites are often easy to use, and site visitors can find information quickly, with minimal effort.
Unfortunately, most websites have complicated designs that look aesthetically pleasing but are driving prospects away because they struggle to find the information that is relevant to them.
Humans tend to be impatient, and that impatience is exaggerated further in the online world.
A site with an excellent UX/UI reduces the number of steps users need to take to maximize the total number of conversions of your products and service, helping you improve your conversions in the long run.
7. Improves ROI
There is more that comes with an excellent UX/UI design than increased conversion rates. Another big advantage that you can enjoy is an enhanced return on investment (ROI).
Take Walmart for example, who decided to give their website a total makeover. They worked not just improving the UI, but also invested a lot on UX, completely changing how shopping feels for the user.
They gave their site a new, modern look with easy navigation. But the most significant change they made is improving personalization, both regionally and individually. Users can now view recommended items based on their purchase history, and look for other goods that are starting to gain popularity in their area.
After the makeover that they made, they were able to increase their sales to a whopping 43 percent.
8. Brings consistency
User interface and user experience are more than just the colors and the orientation of the screen. In fact, it is a great way to bring consistency to your site or app.
Parameters like font style, size, colors, and other visual elements give your website a more unique look and feel. Overall, the UI/UX of your site sees to it that you have a consistent design, a beautiful user interface, and an excellent user experience regardless of the screen size
9. Saves you money
When you invest in a great UX/UI design, the chances of users finding a fault in your website or app is close to none.
A great product will not necessarily require frequent upgrades. As a result, this helps you save time and money that you will otherwise spend on developing an update.
So your investments in a good UX/UI design will never go to waste. The more you work on improving it, the more benefits you are able to reap.
10. Business’ success and growth
UI/UX focuses on user satisfaction and plays a key role in the success of your business.
Because the IT industry is extremely competitive, a UX/UI website design is important in building value for your brand and grabbing users’ attention. Your product can influence a potential buyer’s decision whether they decide to avail of your products and services.
This eventually helps with your business’ growth and drive revenue in the long run. It is also important in building your business’ reputation.
11. Generates Recommendations
An excellent UX/UI designs will eventually encourage word-of-mouth recommendations.
Because it is a well-designed and easy-to-use website, it will encourage users to tell others to check out your website, as well as the products and services that you offer.
A free recommendation from a satisfied user is far more valuable than a paid advertisement.
Final Thoughts
Both UI and UX are fundamental to improving the presence of your brand online. These days, web users are having high expectations when it comes to a website’s user experience. They are constantly on the lookout for websites that are engaging and easy to use.
As a business, a thoughtful UX/UI design will give your business a unique identity, helping you scale over time.
Although trends in UX/UI design regularly change over time, some of the most common and standard practices remain. In the end, it is all about giving your audience the best experience as possible, only then you can reach your business objectives.
A UX/UI web design is crucial as first impressions can help pave the future. It also helps you gain users’ trust by giving them the experience that they are looking for.
Read More: How to Start Your Mobile App Design and Development
