What is UX, user experience, and why do you need it?

By Rohan Xavier, Jul 31 2019

UX, user experience, and the dinner party analogy.

UX is every interaction your business has with your audience on your website, mobile site and online properties and/or services. Strong UX arranges all your information and interactions in a way that’s pleasing to people. If your site’s UX makes people feel good, they’re more likely to become a customer.

Great UX is a bit like hosting a dinner party.

To create an enjoyable night for your guests and make sure everything goes smoothly, you’d probably plan out the experience from start to finish. That means you’d need to think about more than just what time dinner is served. For example: the type of guests you have, their age, activities, dietary restrictions, and what dinnerware you’ll use. These details (and a whole lot more) all contribute to your guests’ enjoyment.

Just like planning a dinner party, UX is about paying attention to small details so you can create enjoyable online experiences for your audience on your website.

How do you want visitors to feel?

At first, it might be tempting to only think about details that help communicate what you want people to know (like information about your products and services) and what you want them to do (like clicking the ‘buy now’ button).

But you also need to think about how your online and app experiences are making people feel. Are you confusing them? Perhaps reduce your steps to purchase or make CTA directives clearer. Are you coming off as cold and uncaring? Rushing and demanding? Change the language you’re using and think about value-add words, that reiterate your desire to help and offer your customers something they need.

Keep it cohesive

The marketing that leads to your website should match your UX. If the UX of your site is designed to give visitors a relaxed, no-pressure exploration of your offerings, then you should probably avoid online ads that say, “TIME IS RUNNING OUT! BUY NOW!” (Please avoid these anyway.)

A great UX experience will benefit your customer, your business and yourself (think of all that hair you won’t be pulling out!).

Need help? The awesome team at HGB would be happy to chat UX with you. Get in touch today.