Designing for the user: user experience

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Context

UX (user experience) or Spanish-language user experience is a term that has become increasingly relevant in the online universe. It refers to the degree of satisfaction a visitor perceives when visiting your website. Improving the user experience of a web means making it more accessible, intuitive, fast, secure, consistent, dynamic, attractive, innovative…

One of the factors that most influence the user experience is web usability. Simply said, usability refers to the ease with which people can use a web to achieve their goal. For example, if your web is an online store, we could say that usability is good if a person can buy a product in it that you want with the minimum effort. Improving usability reduces the work that the user must do to reach the goal and the errors that he can make, and therefore increases the degree of user satisfaction, improves the image and prestige of your web, and this can be translated into an increase in conversions.

Although there are other aspects that also condition the user experience, such as the corporate identity, context, etc., let’s comment on how you could improve your web usability.

1- OBJECTIVES AND PERSONS

Even if it seems obvious, it is very important to specify what the objective of your website is and to whom it is addressed. This is the basis that will mark everything else. Who will be the users of my website?, what knowledge do you have?, what do you need and what can you offer them?, in what context do you move in?… Always remember that usability has to do with people and all this information is vital to improve the way you present your website to them.

2- JERARKY, NAVIGATION, STANDARDS

The goal is to make it easy. Internet users use very little time to take a look at your website and decide if they like it. If they don’t find what they’re looking for, they go away. That’s why it’s so important that there is a coherent structure, a well-timed web map, and within each page, correctly highlight the important elements.

The navigation must be very clear and guide the user to what he is looking for. Menus, links, buttons and any other navigation element must be easily identified.

Following existing web standards makes it easier for each element to identify correctly. For example, the vast majority of users have already learned to interpret that a box with a magnifying glass is a search engine, that the web logo is usually found above the left, or that a word highlighted, will surely be a link.

3 - VISUAL DIGENCY

Legibility above all. It is not useful to do all the above if the content is not well visible. It is convenient to use few typographs (1 or 2 on a web), and to be sure that they are large enough, a slimmed interlining and a high contrast to the background.

You also need to use the color in an intelligent way and create a pallet suitable for each case. The images must bring value and be balanced within the page. Icons offer information at a glance. Small animations emphasize some interactions. The general disposition must be harmonious…

All this influences the general perception of the web. Beauty is also important for users to feel comfortable and find it pleasant to navigate the web.

4- FUNCTIONALITY

Structure and design are the visible part, but usability is also functionality: a fast load; links that take you to the intended place; that the search engine finds the expected results, or that offers alternatives if there are no results; that the form returns a response confirming its correct shipment; that an access to the option to recover your password if you have forgotten it… and that all this works as well on any device.

5 - MEDIR, ANALIZAR, IMPROVED

The process does not end in the design. To check if your web is usable, you have to measure the results: does the web meet the objectives for which it was created?. You can also perform usability tests, to see which parts of your web you can improve.

And finally, the web must be kept up to date. The Internet evolves, the devices evolve and your web must adapt to changes so that it does not stay behind. Not forgetting that all this is done for and for users. For people.