User Experience (UX) is a huge buzzword right now in the digital marketing community. The term looks good on paper, but it can be hard to define what really makes for great UX. Fortunately, there is a set of underlying principles behind UX that can help us create better websites for our clients. Knowing these principles allows for a more strategic approach to web design instead of cranking out iterations until something sticks. So let’s take a look at 5 UX principles for creating a great website!
Principle 1: People Use Websites for a Purpose
People use your website to accomplish a specific purpose. Make sure you know what that is and provide only the content and functionality necessary to help them accomplish that task.
Think of your website as a tool. You don’t want a screwdriver with a half-dozen different attachments and adjustments. You want a screwdriver that does exactly what you need it to do. For example, if you’re building a site about stamp collecting, don’t provide links to your latest blog posts about how to choose a blender.
Is your target audience for your coaching business people that are looking to transition your careers? Ensure that all of your content aligns to the goals of that audience and speaks to their needs.
Principle 2: Focus on a Specific Purpose for Each Page
Give your users a specific task for each page of your website. People come to your website to find answers to questions, make a purchase, or perform another task. Make sure that you make these tasks simple and easy for them.
The best websites have focused content. This isn’t like your camera that has 20 functions and you can hardly figure out how to use. Choose your features carefully, and make sure they make sense for your user.
Principle 3: Make Pages as Simple as Possible
Make it easy for users to complete tasks on your website without features getting in their way. When building a website, remember that less is more. Every feature you add makes your users do more work to find what they’re looking for. You want to keep the design simple and intuitive. Not only will your website be more efficient and easy to use, but it will also have a high conversion rate.
If your website has poor usability, then you’ll miss out on prospective customers.
Principle 4: Organize Information Into Chunks That Are Easy to See and Interact With
Whether we realize it or not, the first impression our websites leaves on people directly affect conversion rates. In fact, a Nielsen Norman Group study found that “the site’s visual design was the strongest predictor of usability problems.” The most important thing in your website design is choosing how to display and organize information.
A principle that should always be considered by user experience designers is ‘chunking’. In short, chunking “is the process of dividing a large unit of information into smaller, more manageable units”. After all, nobody likes a cluttered or useless website. Clear and concise content will allow your users to find the information they are looking for quickly.
Principle 5: Focus on a Specific Purpose for Each Page
A website is only as good as the information it contains. Your visitors shouldn’t have to navigate through pages and pages of useless content just to find what they came for.
There’s a fine balance between providing your site visitors with just enough information and overwhelming them. As web designers, we typically want to help users by providing all the information they need. However, this can easily lead to information overload. We have to be careful about what we include on our websites so that people only get the amount of information they need.
The key is to focus on a specific task for each page of your website, provide all the information users need to achieve their goal, arrange that information into chunks, and make sure your site is easy to use.
What makes a great site isn’t flashy graphics or gimmicks. It’s attention to detail in how you design. Designing a great UX is not as hard as it sounds, and utilizing these UX principles will ensure you’re doing your best to make your website user-friendly and easy to use.
A well-designed site that meets your target audience’s needs can help you gain trust and build long-lasting relationships with your customers. With a little bit of planning, you can create a well-designed website that helps your customers accomplish their goals.
