Positive Effects of UX Design

UX, or User Experience refers to the individual journey a user has when navigating a digital product or service, therefore UX design refers to the creation of these digital products that are built with intention, giving the user a meaningful experience. This can cover many aspects such as branding, functionality and usability. UX design has a direct effect on customer satisfaction and business success, therefore it is vital that your product embraces good UX design.   

Good UX is about making your customers enjoy using your product, whether it is a website, an ecommerce store or even a mobile app.

If you can successfully incorporate many techniques and disciplines; navigation, accessibility, design, simplicity, messaging and so on... you will improve customer engagement and importantly, customer retention too.  

There is nothing worse than fumbling around a platform looking for an answer - a clear information architecture that organises your content logically and predictably is essential. 

Have a look at industry giant ASOS, in many ways a market leader in ecommerce, personalisation and technology. Their website navigation is simple, and their landing page is bright and fun, with a carousel of vivid images – as a customer you are immediately engaged.   

There are also perfectly placed calls to action (CTAs) which give that ease of navigation to the customer. With such a vast range of products available it would be easy to become overwhelmed, but the clear use of categories and product filters lets customers find what they’re looking for very quickly.  

Once on the desired page there is a clear visual hierarchy, encouraging the user to buy the more profitable product in just a few clicks. The visual hierarchy is affected by features such as the colour and contrast of an image compared to the products it is stacked next to, or a bolder font to catch the eye of the customer. Conducting user research is a terrific way to make sure you are enhancing your platform with visual hierarchy to understand what your user needs from your platform.  

When a platform offers an abundance of information, it is vital that the visual hierarchy is clear, to avoid appearing cluttered and confusing. Google products and services are usually great at being user focused, easy to navigate and reliable. However, Google’s ‘Data Studios’ is much more complex than their other products, making it appear overwhelming when attempting the onboarding tutorial. It is hard to know where to start or where to go next with so many CTA’s. As a new user it may be easier to head to a different platform with a clearer layout. This highlights the importance of making a complex product, simple for the user. This can only be done through successful UX design.  

The six step ‘how-to’ guide displayed at once on post it notes, is overwhelming. This could be improved by changing to just three steps, each of which points to the next screen and moves along with the customer, allowing them to explore. The 2024 Benchmark report shows that product tours with a simple three steps have the highest completion rate at 74%, while only 23% of tours with six steps get completed. These short, sweet, and contextual product tours are a great solution to customer engagement - when a tour is launched by choice, we see a 64% completion rate which is impressive. 

‘Slack’ is a messaging channel for businesses that has had explosive growth since launch, and a big component of this success was how easy it is to use, set up and understand from the beginning. Offering a three-step product tour that you can launch by choice or skip and come back to, Slack allows its users to embrace self-discovery and have fun with the product.  

Each step shows clear brand identity and adds character to the platform through clever and subtle uses of feedback and animation. Once you have completed the tour you are automatically taken to the integrated AI (Artificial Intelligence) bot to start chatting, helping to teach you the core mechanics you may have missed on a short tour.  

It is often a good idea to look to industry giants when designing digital products. Part of their success is how they retain their customers, and so it is wise to follow their lead because....it works!  

Think of your most used features of Spotify and YouTube, clearly split by genre and an algorithm that suggests what content to stream next. Knowing where to find what you are looking for is an absolute must to consider when building with UX design.  

As well as a logical order of information, it is also important to consider the aesthetic appeal of your digital product. First impressions are everything!  

That is why it is an absolute must to have appealing designs that scream your brand. From the colours used to the logo placement, it all has an impact, and this needs to be consistent throughout your digital product and also branding in any advertisements.  

We had the pleasure of working with startup company ‘Cognomie’ to develop their new digital coaching space. A one stop platform for mental fitness coaching, with both the coach and the customer logging in to book sessions with each other, UX design was hugely important to offer an easy to use and identifiable platform. A big focus when working on this was how we display the ‘Cognosis’ results – your personal score and report after answering a series of mental fitness questions. 

This report presented the user with a significant amount of information and rich, useful insights, so it was important to ensure the UX made this accessible and easy to visualise. A static PDF was not going to keep the clients engaged or align with the experience that Cognomie wanted to provide. We replaced the standard report with an interactive, feature rich tool offering drill down insights, charting and goal setting.  

Throughout the Cognomie application there was an emphasis on good UX and consistent experience. 

The benefits of UX design are not just about generating more customers or more revenue - it can also reduce costs. Costs to run a full-time customer service team will significantly decrease if UX design has been implemented properly. Customers should often be able to “self-serve” and be able to resolve issues independently, with almost instant effect. 

Equally customers should be making fewer errors when setting up accounts or ordering, if the platform is clearly thought out with instructions – again reducing the customer service levels needed.  

Investing in UX design is not just about making a product look good; it is about creating meaningful and enjoyable experiences for users. This investment pays off by enhancing customer satisfaction, improving customer loyalty, and driving business growth. In today's competitive digital landscape, businesses that prioritise UX design are better positioned to attract and retain customers and maintain that competitive edge.