Today’s consumers have a lot of demands on their time and attention and the success of a website or mobile app depends heavily on the quality of experience it offers. That’s down to UX and UI – two terms that you may have heard – but what do they actually mean and how can your business benefit?

UX or User Experience Development involves improving the overall experience of the user when they interact with an app, website or tech product. Apple is a great example of a company using good UX design to create user-friendly devices and systems that also look great. It’s all about the user journey – how they flow through your site or app to get to where they need to go.

UI or User Interface, is about improving the presentation and interactivity of the app. It focuses on the look – each screen, page button and any other visual element you see whilst using it.

What does all this mean for your business? Here are some of the key benefits of investing in UX/UI design can have.

Encouraging interaction

The right elements of UX and UI design will encourage visitors to interact with your website. For example, installing a search function gives users ease to find any information on the site, and a comments section allows users to share their experience. A good UX/UI should include calls-to-action on all relevant web pages and allow for easier website navigation so visitors can move from one page to another without hassle.

Generating customer loyalty

You’ll never forget a great experience, so an easy to use app or website is likely to encourage a user to come back again and again. A UX/UI designer will need to create a customer journey map, to facilitate a user’s entire journey through the site/app. This journey should be tested to ensure a user’s interaction is as smooth as possible.

Improving SEO

User Interface is critical for SEO – search engine optimisation – to improve your website’s ranking. The UI must be designed to improve performance on search engines and meet users’ expectations at the same time. Elements of UI design that assist in SEO ranking that is easy to read and clean, as search engines use it to understand the website’s structure and content. Search engines also give priority to easy to navigate website structures – so good UI design should make sure your site menu and content are well organised.

Reducing development costs

Having a great design from the start will considerably cut down on costs in the long run. UX and UI designers normally carry out extensive usability testing in the early stages so users are able to test out a prototype version of the app or website to help designers understand whether it is user friendly. If you carry out these tests before the actual development, you can estimate any costs accurately – for example, if you find the site requires a new feature from user feedback. Good UX and UI can mean fewer re-designs later in the process, reducing costs further.

Enabling business growth

UX and UI improve the user experience and customer satisfaction, and that ultimately increases the number of users of the app. If users are surfing your website it is your responsibility to get them to where they want to go in the most efficient way. Done right, this will build brand value and reputation for the business and play an essential role in the success of products, increasing sales and eventually the growth of a business.

Investing in good UX and UI design could be your smartest business decision yet – so it’s important to take the right approach. If you’d like more information about how your business could benefit from UX/UI design, please contact the team.