Web designer's job is to solely focus on the way a website looks- this is what many businesses and clients feel.
It is sometimes a belief that web designers would only be concerned with the visual aspect of a project and would not completely consider how the site should work as a whole before its graphic aesthetics are implemented and the overall look of the website is designed.
The web design process is not limited to aesthetics, it is much more. Any web designer takes an initiative to understand the necessities of the business before deciding the way the website should look.
User experience aka UX has been a very important part of not only web but any design process. UX design is the procedure that is used by designers to fashion products that deliver profound and relatable experiences to users.
In today's industry of quickly emergent interfaces, UX design has become increasingly significant. In the world of web design, UX is the way a person feels when interacting with a system. This interfacing includes fundamentally any form of human & device interaction like a website, web presentation, computer software, etc.
Now that we have understood what exactly is UX. We'll try and understand why exactly is UX important for designing a website.
One can consider UX as something similar to that of work-efficiency of any website. When web designers design a website that emphasizes user experience, they craft a space that is easy for the reader to log onto, understand and go about the web design process.
This assists any website to stand apart from competitors who are not bothered about UX, which will in turn increase traffic and consumer reach and retention.
User experience is also important for designers because it aims to fulfil the web user's needs which is ultimately why businesses want a website. It provides the user with an experience that aids the business to keep them faithful to the brand and its products.
There are some main components of the UX design that helps us gain more insight into the way it works.
User profiles and personas
The first step in user experience is to know your target demographic and how to appeal to them. This allows you to craft experiences that relate to the voice and emotions of your users.
Usability
This helps to understand whether the website is usable or user-friendly and also gives a way to handle errors. It also helps to understand whether the users get the information they want by visiting the website for the first time or do they have to visit multiple times.
Information Architecture
The major function of the Information Architecture is to provide easy routing to web user regardless of their choice of browser. It is about using the best possible coding to equip the user with a top-level navigation menu. This is a function under User Interface or UI.
Sitemaps
A sitemap is a planned hierarchy of all the pages within any site. Organising a sitemap makes it easier to imagine how a user will get from one point to another point on the website. A sitemap helps change bad ideas early while at the same time showing the designer all the pages will eventually be needed to design and write content for.
Wireframing
Wireframing is about creating a mock-up to test the features and usability of the application before it is launched. It is an inexpensive way to test efficiency and evaluate if the website accomplishes what it sets to achieve.
Keeping in mind the UX design while designing the site can significantly reduce costs in the future by preventing usability issues and is less expensive than mending them later with product redesigns or bug amends.
Great UX design also helps with customer retention by making it easy for your user to use with your website. It not only brings in new users but also helps retain and nurture existing customers.
It can also help with SEO. Good UX design can produce great SEO rankings. Google endorsements not only renders to SEO but also paid media or PPC (pay per click) marketing.
A well-designed website is aesthetically desirable, instructive and easy to use. If your website does not have any of these components, the chances of you attracting clients and retaining them are severely constrained.
Clients and businesses that are planning on designing a website would benefit from UX design. It would also help those who already have a website to ensure that they are not losing customers to poor user experience.
This is why it is essential to consider UX when crafting a website that showcases your goods and services.
