Building a website with commercial aspirations is a process that requires a level of harmonious decision-making. It’s a creative endeavor that requires a rock-solid technical approach, not to mention the collective inner workings of its elements. As such, it requires a series of movements aimed at heightening the ceiling of a well-working baseline.
This is where the UX and UI come in. When the developers, designers, and overall administrators of a website decide to construct and consolidate the web platform, they do so with the purpose of conversion, an aspect done by the user.
Since the user needs to have either the incentive or the tools to complete the action that the website desires, the web platform must give them what they need. This is where the entire concept of UX comes, once you think about the arc of their actions.
Another aspect that you should understand as a preamble is that the idea of conversion is that most websites, especially commercial ones, have a purpose. That purpose can be for you to eventually click on a link, subscribe to a newsletter, make a purchase, or simply make a download.
For this to happen, the website must know how to direct the user, give him context, but also ease the process. In this article, we will look into some strategies that can work in this sense.
Defining the UX
UX stands for user experience, and UI is the user interface. The user interface is what the user sees and interacts with during their time on a digital platform, regardless of whether it’s a website, a game, or something of this sort.
The UI is a subordinate element of the UX. Any digital platform does its best to look good and be functional, but the user experience is where the merits of the big-picture mentality come in. They are at the root of all UX strategies that marketers or designers look for, having the best chances to generate satisfying results.
The user experience is the arc that the user goes through on a website. It begins by landing on the site, inspecting its features, and going through its functionalities in order to meet the objective for which it came. It can be to search for a product, activate a service, or just find information.
Their movements, meeting objectives and hurdles, and their decision to convert represent their experience. However, there are many aspects that can influence this arc, including the design, interface, optimization, and interest in the website’s offering.
As such, the conversion potential depends on what the user experience feels like, especially if the user’s desire/objective/interests align with what the website can provide. They just need convincing.
Optimization and the Mobile-First Mentality
In the UX sense, optimization represents the ability to make a platform work soundly from a structural and functional standpoint. It needs to prove itself capable of working at a very high rate, especially under normal circumstances and without any notable duress.
In this case, you are looking for fast loading times. If the internet connection is fast and stable, and their device works fine, the user should not have any trouble with the way they go through the website.
Naturally, banner ads and pop-ups must not be intrusive in any way, but that’s a hybrid point that you can attribute to design.
As for mobile-first experiences, the principle is simple. Search engines appreciate when content is for mobile consumption, especially with statistics regarding global use of the internet on mobile devices. Any website must allow its users to access and navigate smoothly on any device, and mobile-friendly platforms are absolutely crucial.
Social Proof for Higher Trustworthiness
Social proof is a simpler concept because it simply requires the website to prove its capacity and trustworthiness.
Social proof is where you use real human interactions that showcase your profile. In this sense, the user experience can include platformed elements that give you user reviews by verifiably real accounts. Testimonials from outside sources are also important.
Moreover, it can showcase its usage by showcasing open-ended stats and proving that there is popularity and merit attached to the web platform.
The user sees this as proof of the website’s trustworthiness and can have the confidence to move forward with the process and build up towards conversion.
Minimalist and Endearing Design Choices
In many ways, minimalism in the corporate sense appears to be the idea of scalability through commercial viability. It’s why brands use their image in increasingly minimalist ways, showcasing their desire to streamline their details and look clean, professional, and, in some cases, narrative-driven by their design cues.
Websites have to use minimalism for a completely different reason: a further dive into functionality. Having a minimalist website that knows where to place white space, where to add widgets, and how to add CTA-related functions can be truly optimal.
When it comes to endearing, one would think about progress-tracking and narrative. The user’s experience has an arc that comes with various checkpoints, tracking their progress and helping them know where they are relative to their objective.
Colors are another highly interesting design choice that can impact the interface. The user experience part comes from the idea that online platforms can become tiresome over the course of an arc, and they might not transmit what they want and what they mean.
In this sense, a website wants to add colors associated with elegance, royalty, and opulence if it sells expensive products to an audience with classic taste. It may also want to do so via a vivid approach if its product is more alternative.
The idea is that knowing the target audience should always come up with design choices that fit that target audience’s profile of aesthetics and comfort. If it wants to encompass as many users as possible, it can use minimalism in order to stay neutral.
Proper Copywriting & Similar Cues
Copywriting is, at its core, a narrative-building ideation that gives the user a reason to have that experience.
It turns arguments into possible realities; it turns reasons into necessities, and it turns tools and methods into the phantom of control. For a user to know what they experience feels like from an outsider perspective, you need to explain it to them with a sense of familiarity.
A user experience that encompasses copywriting must be inviting, explanatory, and striking. It must create a sense of clarity, but also bring forth more questions.
Since it is a mystery box that gives reasons and answers in a build-up, the final point must be the resolution. In this case, the resolution is the user getting to conversion.
Conclusion
In conclusion, the point is that the user experience is far more than just a heterogeneous set of information and decision-making: it’s a build-up that turns the user’s time into value for both them and the website.
With this conclusion, the idea of the UX is about intelligent planning, diligent research, and a sense of finesse when it comes to final implementation.
