User Experience
The user experience is one of the most important things about a website, and it is rapidly changing in today’s world. The latest design trends and technology are what’s changing the user experience to become more positive. The first couple questions that a user may wonder are, “Is this what I’m looking for?”; “Is this easy for me to use and find what I am looking for?”; and, “Is this site visually appealing to me and grabbing my attention? Am I interested?” Those are just some of the questions that we ask ourselves when first entering a website, which is what makes a solid user experience so important to the success of a website.
Using some of the latest design trends may be fun and all, but are they going to work well for the user? Will the user understand the purpose or natural flow of implemented designs? Will they understand what some of the new functions are when entering a website with new design trends? Some of the things that you need to keep in mind when developing a website is the function of how each page works with the other pages as a whole. How does each page relate to the next, or if you click somewhere, where does it lead to? Also, always provide the user with a clear call-to-action so that it is always easy for the user to perform the call-to-action and for them to be constantly reminded of the next steps.
Design Trends
Tailoring some of today’s design trends to the client’s needs, expectations and functionality are all important things. Having a complex site where the user has to go through multiple channels just to reach their goal might make the user find a different website that might have fewer channels that enable them to reach their goal faster. Also being able to show the user how many steps there are could increase conversion rates: By showing the user that there might only be two simple pages or steps to fill out on a contact page, for example, could make them more apt to fill out the entire form than if they were unsure how much they would have to fill out or how much time they would have to invest.
Always make sure that when the user clicks on a specific section or button, they will then be directed to the correct spot that they wanted to go to. Another aspect to pay close attention to is the user flow of the page. Question what the user is looking for first, second and third. By assessing what a user wants to find first on a page will establish a guide for how to design the page. Don’t feature a secondary or tertiary goal over the user’s primary goal on a web page. The key is to design factors allowing the user to find what they are looking for fast and not overwhelm the user with lots of text. Also, pay attention to the placement of items on a page.
Place buttons, CTAs and more desirable items where people are most likely to look on a page. The best placement for these items on a site’s page can often be perfected using A/B testing. For instance, most people look for the navigation on the top of the page or the lefthand side of the site, so placing navigation in those areas makes the most sense and will provide the best user experience possible.
Make the design trends also be responsive on all platforms of technology, such as all mobile phones, tablets, desktops and laptops. Create the website to be responsive, so no matter what device is being used, each user will get the same experience. When developing designs and layouts, keep in mind the uniformity of the design and user experience across platforms. Using flat imagery designs or infographics along with text can tell the user what they want to know without them even reading the content. Having keywords or taglines in unique typography to grab the user’s attention can go a long way in regard to user experience. Also, use great color palettes with geometric shapes that are easily transferable over all devices. Using today’s design trends is very possible to provide the best user experience if you tailor the needs toward your client and consider their needs (and end goal) through the entire design process.