Customers today are used to applications that are intuitive and easy to use. Something which is difficult to use will most likely put them off. Business owners are more inclined to look at the functionality of applications. However, there are many reasons that make the case for prioritizing user experiences.
Putting thought into user experience when building or customizing software can help reduce the amount of risk involved in a software project. User experience goes beyond colors, icons, and buttons. It is more about thinking about a user’s requirements and using them to help them solve them as smoothly as possible.
Vendors normally approach businesses with propositions to lease or sell them software to improve workflow. Organizations have the choice to acquire the software as it is. However, they can also request customizations in such software to improve user experience. Customizations would involve making adjustments so that the software suits a particular user persona. Here are FIVE benefits of improving user experience through customized software.
Proper User Design Can Cut Down Development Costs
Professional user design requires in-depth research on user needs, wireframing, prototyping, and testing before final implementation. It takes hundreds of man-hours before arriving at the final version of an app with good UX.
Prototyping has several benefits. It lets the development team determine the cost of a project accurately. By determining the feasibility and usability of an app using prototypes, the development team gets to know the technology and man-hours required to bring it to life. This helps determine the cost and timeline for implementation.
Prototyping also helps avoid situations where new features are added to an app mid-way through the building process. This often risks customer dissatisfaction because no research has backed their inclusion in the project. It also adds project timelines as well as costs. Going through a proper user experience design process helps to stick to a script as opposed to gut feelings.
User Experience Determine Revenue
75% of users will decide whether to use an application or not based on how it looks and feels on first sight and interaction. As such, there is a direct correlation between user experience and revenues. The ease-of-use on a website determines how quickly people can onboard, find information they are looking for, the amount of time spent, amongst other things that affect revenue.
For instance, if a user needs to go through multiple steps to fulfill their goals, there is the risk they will abandon their goal midway through the process. People have shorter attention spans today, more than at any other point in history. Therefore, simplified processes are more effective than those that linger for too long. It explains why e-commerce sites today have their check-out processes shortened to just one page or one step. They also have clear and easy-to-find call-to-action buttons.
User Experience Design Increases User Interaction with Content
When building an application or a website, you always want the target users to interact with the content therein as much as possible. Content includes text, images, videos, ads, and more. User research helps to build a persona of the target user. This informs how the content will be laid out in the app or website.
For instance, in app that has multiple functions, you will want to have an easy to find and navigate menu to help users enjoy maximum functionality of the app. However, if certain features feel hidden, users will rarely use them.
Part of user experience design is determining ways to personalize content for specific users. As the organization collects information and builds the profile of a certain user, it is possible to recommend features to try an app or some other content that may interest or solve their needs.
UX Can Increase Loyalty
If users enjoying using your app, they are going to stay loyal. Customers will rarely abandon a product that works for them. In fact, their attachment grows with time and they become ambassadors for your brand.
Companies should be constantly aware of the nature of interactions customers are having when using their app. Bottlenecks often emerge when new features or content are added. These must be resolved immediately. Collecting data on how long users stay on given pages or how long they take to find solutions can help identify potential bottlenecks.
User experience designers will often create a customer journey map to help visualize customers’ experiences using an app for different functions. They try to determine the emotional effect that an experience has. Any sources of potential frustration are removed and dealt with.
Good User Experience Complements Marketing Efforts
Good user experiences help to reduce wastage of resources in marketing. Before investing in a big marketing campaign, it is crucial to get the product right first. In fact, a great user experience might reduce the need to spend too much on paid advertising and instead rely more on organic reviews from current and new users.
When an app’s design is thoughtful, it is likely to reduce the number of man-hours that go into user-support services. Clients can easily find whatever they need with ease. Over time, the overall productivity in an organization increases over time because human resources spend time thinking about improving app features as opposed to solving bugs and user bottlenecks.
Conclusion
Customer-centric design thinking is important for any organization building a customized application or website. Proper user experience design can help reduce development costs by sticking to only features that users require. This happens through research and testing prototypes on target uses. UX design also creates certainty on timelines and technology required to build applications.
User experience, when great, can be a source of competitive advantage. Clients will find information easily, onboard quickly, and spend more time within the app. Current users will not only become loyal, but they also will be your company’s brand ambassadors. Good user experience also ensures that you have a great product before investing in paid advertising. This guarantees a decent return on advertising dollars.
If you need assistance with designing great user experiences on apps, check out Transcendent Software. We are an IT services company with over 20 years of experience in helping clients build and integrate software in their workflow.