Users are the core livelihood of a company’s products and services. Users come with various needs and wants; these user requirements are considered for every possible decision to be made while designing. Plenty of time and resources have to be spent in order to research with customers and planning usable designs. This involves understanding the prevailing user behaviour, their needs, expectations, and identifying the essentials of a user centric design. It does take an extra effort to create user friendly designs but this extra effort is completely worth the time and resources spent; it brings a great output. A user experience design helps us know our users better, increases the salability of products and thus helps you gain return on investment.
Measuring the UX ROI
More often than not designing was interpreted as a fulfillment for enhancing the look and feel of products. Design was earlier more associated with visual elements and aesthetics. The interaction, how the functionalities work, the overall user experience was not paid much attention to. With time and advancement, focus towards customer experience has been increasing and the UX of every minute thing is taken into consideration while designing. A product design is not just about how it looks; it is about a good user experience at every product stage.
The success of a product is measured by the users’ satisfaction in terms of ease of use, fulfillment of their goals etc. While using the product, after using it and before using it, the users will be disappointed in absence of a good user experience. Facilitating a good UX before launching the product is a great practice as the research helps you not only please your customers with a good experience, but also facilitates increased conversions. The customers will not need help in understanding the product; they will use the product easily and find it enjoyable.
User experience design is an investment
Ensuring a good experience on a product is essential as the development of a product depends on its design. Many products and services are available in the market for users, and they can switch to one from another as per their convenience. In order to set a product apart from others and gain competitive advantage, focus should be on the experience. It is better to pre plan the appropriate designs than correcting the errors identified at a later stage.
UX can increase the conversions, increase customer loyalty and satisfaction. Products experience can be improved with the best of UX designs. The research conducted helps in developing an action plan about how the functions will work and various elements that need to be placed. In the course of research we figure out many features that need to be added and removed, the feedback from users helps in brainstorming various ideas that can make the product unique and innovative.
In markets where there is a lot of competition, a new product can capture the market by simply differentiating itself from the rest by offering consumers something concrete. This robust offering can be provided by pre knowing the customer needs and ensuring the product is well equipped to fulfill these needs and possibly go beyond to offer delight to users. Making corrections at a later stage, after launching the product in market involves not only a higher cost but also leaves a bad impression in the minds of your target audience. The product is then perceived to be less consistent at par with its competitors. Instead of adding many features to the product, overloading it with functionalities to make it capable of doing many things, it is advisable to craft something that excels at what it does.
Cutting down costs with UX
As we already discussed, fixing the broken areas of products like adding new features or repairing bad functionalities post launching the product will incur huge costs, as compared to those involved in fixing it beforehand. The designers and developers not only decide on what needs to be added to the interface, after adding features they also need to ensure that it confirms with the technology platform on which it was built.
After launching the product, when the version is revised after a considerably long interval of time, the product has to be reworked upon a technology that may no longer exist. Poor planning can lead to a product with wrecked features and bad user experience. Products that come with bad user experience are not easy to use; they frustrate the users and are likely to be abandoned by most.
UX design and conversions
UX design is associated with conversions. Businesses are always keen on having a better performing conversion analytics; however they might get behind in ensuring a robust user experience for customers. To engage users, the very key is to make sure that the product is fully fledged in terms of user experience. With variety of product options being available in market, one tends to be inclined towards the products that are delightful and easy to use, as well as function efficiently. Although user research may seem like a tiresome process but it is very critical in developing a product that is desirable and helps in gaining the benefit from it.
Time investment is another important matter of concern. While monetary investments in a product cost are involved, there is a time cost involved too. Making the product right from a UX perspective at the outset itself rather than fixing the UX afterwards makes much more sense and also justifies the time investment. The quality of the product matters, rather than the quantity of features. What makes a product is not the number of features it brings along; it is the experience that is offered which attracts and retains the customers.
Adding numerous features can end up in a product with many weak spots and problems that need fixation. Instead of making an unsuccessful attempt of adding endless features, focus should be on a set of characteristics that are significant. It is alright to design a product that has only few necessary features, provided the product experience is made efficient by focusing on its core features. People switch from one product to another when they find a competent and better performing solution in the form of a product.
To sum it up
UX design delivers great value in terms of revenue, conversions, leads and sales. User experience calls for an overall enhancement of the aesthetics, interaction, functionalities so that the product is capable of solving the user’s problems. To capture the market or beat the competition, one can set their product aside by integrating good user experience in the design. Products that are not built with proper research may completely fail to sustain as they will not fulfil the end user’s needs. Making fantastic products requires getting the right UX design, which will be an output of intensive research work, decision making based on the understanding of the business needs as well as the target audience. Planning the entire design from a user perspective is beneficial in developing efficient products for customers and bringing a smile to their face.