A foundational step in digital marketing strategy

yinka ogunlami 13:16 - 04 January 2016

Infragistics.com

Since the digital age began almost everyone has had either a bad or good experience with different websites they've visited, with some saying they'll never visit a particular brand with a horrible website ever again.

To brands, businesses, companies, blogs and other online spaces, a great user experience not only makes existing customers happy but can take potential customers away from competitors; a bad UX does the exact opposite.

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By definition, User Experience (UX) can be described as all the experiences (including physical, sensory, emotional and mental) that a person has when interacting with a digital tool. This doesn't capture the whole definition of UX design since this concept is better felt and seen than said.

Unlike a standard website that needs to be functional, reliable and convenient, a website can only have an excellent UX when it becomes enjoyable to use and the experience is worth sharing to others. While websites and content for companies, audiences, and institutions are different, the principle of UX design remains the same for all as the desired goal after giving customers a good UX is double fold revenue.

In understanding what a UX design should be like, here are some key terms you should know:

1. User Experience (UX): The overall satisfaction from interacting with a product or digital tool by a user.

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2. User Experience Design (UXD/UED): They are the proven principles, features and techniques that are applied to a digital tool to create and make the user experience more memorable and effective.

3. User Centered Design (UCD): The user-facing part of a tool or platform, actual website, applications or tool the user interacts with.

4. Usability: Means how user-friendly, efficient and slick a digital product is.

There are two broad categories into which online UX can be divided:

1. Functional UX: They are elements of UX which includes working technical elements, navigation, search and links that relate to actually using the tool.

2. Creative UX: This is the 'wow' factor that covers the visual and creative elements.

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A great UX must have these 6 important qualities:

a. Accessibility: Does it work on mobile? Can I access the site when I need it? Can it be used on a slow Internet connection? Can it be used by a physically challenged person?

b. Desirability: Do I avoid logging in as much as possible? Do I really need to use it?

c. Findability: Is it easy to find? Is it really high up there on the search results?

d. Usefulness: How much value does it add to me?

e. Usability: Are the tools available easy to use? Are they easy to find too?

f. Credibility: Is the website legitimate? Can I trust it enough to recommend to others?

Having these qualities in mind, here are some benefits of applying a good UX to your digital marketing strategy

An excellent UX differentiates your brand from your competitors' in the digital marketing space, giving your brand an upper hand in the process. Customers won't have a reason to look elsewhere if your website is easy and awesome to use.
Every business is unique in some way. A good UX research helps you find the best solution that'll suit your needs and give customers that unique feel of your brand.
A brand that chooses to remain in business knows that a happy customer means getting to your goal faster. A satisfied customer becomes a loyal one, and a loyal customer is the best way to spread the word for your brand far and wide.
When all UX principles are applied on a desired website, it helps cut off extra cost on a brand's part. This is simply because there's always room for changing, readjusting or totally taking out features and elements you don't need in order to give your customers premium satisfaction.

A good example of a great UX is the Amazon $300 million button. As a result of a simple UX fix on their website, Amazon gained an extra $300 million worth of sales. The 'register' button was only changed to 'continue' and customers on the website increased by a whopping 45%. This was because customers felt they didn't need to go through the burdensome registration process just to purchase an item. The amazing thing was that nothing other than buttons were changed; the purchasing process was and is still the same.

With RDM providing the right UX design for different businesses, our clients do not have to worry about their customers leaving because that'll be the last thing on their minds after getting that ultimate satisfaction they solely desire.

Article written by Oge Okonkwo

This is a feature by RDM