Why User Experience Matters More Than Ever in 2021
The burning need to push your brand, claw in profit and recruit and retain staff can relegate user experience evaluation to a lower priority. We show why user experience matters more than ever in 2021.
“Customer service should not be a department. It should be your whole company.” – Visionary internet entrepreneur and venture capitalist, Tony Hsieh
Much has been written about how fickle modern consumers are, and how much shorter their attention span is. Largely thanks to the internet.
The same could be argued for beleaguered business decision-makers!
This environment makes it harder than ever to attract and hold their attention. As well as making it more important than ever before, to provide a strong user experience (UX).
Keeping your customers happy is the only way to secure their business, then coax them back to buy more.
If you’re really successful in pushing all the right buttons, you hit the jackpot and create advocates. This is when customers have such a good experience, they tell their friends and family about it. Pure gold dust.
What does a good user experience look like?
User experience goes beyond interaction with your company.
Clearly, much of what we do as a leading web design agency is about building sites that provide measurably effective UX. Incidentally, we also focus on User Interface – which involves the way your brand is delivered across pages, designed to look amazing too.
However, though your digital platform is crucial, positive UX is not solely confined to how well your website matches the needs and interests of your target audiences.
You can make or break your relationship with customers with your telephone answering abilities, customer service expertise, Returns Policies and a host of other engagement activities.
According to US customer relations expert Nielsen Norman, UX now goes beyond interaction with your company. It hinges on how well your services and products perform too. For instance, if an item bought from you breaks too quickly, customers have plenty of places to post bad reviews and complain, without talking directly to you!
It comes down to this… Every contact point with a customer should be a positive experience for them. If not, all the good stuff goes out of the window, and they can be a very unforgiving bunch!
Statistics to prove the increased value of UX
People now spend more time looking at mobiles than they do TV screens.
Much of this process starts on your website, where positive UX can frame all future interactions.
Let’s look at some enlightening figures.
Use of the internet – for education, entertainment, research and buying – has escalated enormously over the past 18 months. The natural result of a global pandemic, which created lockdowns and a surge in remote working.
In January 2021, 4.66 billion people around the world used the internet. That was 316 million more than in January 2020. Social media use grew by 490 million in the same 12 months. These are conservative estimates!
People now spend more time looking at mobiles than they do TV screens.
Now here’s a real eye-opener… On average, people spend 7 hours per day using the internet on their various devices. That’s two days out of each week.
If this trend holds fast for the remainder of 2021, we are talking 12 trillion global hours on the internet, which is the equivalent of 1.3 billion years!
Carving your share
Focusing on UX gives your company a competitive edge.
With all this internet time comes a greater awareness of what your competitors offer, and each individual’s ever-widening buying choices.
The fundamental fact is that the demands and expectations of internet users have grown exponentially.
You no longer need to focus on UX simply to create or maintain your competitive edge. You actually need it to survive.
No matter how good your products or services are, engaging with users meaningfully via your website is the only way to convert leads effectively.
Where to start up-scaling UX
Consider your customers’ wants and needs with each aspect of your web design.
“Get closer than ever to your customers. So close in fact, that you tell them what they need, even before they realise it themselves.” – Steve Jobs
The basis of good UX is – in its simplest form – understanding your customers; their decision-making processes, influences and buying behaviours.
Then, putting that knowledge into action with every aspect of your web design – and the wider customer service that frames your organisation.
Taking regular temperature checks to make sure your UX is still hot, is equally important.
For UX evaluation, reporting and web design health checks, Factory Pattern is ready for action!