5 Things Digital Marketers need to know about UX

Many designers and digital marketers are giving user experience more and more emphasis as the number of people interacting in the digital world grows. User experience can be a defining factor in whether or not a product fails or succeeds.

Most of the time, users and even experts confuse UX with usability when in fact the latter describes how easy a product is to use while UX is a discipline that starts with usability.

As technology advances and people’s mindset changes, user experience has gone on to accommodate more than just usability. It is important to consider all the facets of what makes for good user experience in order to provide the best product to the growing market.

User Experience and Usability are not the same

In recent years, designs that prioritize user experience have been in high demand. Many are even saying it is the most crucial part of the design process and quite well-known among the general public. Usability is one important factor in improving UX. But the deeper we dive into the technical aspects of things, the more the lines blur between usability and user experience.

Even experienced designers get the definition of the two terms interchanged quite often.

User experience is a person’s subjective opinion and feelings towards a product. It includes the product brand, expectations, and functional scope of the product. These are all factors that play a major role in great user experience.

Usability refers to the degree in which the product’s effectiveness, ease of use, easy to learn, efficiency, and number of errors. It is an important indicator of interactive IT systems or products. To put it simply, usability is about the functional aspect of the product.

User experience has four important elements:

1. Adaptability – Will people use the product immediately?
2. Desirability – Is the experience of using the product going to be fun and engaging?
3. Usability – Is it easy to complete tasks?
4. Value – Does the product offer value to its users?

Usability also has four elements to it:

1. Functionality – Can the product work as expected?
2. Flexibility – Can the product do more than what is expected besides doing the main task?
3. Industry design – Is the product aesthetically pleasing?
4. Learnability – Can people use the product without any additional learning?

User experience is valuable in digital marketing

UX is an essential feature in the digital world today. Consumers today are expecting that their needs are delivered to them instantly, whether it is finding the answer to a burning question they have, booking flights, online, shopping, or checking with friends.

The execution of all these processes needs quality user experience and makes a huge difference especially in businesses that want to attract their targeted audience and increase their conversion. E-commerce simply can’t survive without user experience.

User experience is a qualitative foundation for any marketing, not just digital marketers. It is more than just the promotion of a brand or product, it involves the product itself. Marketing, on the other hand, is in the business of making people want things and design is about making products that want people.

All these components come together to ensure that people get what they want and the products they get have value to them. Digital marketers facilitates the smooth flow between design and user experience.

UX helps increase customer loyalty

When you establish a good relationship between a company and its customers, you forge a bond that will last. That relationship becomes even stronger when both sides can communicate with each other face to face. But people’s ever-increasing reliance on websites, mobile apps, and in-store kiosks has disrupted that exchange between customers and companies.

Companies now tend to create a system that caters to online customers. However, due to poor planning or design, the system is inefficient, clunky, and awkward to use. When this happens, it can damage the relationship between the company and brand and erode their loyalty. People’s idea of a good brand has changed.

What other customers are saying weighs more than what companies are touting about their products and/or services. This is why people always check to see reviews before dealing with a brand or company.

Customer loyalty is another reason why you should pay close attention to your customer’s experience since it helps build rapport and also attract new customers to your business. To improve user experience, you need to have a deeper understanding of the needs, desires, and problems of your customers.

UX is not just about interfaces

There is this misconception when it comes to a user experience that believes in order to improve upon it you need to be creating beautiful interfaces that draw people in. Interfaces are part of good user experience but it’s only a small part of a larger discipline. Designing an interface is called user interaction design and commonly occurs on a screen. This process is only a subset of user experience.

In essence, user experience is about the relationship between technology and people. It is about designing and identifying that relationship. The more that technology advances and continues to disrupt the digital world, so too will the nature of the relationship between people and technology.

The rise of wearables and the Internet of Things is proof that this disruption is gaining momentum and will inevitably change the perceptions of user experience being tied solely on screens.

Talking about wearables, devices such as smartwatches, GPS trackers, and smart glasses are still in their infancy and will need further thought as to how they will be designed to fit the habits of their wearers. A tech-savvy user will have very different expectations compared to someone who is only just starting to explore what wearables have to offer to them.

User experience requires research

UX research is the process of understanding the behavior of different users, their needs, and attitudes using different feedback and observation collection methods. One main benefit of user experience research is it helps us better understand how people live their lives in order to better respond to their needs through great design solutions.

The biggest mistake a UX designer can commit is not including end users from their design. It is very common for amateur designers to think they can test any app or website without speaking directly to the users.

Experts will always recommend starting the design process by listening to users. User experience research helps designers avoid biases since they are required to create solutions for people different from them.

Any project should start with UX research. It will help them learn who their users are, what are their goals, motivations, and needs. It will also give them an idea of who they navigate a system, where they face the most problems, and how they feel when they’re interacting with the product.

Discounting user experience in the design of a project will only lead to that product failure. And although usability is an important component of user experience, there are other factors to consider that also play a part in great customer experience. It’s helpful for marketers to keep in mind that user experience is more than just customers interacting with the screen – a user’s feelings, opinions, and behavior should also be considered in the design process.