6 Golden User Experience Rules for a Successful Website

Just designing a website these days is not enough to guarantee it becoming a success. Research shows that those who have considered user experience (UX) as part of the design process tend to have a much better chance of building successful websites with loyal users and higher conversion rates. We set out our 6 golden rules for ensuring the websites we design and develop are a success.

 

1. Conduct user research

The best way to determine what the users of your website wants, is as simple as asking them. Conducting research right at the very beginning of any project not only highlights potential issues you may face further down the line, but it also gives you valuable insight into the users thoughts.

 

2. ‘Don’t make me think’

If the user has a difficult time understanding your website the ‘user experience’ is poor. Clear, well-designed user journeys must be considered when designing a website keeping the engagement fluid, usable and easy to understand. A good website should allow the user to accomplish their intended task as easily and directly as possible.

 

3. Keep it simple

Users tend to lack patience for situations they do not understand, why stick with a difficult website to navigate or interact with when there are ten more options to look at on Google? We as humans naturally want things to be easy, if we can’t get it here, we’ll go elsewhere or ‘bounce’ as it’s technically known.

 

4. Stay consistent

Well designed websites with awesome user experiences are consistent. They are not difficult to navigate, they are well structured  for the sole purpose of making the users journey as simple as possible. Why? Because it’s effective. Let’s imagine you have two sections to your website and one user is likely to use them both. A lack of consistency across each section would result in effectively asking the user to learn twice. Once more than they should need to, so where possible stay consistent throughout your entire website.

 

5. Be intentional

Be intentional with the creativity of your website design. Even though UX should be a priority you do not want your website to be dull. Make sure you have enough creative elements to make your website unique but not too many as to make your website inconsistent and confusing. A fine balance must be achieved between creativity, uniqueness and functionality for a great user experience.

Photo by MusicOomph – Used under the CC2.0 License

6. Function over form

Sure, the website you design should be visually engaging, on-brand and generally a delight to look at. Most importantly, your website is there for a purpose and it’s this purpose you build function around. It is also important to consider that the website functions quickly and easily across multiple interfaces.

 

Conclusion

When striving to create the ultimate website or product, many designers fail to consider the user experience. Thinking about how a website will function and not just about the design seems so simple it should be hard to overlook, but believe me – it happens. If you’d like to work with a design agency which dedicates time during the design process to consider you and your customers feel free to get in touch on 0845 544 3626 or email us at [email protected]

 

Written byTony Conte

Founder and Owner of Brave Agency, an Integrated Agency transforming businesses through design, digital and marketing, helping you, our clients to get results by applying the right strategy.

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