User Experience (UX) Explained for Best Practice Website Creation

 

Image created by me

Think about the last website you used. What do you remember about it?

is it the content you are thinking of or the experience? If it is the

experience that stuck in your mind, then it’s most likely because it was

not the best one. Using a successful website, you are supposed to get

engaged with its content and not to think about the technology. Which

button or link you have to press should intuitively lead to your actions.

If you want to find out, in simple words, the importance of universal

design, UX and UI when developing websites, then you are in the right

place!

First of all, what is UI, UX, and Universal design?

•  UI (user interface) website design concentrates to the visual

elements such as buttons, icons, colours, and the rest of

aesthetics.

•  UX (user experience) design focuses on how easy and fast users

can go through the process of using website and most importantly

how they feel during it.

• Universal design principles help to create websites which are

pleasing and accessible, not just to target users but all users.

People of different ages, abilities and disabilities should be

considered in process of making websites.

Now when you know the meaning off all the design mentioned above,

let me explain their importance in websites.

I am sure many of us had experience of opening home page of some

website and closing it down pretty quickly just because it was way too

confusing. A good website should be pleasant to the eye and easily

navigable. The user should feel comfortable and confident, smart and in

control. In order to achieve that, UI, UX and Universal design have to be

used in website development.

If you are still with me, In next few paragraphs I will explain how to apply

Universal design principles to create a good website.

The home page of the website is like a greeting person in your office. It

should greet a customer (or potential customer), explain your business,

and make sure the user is feeling cosy, comfortable, and ready to

explore your business. Imagine if you go so someone’s workplace and

you are feeling lost. There are so many doors around, and you don’t

know if they are locked or not, you try to push and pull each door until

you find the right one. Doesn’t feel good, does it? It’s the same situation

with the home page of a website. A visitor to the site shouldn’t be

checking all the buttons or links trying to find out which one to press. It

should be clear what will happen next if you press on something. The

user shouldn’t feel lost and confused. If your visitor feel good on the first

page of your website, then there is a better chance that he will became

your loyal customer.

So how do you create a home page or a whole website that will impress

and engage your visitors from the first glance? Firstly, use UX design

from the very beginning of the design process. It might be extra work,

but it will definitely be worthwhile. Fixing a mistake after a website has

been designed and created is much more complicated and will cost you

in time and money. Understand your customers, create personas but

never forget that you are creating website for potential users, not just

target users.

The colour palette of the website has to be not just pleasing and

attractive but also suitable for colour-blind people. There are many types

of colour-blindness and 1 of 20 people are affected by that in one way or

another. Before deciding on your colours of your website, use special

tools which simulates colour-blindness. Check out this article 

by David Nichols for more information.

To make your website intuitive, do not try to reinvent new patterns, but

use already known ones. For example, a red button should be used to

cancel, forward arrow should be on the right-hand side of a backward

arrow, and so on. Don’t confuse visitors creating new unfamiliar icons

and try to group all the related element together.

Another very important rule everyone should follow is “less is better”. It

will help you to create a fast, easy-to-use and clear website. Question

every feature to find out if it’s crucial, and if it’s not, don’t use it. As

simple as that. Don’t cluster your website with extra buttons or other

elements.

I hope this has helped you to understand more of the importance of the

Universal design, UX and UI, and has shown you some simple and

practical tips to make a better and more usable website.

If you want to dive deeper in to the principles of Universal design. I found

the following Bitovi, Thee Digital and Design for founders articles very helpful.

Thanks for reading and don’t hesitate to ask any questions!