The aim of UX design is to make users feel comfortable and have a positive perception of a product or service. If all factors fit together, the positive user experience will have a lasting impact on a company’s business success.
In the following, I would like to gradually approach and answer the question of what contribution UX design can make.
What is user experience?
To clarify what user experience is, I would like to start with a quote from Don Norman and Jakob Nielsen. The two UX experts have formulated a very apt definition:
User experience” encompasses all aspects of the end-user’s interaction with the company, its services, and its products.
At its core, user experience always arises from one or more experiences in the interaction between two parties—for example, between a company and its users. This is why it is also referred to as user experience.
Schematic representation of the relationship between user experience and user experience
Basically, interaction is like interpersonal communication – there is always a sender and a receiver. As a result, it is always about the exchange of information. In this exchange, positive or negative user experiences can influence the user experience with a product or service.
The aim of UX design is therefore to create a positive user experience.
What factors influence the user experience?
User experience is the result of many different factors. Not all of them can be planned or influenced. However, UX design can help to promote as many positive influences as possible on users and thus on the user experience.
The 7 principles of UX design
User centricity
User-centricity means putting users and their needs at the center of the UX design process. All decisions – from product design to communication – are based on how users perceive a product, how they use it and what added value it offers them. The aim is to create solutions that solve real problems.
Consistency
Consistency refers to the uniform design and functionality of a product or service. Consistent elements such as color schemes, buttons and navigation structures provide users with a familiar user experience, avoiding confusion and increasing user-friendliness.
Hierarchy
Hierarchy refers to the prioritization of information on a user interface. The importance and order of content is made clear through the use of visual means such as font size, color or arrangement. This allows users to quickly understand which information is important and in which order they should act.
Context of use
The context of use describes the circumstances under which users interact with a product. This can be the place, the time or the device on which it is used. Good UX design ensures that a website, for example, adapts flexibly to the respective context and offers users an optimal experience, regardless of the external conditions.
User control
User control means that users have control over their actions and decisions within an application. They should be able to influence the process and always have the opportunity to correct errors. This gives them security and confidence in using a product.
Accessibility
Accessibility refers to the design of products and services that are accessible to all users, including people with disabilities. Information should be easily accessible and usable. This includes barrier-free designs that meet the needs of different user groups, such as through screen readers or keyboard navigation.
User friendliness
Usability describes how easy and intuitive a product or application is for users to operate. A user-friendly design is characterized by clear structures, understandable content and easy navigation so that users can achieve their goals without effort.
So there are many ways to positively (or negatively) influence a user experience as part of UX design.
However, there are also influences where UX design has little or no opportunity to improve the user experience. For example, bad experiences from the past with a product or service, prejudices or environmental influences can have a negative impact on the overall user experience. Although some of these can be taken into account in UX design, they cannot always be completely resolved.
Why companies should know their users
According to farming wisdom, happy cows give more milk. This sounds quite profane at first, but it can certainly be applied to users in the digital world. Satisfied users – i.e. those with a positive user experience – prefer to use a product or service and are therefore very likely to use it more often.
For this reason, companies should always be aware of whether and how well they know their users. More specifically, their interests, goals or even problems in relation to products and services.
The importance of companies knowing their users has been demonstrated by many studies in the past. For example, HubSpot also reported in an article in 2022 that 88% of users feel discouraged from visiting a website again after a bad user experience.(Article on HubSpot)
It is therefore more important than ever for companies to know the interests, needs and behaviors of their users in order to create a positive user experience for their products and services.
Adjusting screws for a positive user experience
In order to create a positive user experience, it is crucial – as already mentioned – to understand the needs and goals of the users. Good UX design is based on the approach of capturing the context of use of the users and analyzing the paths (the so-called user journey) that they take on a website or in an application. This is the only way to conceive and design products and services that meet users’ expectations and help them achieve their goals.
Understanding the goals of users
First of all, the target groups/user groups of a product or service must be precisely defined. Which users exactly should use a product or service? Women, men, older, younger, origin, language, etc.
It is also crucial to understand the context in which users operate. Are they visiting a website/service while they are on the move, at work or at home? Are they looking for specific information or do they want to complete a specific task quickly? The context of use significantly influences how the product or service must be designed.
It is also important to analyze the user journeys. These describe the path that users take to reach a specific goal. By understanding these steps, so-called obstacles can already be identified in the conception phase and targeted solutions can be developed.
Methods for planning a user experience
There are various methods for planning and optimizing the user experience in a targeted manner. The most common techniques include user interviews and observations.
Interviews can provide direct insights into the needs and expectations of users. Observations in the real environment (so-called shadowing) also make it possible to recognize partly unconscious patterns of behavior that the users themselves often do not notice and could not be identified in an interview.
Other techniques such as usability tests or A/B tests help to validate specific design decisions. Prototypes can be used to identify preferences or obstacles that can be incorporated into the further design process.
The creation of personas and usage scenarios also helps designers to better understand the different user groups and their specific needs. These methods make it possible to plan and continuously improve the user experience rather than leaving it to chance.
Conclusion
Successful UX design is not a product of chance, but the result of systematic and user-centered planning. With UX design, user experiences can be positively influenced. This gives companies the opportunity to actively build or maintain customer loyalty, which has an impact on sustainable business success.
