In today’s global marketplace, the battle for a customer’s attention has never been more challenging. Attention spans are shrinking, customer’s demands and expectations are going up and the margin for error is minuscule.
The user experience is so important because it is the gateway between person and product. Whether you use a website, app, software, or sell human-to-human, UX is the most important factor that influences a sale.
When creating a UX journey for a customer, you need to understand that the average buyer has around eight seconds of attention before moving on.
Because of this, it’s vital to hook your prospects attention up front. In this article, I’ll take you through some examples of UX journeys, and outline the elements that make a strong user experience.
What does a bad UX look like?
When Juicero tried to launch a revolutionary new product, their product had all the bells and whistles but failed to capture their customers.
One of the most criticized UX launches ever, it closed in 2017 due to such a catastrophic failure.
The Juicero went all-in on UX that was aesthetically pleasing but had no actual use or function – the high amount of variable conditions (wifi, the app, a certain model of phone) was just too much for the end user.
- Without an internet connection, there would be no juice.
- It had no controls and required the use of an external Apple or Android device to be used.
- It used icons on the machine which meant little to nothing to the customer.
- No noises or sounds to alert the user when the juice was done.
While the idea of Juicero may have been good, they immediately turned customers away through their UX.
The complicated UX signaled the end of the Juicero, showing that UX is critical to a product’s success.
What about a successful UX journey?
We were tasked with helping MonkeyLeague break into the hyper-competitive NFT market and sell monkey NFTs in a Play-To-Earn soccer game.
The NFT market is arguably one of the toughest to crack in the world. A young and fast-paced audience combined with a product that can be confusing at the best of times.
We had to construct a UX that would draw them in visually.
Moods can be changed by color. Blue is psychologically known to be a calming color whilst red is energetic. Complimentary colors engaged customers as soon as they landed on MonkeyLeague.io.
On the day of release, MonkeyLeague did what Juicero couldn’t and saw a rapid engagement of customers.
In just 22 seconds, 5,000 NFT monkeys were sold.
The UX of MonkeyLeague.io had a host of features that made the UX a hit success in a predominately tough market to crack.
Here’s what worked well for them:
- The landing page was scannable – it did not need mountains of reading and analyzing for the customer to understand what was going on.
- The simplicity and clarity of the text and images meant the customer knew what MonkeyLeague was offering.
- The design catered to their target audience – animations and colorful creative assets did not overwhelm the user but made it a vibrant experience that matched the creativity of the NFT market.
- It was usable, findable, accessible, and contextual – someone could scroll down the page and easily find what they needed or learn about the NFT.
Monkey League created a positive relationship with the user and taught them about the product. This relationship caused by UX can be infinitely profitable for a business.
That’s why it is so important for any up-and-coming tech or creative business to learn how to fully utilize UX.
What makes a strong UX?
The interconnectivity and rapidly-developing technology of today’s world means the standards of UX are always rising too. The way a business acts on this can make or break their entire organisation – deciding whether they go from industry leader to out of business based on a matter of seconds.
Using personal experience and what I have learned, here are some of my tips for what makes strong UX.
1. Remove any barriers
Take a look at the UX experience you have created – what is getting in the way of your customer doing what they want to in the quickest way possible?
Creating a seamless and fluid experience for your customer will make them love your brand so much more.
The biggest mistakes I see with UX projects come in the form of unnecessarily big UX designs – they make the road from A to B go in loops and turns when it should be straight.
2. Know your audience
This could be the most important aspect – do you know who you are trying to talk to through the UX?
The target audience will be mixed, each individual with a different need or want, but their collective desire is all the same.
Your UX should convey the simple message that you can be the solution to this overall desire, that you are the jigsaw piece to all their puzzles.
The best UX will also smartly disclaim that they are only going to get better and bigger as time goes on – in other words, if we can’t do what you want now, we will very shortly.
3. Don’t be scared to go all-in
Designing UX can be like a game of poker – it is risky and about mental processes, and if you get it right you can win big.
A lot of brands think it is safer to go with lots of details. This mitigates risk but ensures you will never win big.
When going with your UX project, you want to think about the big picture of your entire idea – not shoehorning small features for slight improvements.
Think about the industry-changing idea your product can be, and take this on board when creating the UX.
4. Always ask questions
A lot of UX projects become disasters because people simply do what’s been done before.
The problem with this is they either can’t recreate a unique project or the initial design is not as effective anymore.
Either way, trailblazing UX breaks the norms and shows the user something different.
The best designers are always asking “what?” or “why?” and aim to say no to industry norms. They want to shake things up, and that attitude will always result in projects that change industries for the better.
5. Avoid complication
Some of my favorite UX projects have shocked, surprised, and wowed me.
If not done correctly, they can become an annoyingly complicated experience.
Going too crazy with tech is a usual cause for creating overly complicated UX – think about the end user and what technology they will have.
Sometimes a simple animation done creatively is better than trying to use all the VR gimmicks.
Simplicity also means usability – if your user can’t load or digest your content, it will cost you money.
UX is impossible to measure when ranking its importance. It is those crucial few seconds your potential audience has with your business, and it needs to be fine-tuned to perfection in order to work correctly.
Regardless of how good your idea is, if you cannot fully leverage your UX to support it, the idea just won’t work. You need to be fully immersed in looking at who your audience is, what you are trying to achieve with this group and making their user experience as smooth and as easy as possible.
At the end of the day, the customer will only care about their experience – not the data gathered or finely-implemented features behind the UX.
When creating your UX, always aim to be solving a problem or achieving a goal. A strong UX does this through simple design, a big idea, and an understanding of who you’re talking to.
Guest Author: Yoval Bar Or is the CEO and Founder of PitangoUX, a well known figure in the Israeli startup nation and an expert in product UX/UI design.