For leaders looking to digitally transform their business, UX is of great importance.
Three Components of UX That Matter for your Business Strategy
User experience, more commonly known as UX, refers to the way that your customer interacts with your brand. This includes all manner of digital touch-points, from marketing initiatives like blogs and social media, to the online product experience including purchasing options, customization, order fulfillment, customer service, and more. UX can also include offline facets of the customer experience, such as customer service, packaging, instructions, and delivery.
Great UX can improve customer perceptions of your brand’s trustworthiness, reliability, and quality, while bad UX can have devastating effects on attracting and maintaining new clients. As in, 88% of consumers say they are less likely to return to a website after a bad experience – that kind of devastating.
For leaders looking to digitally transform their business, UX is of great importance. Fortunately, UX is one of the more straightforward components of building a digital presence (depending on who you ask). In this article, we’ll break it down into three key considerations: Design, Product, and Customer Service.
1. Design: Navigating User Interaction
If you build it, they might come; if you build it poorly, they might never come back.
When designing for UX, consider how the user physically interacts with your product or site. Does the navigation bar successfully guide your user through your web experience? Do the product instructions make sense? If your customer has a question, is there a clear way for them to find an answer?
As Marketo explains: “As opposed to creating things based on what the designer likes, UX design principles say we should make things based on how it will make users feel and strive to create the best user experience possible.” Such an experience should foremost be intuitive and easy to navigate.
It’s important to note that UX and UI, or user interface, are not the same thing… but they are related. A UI designer is responsible for the visual identity of a web or product experience, whereas a UX designer focuses on a seamless customer interaction.
2. Product: Creating Customer “Delight”
Of course, user experience is not just about interaction with your company or brand, but about your product as well.
UX designers must put themselves in the mind of the consumer and think about why they would or would not enjoy a product, and what the product needs to “delight the user.” This can include aspects of your product including the product sizing, customization options, specifications, care instructions, and FAQs.
For example, a UX designer might include different photos of a product that comes in different colors so that a potential customer knows what the customization options look like. Alternatively, a UX designer may choose to set up the product listing so that when it is out of stock, it no longer appears in product inventory.
Good UX can also be as simple as including product weight and dimensions in the product listing. Or, it can be as complex as Amazon’s AR View feature which allows users to see what a product would look like in their home. Both solutions address the same customer need, while representing the spectrum of product management via UX.
3. Customer Service: Making UX Personal
In a perfect world, a well-designed UX addresses all customer questions and concerns without them needing to reach out for additional support. In the absence of a perfect world, good customer service is the next best thing.
But what is “good customer service?” It begins with providing answers, but it also includes creating a connection with the customer that makes them feel heard and supported. Customers prefer service that is knowledgeable, timely, and personal.
Customer service intersects with UX in the form of chatbots, interactive FAQs, automated text messaging, newsletters, and the like, as well as directing customers to other sources of information including call centers and in-person offices and fulfillment centers.
Digital Transformation and User Experience
UX is just one component of a successful digital transformation plan, but it is a critical one. The better your user experience, the more likely you are to convert potential customers to committed ones, and ultimately to loyal ones as well.
Want to learn more about UX and digital transformation for your company or business? Check out our eBook, Elevate Your Marketing Through Digital Transformation
