creating seamless user experiences in website design

CREATING SEAMLESSUSER EXPERIENCES

HUB & SPOKE

CREATING SEAMLESS USER EXPERIENCES 2

Userexperiencedesignisacollaborativeprocess

involvingseveraldisciplinesthatcreatesdesign

productsuserswanttousetointeractwithyour

business,regardlessoftheplatformtheyaredelivered

on.Inlighterterms,thatmeansuserexperience

placesfocusongivingyourcompanyaunified

messagecreatingabrandusersfeelcomfortablewith

andwanttoengagewith.

Explainervideoshavebeenproventoincrease

conversionrates;theyexplainwhatyourbusiness

doesinafun,yetinformativeway,andpeopleshare

themacrosstheirsocialmediaplatforms,increasing

yourbrandawarenessandexposure.

USERS COME FIRST

Astheterm“userexperience”wouldsuggest,the

usercomesfirstinthedesignprocess.Whetherthe

productiswebdesign,printdesign,videoproduction,

photographyoracombinationofanyorallofthese,

thefocusisonhowtheuserwillperceivethem.Will

theuserfindthemappealing?Willtheuserwantto

becomearegularvisitorofyourwebsite?Willthe

CREATING SEAMLESSUSER EXPERIENCES


userwanttobuytheproductorusetheserviceyour

companyprovides?Userexperiencedesignaims

tohavearesounding“yes”astheanswertothose

questions.

Withuserscomingfrommultipleplatformssuchas

desktops,mobilephonesandtablets,itismore

importantthanevertohaveaconnectedbrand

thatuserswillidentifywithregardlessofhowthey

areapproachingyou.Yourunifiedmessageshould

translatejustaseasilytoabrochure,forexample,that

theuserwouldholdintheirhand.

DESIGNING WITH USERS IN MIND

“Userexperience”wasfirstconceivedbyDr.Donald

Norman,acognitivescienceresearcher.Hewasthe

firsttostatethat“designdecisionsshouldbebased

ontheneedsandwantsofusers.”Sincewemarket

ourbusinessestogenerateinterestinourproducts

andservices,itmakessensethatwewouldcreateour

brandidentityandunifiedmessagewiththeuserin

mind.

Userexperienceinvolvesdesigningwithusersinmind

ratherthansimplycreatingadesignbasedsolely

onyourbusinessmodel.Thepointtoanymarketing

programisultimatelytoattainthegoalsyouhaveset

outforyourbusiness,butintoday’sbusinessworld,

thefocushasshiftedtotheuserandwhattheywant,

orwhattheythinktheywant,whentheyseeyour

brand.

Therearemanywaysuserexperiencedesignerscan

learnwhatwillappealtoyourcustomers,andoften

severalofthesemethodswillbeemployedtogain

valuableinsight.Focusgroups,personadevelopment

anduserinterviewsareafewofthemethodsthat

generateideasfordesigningwithusersinmind.Itmay

seemadauntingandexpensiveprocess,butitisone

ofthemostimportantstepsyouwilltakeincreating

connectedbrandsyouruserswillreturntotimeand

again.

Actualdesignelementsarecreatedbasedon

informationlearnedfromthetargetedusers;this

wherelogodesignandcolorscomeintoplayaswell

asfontstylesthatwillappealtoyourusersandbring

yourbusinesstomind.Topointouttheeffectiveness

ofthisportionofthedesignforyourunifiedmessage,

thinkofthecolorsredandyellow,andtheletter‘M.’

Userscanidentifythecorporationbeingreferenced

immediately.


HOW USER EXPERIENCE CONNECTS BRANDS AND USERS

Userexperienceinvolvesconnectingbrandswithan

interfacethatisaccessibleanddesirabletousers.

Puttingyourcompany’svisualproperties,designand

languageinsynccreatesaconnectedbrandwhich

givesyouaunifiedmessagewhetheritisonyour

website,inavideoorinprintedmatter.Theinterface

portionistheflowyourcustomerwillexperience

whencompletingthestepsthatareyourendgoal;a

sale,asign-up,orservicecontract,forexample.

Asyourconnectedbrandsrolloutandusersinteract

withthem,yourbrandidentitywillestablishitself.

Iftheuserexperienceisasmoothprocessand

providesthemwithsomethingtheyneedorwant,

theywillbecomeconnectedtoyourbrandthrough

anaturalprocessandcontinuetoassociateyour

brandwithagoodexperience.

THE BENEFITS OF ACUSTOM EXPERIENCE

Thefirstquestionthatcomestomindmightbe,

“Whatisahandcraftedexperience?”Thinkofitin

termsofwhyyoushouldtrustanexperttodevelop

youruserexperience.Anexpertinuserexperience

designwillworkwithyoutodevelopastrategyfor

yourbrandthatwillstrivetoreachthegoalsyou

havesetoutforyourbusiness.Fromthere,theright

expertwillhandcrafteachelementofthestrategy

tocreateadistinctandunifiedmessagethatwilltell

yourcompany’sstory.

Youmayfeelyourcompanydoesnotneedthe

servicesofuserexperiencedesigner,butaccording

toJoshPorterofBokardoDesign,“Thebiggest

misconceptionisthat[companies]haveachoice

toinvestintheirusers’experience.Tosurvive,they

don’t.”

USER EXERIENCES IN THE FUTURE: RESPONSIVE WEB DESIGN

“Daybyday,thenumberofdevices,platforms,and

browsersthatneedtoworkwithyoursitegrows.

Responsivewebdesignrepresentsafundamentalshift

inhowwe’llbuildwebsitesforthedecadetocome.”

AsstatedbyJeffreyVeen,VicePresidentofproducts

forAdobe.ThisreferstousersaccessingyourWeb

contentviasmartphones,tabletsandotherwireless

devicesthatcreatetheneedforcontentthatwillbe

user-friendlyacrossallofthoseplatforms.

Atonetime,Webdesignmeantcreatingpagesthat

werefasttoloadandlookedgoodoncetheydid.

Now,usersareaccustomedtocontent-rich,interactive

Webcontentthatdeliverstheinformationtheyseek.

Withamassiveswingtowardsmobilewebaccess,and

literallythousandsofdevicesbeingusedtoaccess

theWeb,responsivewebdesignisthekeytousers

beingabletoviewyourcontentnomatterwhatdevice

theyareusing.

Inlayman’sterms,responsivewebdesignisableto

querythetypeofresolutionbeingusedtoaccess

theWebcontentandadjuststhecontentaccordingly.

Asitethatmayhavethreecolumnsonadesktop

PCwithawidescreenmayonlyhaveonecolumn

onasmartphonescreen.Responsivewebdesign

eliminatestheneedtocreatemultitudesofappsfor

everytypeofplatformbeingusedtoaccessyour

content.


DOrememberthatuserexperience

designencompassesseveraldisciplines

andisacollaborationofmediadeliveries

suchasWebdesign,printdesign,video

productionandphotography.

DOunderstandthatwhileyourbusiness

objectivesarethefundamentalgoal,focus

isplacedontheuserthatwillbeusing

yourmarketingtools.

DON’Tconfuseuserexperiencewith

usability;thesearetwodistinctterms.

Userexperiencereferstotheemotional

response,whereasusabilityisthe

interface’seaseofuse.

DOknowthatuserexperiencedesignis

notlimitedtotechnology;itencompasses

allvisualelementsofyourbusiness.

DON’Texpectimmediatemeasurable

results;itdoestaketimeforyourunified

messagetoestablishyourbrandidentity.

DON’Tdismissthevalueofauser

experiencedesigner;anexpertwillguide

youwithconnectingyourbrandsinaway

thatappealsbesttoyourusers.

DOrealizetheWebandcontentdelivery

isanever-changinganimalthatrequires

responsivedesign,notstaticcontent.

DOworkcloselywithyouruser

experiencedesignteamtocreateabrand

youcanstandbehindandbeproudof!

DO’S AND DON’TS OF USER EXPERIENCE DESIGN

THE CASE FOR USER EXPERIENCE

ThomasMannstated,“People’sbehaviormakessense

ifyouthinkaboutitintermsoftheirgoals,needs,and

motives.”Althoughthisquoteisoveracenturyold,

itcertainlyrelatestouserexperienceandthegoals

behinduserexperiencedesign.Connectingbrands

anddeliveringthemtoyourusersinanefficientand

user-friendlymannerwilladdresstheirneedsas

outlinedinThomasMann’squote.

Userexperiencedesignisaprocessthatcreatesa

userexperiencethatevokesanemotionalresponse,

whichconnectsthemtoyourbrand.Itisabout

creatingagreatexperience,regardlessofthedelivery

platform,whichyouruserswantandneedtoreturn

tobecausetheyactuallyenjoyedtheexperienceand

havedevelopedasenseofloyaltytoyourbrand.Itis

aprocessthatisaboutconnectingbrandsthroughthe

useofcolorsandhandcraftedelementsthattellyour

company’sstoryandcreatesaunifiedmessageyour

userswillcometorelyonandimmediatelyassociate

withyourbrand.


Hungryformore?Thisisonlyatasteoftheknowledgethatwe

canbringtoyoutomaximizeyourusability.Wheatheryou’vegot

anideaorhavenoideawheretostart,we’reready.

Contactustodaytoscheduleyourriskfreeconsultationtolearn

moreaboutuserexperienceandhowHub&Spokecanconnect

yourbrand.

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