UX/UI

In the modern world, the majority of customers have already experienced multiple website interfaces that are complex and difficult to use. The main goal of UX and UI designers is to avoid this, by making it easy for the end-user to achieve their goal whether it be informational, transactional or navigational.

 In this article, we’ll be looking at why it is important to develop an intuitive interface and how UX and UI designers to aid in this process.

What is UX / UI?

UX stands for User Experience whilst UI stands for User Interface, whilst they are related terms, they have distinct differences that connect both the user journey and the business strategy.

UX and UI designers have different roles throughout this process;

• UX – The main role of a UX designer is to develop an interface that will be intuitive for end-users. A UX specialist will analyze user behaviour, the overall goals of the business and, with this information will design an interface that will accurately lead the user through a positive user journey.
• UI – A UI designer develops the design of buttons, forms, fields – that is, all points of interaction between the user and the interface, taking into account certain factors, such psychological ones. As it is important to understand how certain shapes and colors affect a user’s perception.

Mobile Interface

If you’re thinking about developing a web application exclusively for desktop, it’s important to weigh up the pros and cons of doing so. Currently, more than 54% of global users access different websites and apps through their mobile device (StatCounter,2022). So, you can imagine just how many missed opportunities businesses might face if they don’t have a mobile responsive design of their website.

Simply put, a mobile web application design is the creation of a smaller version of your main website, with additional responsive features. The main task of developers and website designers is to create a user-friendly interface that pushes a customer along the purchasing funnel. You can see some difficulties they may face in our article: 3D configurator for mobile devices. In the current consumer landscape, you may notice that many websites and applications have similar navigation, layout and style. This is due to overall simplification for end users, making sure that they are able to easily browse, search and purchase products.

UX / UI Trends 2020-2022

• Dark themes are a trend that has stuck around for many years. Even the most simple user apps are implementing this feature following the likes of tech giants such as Facebook, Reddit, Twitter, YouTube, WhatsApp, Samsung One UI, Apple iPad, and iOS 13, Android 10 shadow mode.
• Shadows and gradients is another web application trend that continues to be a popular feature. There has been an increase in users wanting pastel color gradients, which should be taken into account when developing a web application.
• Minimalism and simplicity have many benefits when it comes to creating user-friendly interfaces. Adopting a minimalistic layout eliminates unnecessary graphics and focuses the user’s attention on the key features.
• 3D icons and illustrations. It’s no secret that 3D graphics are increasing in popularity across web design (We hope this is the reason you’re reading this article✌️). Such as the Apple macOS Big Sur interface which uses a series of 3D icons and emojis to capture the user’s attention.
• SVG and JSON animations are specific animations created by code. Through motion graphics, these animations capture a user’s attention and can be changed to suit a variety of settings such as when a user hovers, clicks or views a particular page. These animations are increasing in popularity as they don’t take up much device memory and can be created for specific website needs.

Some statistics on the UX/UI topic

• More than 54% of the world’s website traffic comes from mobile devices (StatCounter, 2022)
• List of the most popular web browsers: Chrome (64%), Safari (18%), Firefox (4%), Samsung Internet (3.3%), Edge (2%), Opera (2%) (StatCounter, 2022)
• 38% of people will stop interacting with a website if its layout is unattractive (Blue Corona)
• Mobile devices now account for almost 2 out of every 3 minutes spent online (ComScore)
• 94% of visitors do not trust poorly designed websites (UK Web Host Review)

Conclusion

If you want to save costs on implementing a user-friendly design for your website or application, it is important to understand the overall journey for end-users. Such as landing pages, scrolling features, buttons and simplification of the checkout process.

If these sections on your website don’t meet a user’s expectations it can discourage them from proceeding further; 

• The difficulty of use – can cause customers to purchase with your competitors as they may find pages and website functions hard to navigate.
• Untidy – website users in the modern age are savvy and aware of scam websites. If your website looks fake or misleading you will lose their trust and therefore a potential customer.
• Overloaded – if a website is overloaded with buttons, images or text it becomes difficult for users to navigate and they may miss important information about your products.

If you want to convert users and increase sales, it’s important to understand how even the smallest website function, color or button can influence a user’s experience.

We have expertise across a range of UX and UI functions that convert users to customers. If you’re confused about where to start on your website project, we will happily discuss your business objectives and needs. This allows us to design an interface that is easy-to-use and captures the attention of modern-day users. Contact us here or leave your contact details in the feedback form and we’ll get back to you! 

Discover more about 3D configurators for mobile devices.