Mastering the UX design process - 5 key questions to ask

Feb 16

How often do you prioritise UX design principles and the UX design process?

When it comes to designing a successful website, landing page or app, the user experience (UX) should always be your number one priority. Taking the time to refine the quality of a user’s interactions with your products or services - as well as considering how they will interact with your systems - means you can offer a website or app that’s not only intuitive and efficient, but a joy to use too.

So, just why do so many B2B brands get their approach to UX design wrong? What can be done to improve website UX design and mobile UX design?

Here at Pod, we’ve compiled five seemingly simple but essential questions to stress when mapping out the UX design process - so you can get it spot on.

1. When did you last speak to your users?

“If you want to create a great product, you have to start by understanding the people who will use it,” says Don Norman, Co-founder and Principal of Nielsen Norman Group, a world leader in research-based user experience. And Don is so right.

When talking about UX, it’s often easy to forget that by ‘users’ we mean ‘humans’. We’re complicated and diverse beings, at the mercy of all kinds of emotions, preconceptions and expectations that might influence how we judge a website or app.

But if we can’t find what we’re looking for, it’s likely we’ll get frustrated - fast. In contrast, if we’re given a slick and seamless experience, then we’re much more likely to feel positive about the brand in question and stick around longer. The result? Higher conversion levels.

How, then, do you find out what your users need and expect from your products and services?

You ask them.

Unfortunately, key elements of the UX process are so often skipped due to time or budget constraints. But creating user personas and stories, and researching what your users want, is a critical step towards getting your UX right. And, ironically, any upfront savings are lost further down the line, when you’re left with a website, landing page or app that doesn’t meet the needs of your customers or prospects.

Are you prioritising:

User testing?
Customer surveys?
Monitoring how people use your platforms?

All of these will give you valuable insights to help you make informed decisions on how to best refine and enhance your digital offerings.

2. Can your user journey be streamlined?

Leading on from this first point, it’s also worth paying attention to what users do, not just what they say.

How easy is it for users to find what they need on your website? How many clicks does it take them to complete a task?

Wherever your user is during the buyer journey, the structure and content of your website, landing pages or app must quickly meet their demands. Can they quickly find relevant content, such as white papers, videos or testimonials, and does the platform’s navigation make it simple for them to access this information?

Structuring content in a logical way not only looks better from a design perspective, but it’s scientifically proven too. A streamlined and efficient user journey reduces cognitive load - we’re being kinder to our users’ brains, and they will thank us for it.

With so many potential user journeys and user requirements to satisfy, it’s vital to consider:

Who is landing on your application?
What have they come to achieve?
How will they do this?
Why are they doing this?

3. Is your website optimised for mobile?

Over 55% of website traffic now comes from mobile (1). Given this statistic, it’s surprising how many B2B websites are still not optimised for mobile.

Do you know how and where users are accessing your digital products and services from? Are you using a responsive design? Have you considered the size of different mobile devices, and how these might be held? Can forms be optimised for mobile? How about the size and location of CTA buttons?

With increasing numbers of users accessing websites from devices that aren’t a traditional computer, it makes sense to ensure your services are seamless, whether across mobile, tablet or desktop.

4. Is your user interface design consistent?

A huge element of UX for digital products is the visual aspect: user interface (UI) design. As Dr Ralf Speth, CEO of Jaguar Land Rover, says: “If you think good design is expensive, you should look at the cost of bad design.”

In short, poorly-designed UI negatively impacts UX. Meanwhile, an aesthetically-pleasing and interactive UI design, which is consistent with your brand guidelines, can give your business a real competitive edge.

While visual design can be seen as being subjective, the best UI design will still be based on human behaviour and perceptions, plus proven design principles. This might range from visual hierarchy - how images, headings and copy is organised - and the power that white space can bring to a design, to the relationship between elements and colour theory, for achieving a palette that’s well-balanced and visually interesting.

Essentially, you want to optimise as much as possible how users process the information they are seeing on their screens, and UI design is critical for this.

5. Are your CTA buttons too vague?

On the average webpage, users have time to read, at most, 28% of the words during an average visit - 20% is more likely (2).

The truth is, users still primarily scan web pages. They look for keywords that can direct them to what they’re ultimate goal is. That’s why your call-to-action (CTA) buttons are so important, too. They act like a signpost, encouraging users to take a desired action.

Whether you want people to sign-up for a service, download a report or subscribe to a newsletter, if the CTA isn’t super clear then the user won’t take action.

A phrase like ‘click here’ doesn’t mean anything in isolation. Instead, use a specific phrase, like ‘start my free trial’. This provides much greater context, and users are clear about what will happen next.

In addition to the language being used, the placement and even the colour of CTA buttons can make a difference.

Ultimately, each of your webpages needs a core goal - what do you want your user to do? Try to steer clear from having multiple goals for a webpage, and instead focus your energy and efforts designing the UX to achieve that core goal.

You might also be interested in our blog on how to convert more customers with a stronger call to action.

So there you have it - 5 essential questions to ask in order to master UX design.

As a UI/UX designer, it’s my role to help businesses find that sweet spot between the user’s needs and their objectives. That’s the challenge and reward of my role, and by asking these critical questions you stand the greatest chance of success.

Keen to talk about all things UX and UI with Natasha? Get in touch.