Being a vital part of User Experience, User Interface plays a key role in attracting, converting and retaining users on a site or on an app. When web development companies do not take appealing design elements into consideration, it can slow down loading time and complicate navigation which in turn can get in the way of the customer journey and result in unsuccessful conversion rates. When designing your next user interface, it must satisfy three standards to further drive the conversion rate: It should be attractive, inspire engagement and evoke an emotional response from the end user.
In this article we explore 6 of the most commonly made app and website layout blunders you can avoid in order to increase conversation rates.
Responsive design makes your website accessible across all of your users’ screen resolutions and devices. It is vital for customers have access to the best features of a website no matter how they access it. A design that is not properly optimized to be responsive will definitely prevent you from providing the best user experience, as it would require ‘more’ user effort, instead of reducing it.
However, it is not just the increasing number of people using their phones to access websites that is driving the need to have a responsive design. In 2005, Google released an algorithm that ranks mobile-friendly websites higher. Though once optional, responsive is now a key component that software development companies in Sri Lanka must also comply with. According to Digital Data 2018 for Sri Lanka there are 5.135 billion unique mobile users, that is 68% of the country population who are accessing the internet via cell phones. This growing market leaves more room for new software development that can elevate responsive design to the next level.
Call-to-actions (CTAs) condense all your conversion power into a single button. Whilst CTAs are the most commonly overlooked by UI designers, from color to copy, everything about them should scream “CLICK HERE”. Below are few features you can keep in mind when designing your next CTA.
Shape: Buttons that are clickable ideally should be rectangular shape and surrounded by whitespace to give it the required prominence.
Location: CTAs should be placed right next to the main proposal as this is the most logical next step in your customer’s journey
Color:Whilst it should follow the color palate of the rest of the website, it should stand out from the background and grab the user’s attention.
Size: A CTA should be big enough to stand out, but small enough to be inviting without becoming overwhelming.
Of course, the choice of color, design and the text on the CTA should work with the rest of the website design. Understanding customer’s purchasing behavior and psychology will also help you come up with the best CTA version for your needs. To learn more about the fascinating psychology behind CTAs and how it should be a fundamental part of web development read marketing expert Neil Parel’s “Everything you need to know about the psychology of the Call to Action”
84% of people trust online reviews as much as their friends (Inc.com). A recent survey also illustrated that 60% of consumers look for Google reviews before they commit to a business. No social proof means no real credibility for the products and services a business offers, which could lower your conversion rates. Social proof is organic marketing at its best, since it can ease the minds of those making online purchases than any well written product description. Even-though we understand that customer feedback, user-generated content, and testimonials may not be essential UI elements, there should definitely be a place for them on every relevant page because at the end of the day customers trust other customers.
Too much of everything
To ensure the best customer journey, stay clear of cluttered web design choices as it will frustrate the users. More information on the screen does not translate to higher conversion rates, in fact this approach will do the opposite. Having too many elements that compete for the user’s attention means the user can miss your CTA or an important offer or piece of information. Being overwhelmed and frustrated not only results in lack of sales, but it could also discourage the user from coming back to the website in the future.
We have listed down some rules of thumb to get you started on uncluttering:
1. Stick to three primary colors and limit yourself to no more than two font types. When picking colors, UI designers can also look into customer’s purchasing behavior and psychology to pick colors that will be most effective in the ideal layout. When trying to come up with a color palate fell free to use websites such as colorlover.com and Adobe Kuler.
2. If there are any Images being used on your website, ensure you are using high-resolution images to avoid any pixilation.
3. White space around elements can prevent websites from looking cluttered as it provides enough space for your users to rest their eyes.
4. Consider using UI animations as it can help guide users and create more visual interest.
According to The Aberdeen Group, 47% of people expect a web page to load in two seconds or less. Their study also found that a one-second delay in page load time equals 11% fewer page views, a 16% decrease in customer satisfaction and 7% fewer conversions.
These statistics are important for web development companies because not only is it important for conversion rates, but faster loading speeds will also make your website more discoverable, especially in 2019.
In the web development industry, with increased internet speeds, videos are becoming more popular. When used effectively, video is one of the powerful tools available for engaging an audience. Our brains also process videos about 60,000 times faster than they process text. Even though videos are able to transport more emotion and allow people to “feel” a product or service, they are incredibly underused by many UI designers.
We have listed down few quick tips you should consider if you’re already using video content.
1) Ensure there are lead capture elements to engage with the audience. For example, you can remind them to subscribe to the channel at the beginning for the video and/or thanking them at the end of the video for watching.
2) It is also vital that there are customized thumbnails for the videos, this will help encourage the visitors to watch your video.
In conclusion, UI design definitely has its own set of obstacles, but it can be road mapped to perfection using these tips. In the web development industry, it’s important to keep in mind that usability should always come first, but software developers and UI designers should play close attention to aesthetics, which are very much a part of the customer journey and it can definitely elevate the user experience to the next level. Remember to declutter your pages, design your CTAs in a way that grabs user’s attention, keep your imagery authentic and relatable to the content, and find a way to effectively use video content when relevant