Can you guess how many people wouldn’t return to your website if they had a bad experience? Research says 8 in 10 people. User experience is a pivotal factor that aids not only in more traffic but also a better engagement rate. It’s no longer a surprise then that people have come to expect things such as fast loading websites, easy navigation when it comes to tools and a touch of innovativeness in design.
One thing that every brand should achieve when it comes to designing in today’s world is the ability to create meaningful user experiences. At Brucira, we understand the difference this can make and we are here to share with you our 3 step model that we personally use. Let’s look at it.
Define your audience and the outcome they seek
The first step revolves around asking yourself two important questions: “Who are you? What do you do?” Get into the bottom of what your product/service’s purpose is. For example, one centric principle around which Apple’s products are made is simplicity. Why? Because they know their audience seeks that outcome.
You can see that same principle being applied on their website as well. There isn’t too much clutter and everything is well categorized. It’s important to always learn about those you are designing for, before the process starts, while you are designing and in an ongoing way as the experience is being delivered. Why? Because when you know your audience, the outcome they’re seeking, you’re in a much better place to create user experiences that give value and are meaningful to them.
One way to do this is by having an open interaction with them. Approaching your users with humbleness and curiosity and creating many aspects and contexts of the design where you listen to what is meaningful to them.
When you find out that your users value simplicity or the ability to navigate faster or that they value some features over the other, your team is in a much better place to make consistent decisions that drive meaning. The result is an experience differentiator that acts organically to attract users and customers.
Imbibe emotions and storytelling
What is the first thing you can think of while looking at this animation? A person’s to-do list? Or a tool that helps increase productivity? Or a tool that can help prioritize tasks and add time periods to each task? When we were in the process of creating Brutask, a simple to-do list that was initially meant for just our team, we yet again understood the importance of imbibing emotions and storytelling into the overall user experience.
You should think of your experience as, “How do I want to make the user feel in each stage of the experience?” The animation for Brutask signifies accomplishment and feeling productive which are two emotions we wanted to signify.
Simon Sinek, in his Ted talk, shows a great way to imbibe storytelling into your user experience. He says that most people communicate from the outside (What > How > Why) For example: Hey, I sell a service. It is amazing. Would you like to subscribe? Instead he recommends to reverse the order (Why > How > What) For example: I believe that when people are motivated, they are happy too. That’s why I made this service after years of research on motivation. Want to subscribe to it?
The reason behind your why should be highlighted first while designing the user experience. The reason why you created this product or service, the reason why people will care or follow you or buy your product and most importantly, be loyal. That makes all the difference, doesn’t it?
Craft a compelling design
Now that you have come up with the outcomes and what you want your user to feel at every stage of the experience, write that down. Craft a design accordingly. For example, let’s suppose one of such outcomes is ease of use. You want the user to feel quick and decisive. The design of your experience should thus portray these emotions. You can have quick access to basic features on the home page, a website that has clear categories, etc.
Once you are done with the designing, make sure to test it on the users. Do they feel the same emotions? Are the outcomes being met? Is the experience translating into a value and meaning for them? If not, make changes to your design accordingly.
If you’d like to see how crafting a meaningful user experience can improve your product, please reach out to us at hello@brucira.com
You can also check out our blog for more useful articles on design, UI, UX and development: https://blog.brucira.com/
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