What is UX Design and Why Does Your Website Need It

Updated – September 27, 2022

The term UX design might sound like an average catchphrase you might hear at a startup meetup or webinar. However, let’s ascertain what it is actually about.

In a nutshell, the letters stand for “user experience,” referring to the person’s perception of the website when one is using it. The web-interface comes down not to the easiness of navigation, colors, or style of the product but to understanding value through the content. UX designer is responsible for forming the interface according to the analysis of a user’s behavior and experience while taking into account small details like the convenience of filling in the blanks and intuitive block structure. Also, they need to find a good UX design vs revenue balance, i.e be strategic with website design to use it for better monetization. It is a complex system, which is focused on users, namely their values, needs, and expectations.

In general, one can see the quest for simplicity in the digital divide, and the tools for development and visual design get easier. Even a person who doesn’t have extensive experience in IT can create, for example, landing pages, but to build a competitive resource, you will need to implement user experience optimization. Actually, the design plays a crucial role in engaging customers because 94% of a website’s first impressions rely on its visual part. As for other vital UX statistics, around 75% of a site’s credibility depends on its design.

Lightness, conciseness, and immediate solution to a task are the top factors required for delivering a satisfying UX to the modern public on the Internet. UX is about websites or apps’ performance, attractive and understandable appearance, and the process realized by a UX designer to achieve a smooth, efficacious, and easy experience obtained from using a particular product. The final goal is to improve user experience by showing empathy to the user by offering unique solutions to meet customers’ demands. All the mentioned steps are combined with the adherence to business goals and the company’s tasks.

Specificities of User Experience Optimization 

The concept of user experience optimization appeared relatively not long ago, being introduced by a professor and researcher, Donald Norman, in the 1990s. By improving user experience, you deliver positive emotions to the clients and enhance the percentage of returns to the site, conversion, and users’ general number. In its modern perception, the design is not only about attractiveness but also the understanding of customers’ habits.

For example, an experienced UX designer who is responsible for the site’s banner won’t primarily think that a particular shade of green is more beautiful, but about the perception of one’s work in general. Namely, how to make the banner look appealing and draw people’s attention. If we tackle the meanings of product design vs UX design, the first one focuses on the business needs, while the second – on users’ demands.

Let’s take a look at some of the most notable UX design examples:

• Google. Google Sheets check-in process utilizes a number of questions with alternative answers and opens questions. The first thing they ask is why do customers use their product because it allows understanding users’ needs and finding effective solutions. Besides, by questioning users, Google considers the aspect of speed and effectiveness and gets a complete picture of what the users expect from the product.
• GmodStore and Trello. These companies posted their development plans to find out how the users would perceive them. Anyone can see what they are working at and what has been launched recently. Users can vote for the features they like the most and what they want to see in the future. It takes customers on a deeper interaction level while improving feedback and cultivating trust and loyalty.
• Asos. This online store’s design is one of the most frequently mentioned successful UX design examples, thanks to its well-thought and intuitive interface. It has great pictures, understandable descriptions, and clear Call-to-Action phrases with transitions to different parts of the website, accompanied by free shipping.

The main tasks addressed by UX design services are the following:

• Setting project goals (why do you need a website).
• Development of the most possibly convenient product for the targeted audience.
• Analysis of the result: testing usability and determining whether the resource meets set goals and is convenient to use.

If the interface’s UX design is well-developed, navigation is logical and intuitive; then, the average user won’t even think about it, effectively solving one’s tasks. However, in the case of user experience optimization is poorly developed, the interaction with a product is like wandering through the labyrinth, where it is challenging to reach the final goal. Clearly, each user has a unique perception of a product, so one task can have multiple solutions. Thus, aim to hire a UX designer who will be able to avoid getting caught by the subjectivity trap and opt for the version, which will meet the demands of the majority of users.

What are the Responsibilities of a UX Designer?

Let’s consider the primary tasks of specialists it is necessary to keep in mind when posting UX design jobs:

• Developing structure and work strategy of UX design services

Before the professional gets to these tasks, one has to conduct a comprehensive analysis of user data, competitors, clients’ needs and objectives, as well as existing cases. Such an approach allows finding the most flexible and impactful solution.

• Developing communication tools in the design process

Depending on the task and general requirements regarding the project, a UX designer develops special forms of representing a final product, including:

• Wireframes. These are sketches and monochrome palettes, which are usually utilized as the project documentation and include the principal content structure, description, and basic visualization.
• Prototypes. It’s a simulation of the interaction between a user and the interface, which allows forming high-quality usability tests before developing the product.
• Mockups. These are graphic sketches or ready-made graphic design, including information structure, content visualization, and primary functions.

All the mentioned tools enable detecting interaction issues and make it more smooth and convenient. If you hire a UX designer, make sure he/she understands the expectations you put on him/her regarding the projects’ outcomes.

What are the Necessary UX Design Tools?

UX design tools are constantly developing to help specialists meet the evolving customer demands and make the development process more convenient. Some of the tasks can be automated and significantly facilitate the project’s implementation. To help you out, we have selected some of the most impressive and useful UX design software to show their characteristics so that you can choose the best one.

Sketch

This tool provides the opportunity to introduce universal changes with the symbols library, text or layers styles, or smooth resizing functions. Many third-party plugins provide a sufficient number of tools that can be easily integrated into Sketch and save designers time.

Axure

This one should be noted among other UX design tools for its high reproduction accuracy and prototyping and working process monitoring functions. It enables testing functionality, using popular prototyping and user interface tools, and focuses on communication.

Mockplus

This tool has everything required for your projects, from perfect visualized interactivity to the possibility of collaborative editing. It helps to turn your ideas into fully functional prototypes, balancing between usage simplicity and the availability of complex functions.

Adobe XD

This UX design software offers vector tools for creating prototypes and mockups with the interface. It has many complicated tools for UX designers, but also the ability to integrate dynamic elements into prototypes and mockups.

Marvel

This platform enables creating high-quality frameworks, interactive prototypes, and introducing testing. It offers anything a professional might require, presented in an intuitive interface.

Appsee 

This UX design software engages the function of tracking user activity inside the apps. It can help you get valuable data regarding how users interact with the application to optimize general performance and increase conversion.

UX Design Principles

If you have decided to improve user experience, you can’t go without generally accepted principles that help to make the design qualitative and comprehensible. Let’s go through some of the most impactful and essential UX design principles.

• Visual hierarchy

This principle is aimed to deliver essential information to the user, namely about the benefit, ease of use, and desirability. When applied correctly, it tells the person where to go next and what to do. In this way, a user will quickly orient on the resource and define what he/she should click on to get to the necessary part of the site.

• Intuitive and clear navigation

Avoid confusing the user with incomprehensible navigation that makes it hard to get to the desired function or find the necessary content. Engage all the navigation elements available on the platform, so you don’t have to introduce additional explanations. Besides, make all the website’s parts similar and let the user know where he/she is.

• Context is the key

In these means, context is about the devices used to access your web-page. It is necessary to project it in the way that it works great both on smartphones and computers, as well as in the office when you’re testing it and in a completely different environment.

• Give control to the user

The web-page should provide the opportunity to use additional functions or hide them. The choice comes down to the user who will decide whether he/she wants to introduce enhanced parameters.

• Usability

This principle’s priority is to make the customers’ journey practical and intuitively understandable. It’s also about the ability to use several functions at once, like listening to music and texting.

• Adaptivity

Your website should be optimized for its usage on smartphones because more and more people are using them to find the necessary information. Make sure your website has an adaptive design, which is displayed equally well in different browsers and devices.

• Consistency

When you hire a UX designer, he/she should understand it’s about having similar colors, fonts, mockups, sizes, and messages’ tone for each element. It simplifies the navigation and provides a smooth and connected experience from page to page.

• Keep it simple

One of the most significant UX design principles can be interpreted in the way that uniqueness is great, but one should avoid getting carried away. Your product has to be simple enough to avoid making users overthink. It is necessary to provide answers to the users’ questions without making people having to find them through the website. Don’t use too many colors; five will be enough and make sure your fonts are easily readable, using not more than two font types.

The next part of our article will tackle one of the most complicated yet interesting topics, namely UX designer salary.

UX Designer Salary by Countries (Annual)

When it comes to the average UX designer salary, specialists are best paid in the US ($85,277), Denmark ($72,792), and Norway ($60,421). They are followed by Canada, where the UX designer salary is $58,508. As for other countries, Australia pays $55,398, and Germany – $55,343, offering practically the same wages to UX designers. In the UK ($43,167), Netherlands ($51,734), and Spain ($40,189), the rates are quite close either. Meanwhile, Singapore ($32,641) and Ukraine ($30,000) offer lower yet still competitive wages for local UX designer jobs. In contrast, Poland ($21,505) is paying 48% more than Brazil ($14,510), and 2 times more than India ($10,237).

Improve User Experience For Cost-Effectiveness

If you have ever wondered how to hire a UX designer, it was the right kind of reasoning if you aim to cut costs without losing quality.

We understand it might seem that the implementation of additional activities, like UX research and testing, into the products’ development will enhance the time and finances required for the project. However, even when referring to UX designer salary, these actions save resources and enable developing the correct solution from the outset. It is much easier and cheaper to detect the issues at the design stage rather than when it comes to development or the launched product. If you invest a little more money at the beginning, it will bring many benefits in the long-run.

UX can help you identify serious issues and aspects requiring updates. The implementation of UX testing will provide the indicators relevant to your users’ experience, and with them, you can justify the expenses needed for implementing changes. Sometimes, a seemingly simple redesign can yield considerable benefits.

UX design is a complicated yet indispensable process for those who want to make their products successful, find the targeted audience, and be able to provide a great customer journey.

An attractive design will help your project stand out among other products and attract users, turning them into loyal customers. If you are questioning yourself “how to hire a UX designer,” you can feel free to entrust this task to Qubit Labs.

Our professionals will willingly consult you on the hiring process, so don’t hesitate to schedule a call.

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