Getting to a user-centered experience

It’s unanimous. Every marketer today wants a “user-centered” website. So why do so few have one?

It ought to be simple enough. If we just put ourselves in the user’s shoes, shouldn’t we be able to create a simple, intuitive site – one that gently but firmly leads prospects to the completion of desired actions? Sure, but you’ve got to be laser-focused on eliminating distractions and conflicts that detract from the user experience.

Would “Bob” like it?

To get your site off on the right foot, use personas – composite sketches of your most important users, drawn from interviews and observation. If you can uncover their behaviors and mindsets – how they navigate, how they feel about transactions, whether they make decisions on their own – you’ll be on to something.

Plot out the different ways that a “Bob” or a “Jessica” or an “Alejandro” would approach your site and validate that it would meet their needs and goals. The results may cause you to re-prioritize features, alter your information architecture, or shake up your design.

Think like a product designer.

If yours is a service-oriented business with a strong online focus, your web experience is your “product.” So approach it that way. Like any cutting-edge product design, user-centric web design requires an ability to manage all kinds of moving parts:

• Technology that is constantly evolving, from search engine optimization practices to browser advances (spurred by HTML5) to video player styles
• Standards and testing – to ensure compatibility with multiple browsers and mobile platforms
• Different types of users visiting your site for different reasons
• Business owners and stakeholders with varying opinions and agendas.

Your team is really the product development team – for the most important product your company offers. Only by fully synthesizing all these considerations will your team arrive at a solution that works.

Design for simplicity.

Making it simple is hard. Design can help or hinder. We’d argue the best design is the most invisible. In other words, don’t get in the way.

• Think of the user as being on a path. Conspicuous design causes users to “sightsee,” distracting from the path to engagement.
• Don’t think of design as “subjective.” On an aesthetic level, it may be. But at the interaction level, visual hierarchy and design choices can very much influence where (or whether) people click. Keep questioning, testing and refining to increase design effectiveness.
• Use a visual vocabulary users are fluent in. In the same way we need to speak the user’s language – by being clear, simple, jargon-free – think twice before radically altering design elements users have come to expect.
• Provide feedback. Users want control. Use visual cues – breadcrumbs, progress indicators, subtle changes to buttons and hot spots – to help them. Don’t rely on instructional text – your design shouldn’t need explaining.

Test, test and test some more.

On the web, results matter, and you know immediately whether you’re getting them. Test constantly during development (and after launch) to identify bumps that are preventing engagement or reducing conversions. Remember, testing need not be protracted or expensive. Simple usability tests – where users think and talk out loud as they navigate – are cheap and robust.¹

And you’ll be amazed at the insights you turn up. Users will point out areas of confusion that would never have occured to you, no matter how well you wear your customer hat.

UX goes beyond digital.

Above all, understand that user experience is not just about your site. It’s a key component of everything your company does for its customers and constituents – engineering, marketing, graphical and industrial design. Truly effective UX is but a subsystem of a greater nurturing whole.

Let’s Talk. 
Is your site as user-centered as you’d like it to be? Let’s talk about how to create a simpler, more rewarding experience for your customers.

¹Jakob Nielsen, Thinking Aloud User Testing, January 2012