UX: The science of communication

What is UX?

UX stands for User Experience and it is the most essential aspect of a website; get this wrong and you've defeated the whole object of having a website in the first place. You're online for one reason: for the convenience of your customers. These days, customers expect to see companies online in order to scope them out in their own time.

What difference does it make?

If you're a regular internet user, it is safe to assume that you have come across websites that are boring, confusing, or just plain don't work; sometimes they might even make you angry. As a customer, would you be willing to shop on a website that made you angry? Certainly not; it's essentially the same as being served by an unhelpful or even rude sales assistant. You would be very unlikely to return to that store.

That's where the sociology and psychology make their entrance into this techy world! At Grow, we study the user experience; how individuals interact with - and react to - different interfaces. We strive to create something unique each time; something that no user has seen before. But that poses a threat: if something is so new and unusual, how will they know how to work it?

Making things more user-friendly

Another aspect of user experience we focus on is streamlining their experience in order to make navigation and interaction a breeze. Therefore, as we create the new and unchartered, we have to seamlessly blend it in with tried and tested elements of the old. This ensures that, while it still looks new and different, users will instinctively understand how to navigate it.

Helping your customers understand you

•  Branding: customers must be able to take one look and know its you.
  
  
• Provide the relevant details: think of your website as an extension of your customer service; failing to provide the necessary information will portray your organization as having poor customer service. That tells the customer that you don't care about them.
  
  
• Convenience: websites are made to convenience the customer. If you're a restaurant or a store, put your products on there with the relevant data and prices. Enable eCommerce for increased convenience and revenue (something not all your competitors have cottoned on to just yet).
  
  
• Service: open channels of communication across social media networks and respond to your customers promptly. Allow website visitors to find these social links on your website so that they can stay up-to-date with what you're offering.
  
  
• Melding pot: your interface, content, design and branding must blend together seamlessly. Your website must represent your entire company as that single entity: the website. It's a tricky thing to get spot on, but it's absolutely achievable.

Grow is an award winning Digital Agency specialising in deploying psychologically optimised digital marketing solutions that generate high ROI for its clients.