After learning how to improve your CX, now it is time to consider your UX. User Experience (UX) focuses on creating a seamless, logical and natural path around your site. A well-designed site will create an efficient UX, that suits the ever-diminishing attention span of a potential customer.
Designing a site to have intuitive navigation, clear signposting and engaging content will mean that you meet the needs of your users – offering answers before they have even thought of the question! Mobile devices require an even more intuitive and efficient design, so we have put together five key elements to take into consideration when designing mobile UX on your site…
Be Thumb-Friendly
Studies have shown that the majority of mobile users hold their phone in just one hand, using their thumbs to navigate, so it is vital that you take this into consideration when designing your site. Ensure that the buttons, menus and navigational elements are easy-to-access with a simple touch, swipe or scroll.
It is advisable to research heatmaps, as these show the areas that are most easily reached with one thumb – in general, place primary actions near the bottom of the screen.
Avoid having users repeatedly pinch, zoom or excessively tap when on your site, as it can cause frustration when having to perform many hand actions in order to read or move around a site. Also, used fixed positioning to keep CTAs present and accessible (this is also perfect for search filtering) and, on a technical note, make buttons and links at least 44px x 44px.
Less is More
Too much information on any sized screen can be offputting, however, on a smaller mobile screen it can be incredibly frustrating. Split individual actions within the user journey into separate full-screen elements, as this creates a naturally clean and clear design that focuses the user on a single task. Having larger, individual elements makes it more thumb-friendly, as bigger images or links are easier to accurately click onto, making for a UX that is quicker and more efficient overall.
Speed
Page loading times and conversion rates have been proven to be linked – and with nearly half of web users expecting a site to load in under 2 seconds, and the same amount abandoning sites that take longer than 3 seconds to load, it is vital to get your pages loading as fast as possible.
We have covered how to increase your site speed in previous articles, but beyond technical improvements, there are ways to make users think that your site is faster than it its. This ‘perceived performance’ is greatly influenced by having a visible system status that provides feedback whilst the site is loading – a spinning icon or a progress bar has been shown to minimise user tension.
Other options include providing a friendly and humanised message to reassure the user that your site is in the process of performing a task, alternatively, consider a distraction that is fun and interesting, or even displaying the skeleton of the page is preferable to a blank page as it tricks the user into thinking that the site is loading faster than it is…
Animation
Well designed and executed animations can be engaging for a user, and can highlight CTAs or help to direct users through their journey. Animations can also emphasise an action, so consider adding a compelling and interesting animated element to your site.
Gestures
The way that we physically interact with our mobile devices has broadened recently – where swiping left and right now feels just as intuitive as vertical scrolling on a mobile. It is recommended to use both within your mobile UX, with vertical scrolling being used for primary navigation, and with horizontal scrolling being used to show closely related items to the main page.
By having a basic understanding of how people use their mobile devices – both physically and online – it is possible to create a smooth, quick and convenient user experience.
Source