User experience (UX) involves the entire experience the user has when they come into contact with a company. The term was initially created by Don Norman who was a co-founder of the Nielson Norman Group. He described UX in the following way: “User experience encompasses all aspects of the end user’s interaction with the company, its services, and its products” Your end user is human and therefore a “human first approach” is always necessary. Whilst technology can do amazing things nowadays, if this technology causes the end user confusion or frustration, it needs to be addressed and a smoother, more user-friendly alternative found. When a user lands on your website or your app, they need to be able to achieve their goal. For example, if the goal is to make a purchase, ensure the user can find what they want easily, be inspired, have an easy checkout experience, and provide them with confidence that what they have bought is a high-quality product that will match their needs. Whilst providing a good user experience sounds like it would be a simple task, it can be a major challenge and something that will continually need to be adapted. A good or bad user experience can truly make or break the success of a website or app. Users are aware of the capabilities of technology and expect companies to use this technology to make the user’s experience as easy and enjoyable as possible.

User Experience Statistics

To truly understand the importance of a good user journey, here are some key statistics from Zippia that indicate why user experience should be a top priority for businesses

You risk losing visitors

• 88% of online shoppers won’t return to a site after a bad user experience
• 70% of online businesses fail due to bad useability
• 70% of users abandon shopping carts due to poor UX

First Impressions Matter

• Better UX design increases a website’s conversion rate by up to 200%
• 94% of first impressions are related to your website’s design
• 38% of users will stop engaging if the website’s content or layout is unattractive
• 52% of users won’t return to an app with bad aesthetics

Consider how long your website takes to load

• 39% of users won’t engage if a website takes too long to load

Think mobile first

• 38% of users will stop interacting with a poorly designed mobile app or website
• 85% of consumers believe a company’s mobile website should be at least as good, if not better than the desktop website.
• A bad mobile experience annoys 48% of users
• 52% of people say a bad mobile experience makes them lose faith in a company

Bad UX can impact brand loyalty

• Following a poor user experience, up to 89% of people have switched to a competitor’s website

To be a successful business and a brand that customers continue to return to or recommend to others, a good user experience is a crucial element. Do it right and customers will come back and rave about your business, becoming the ultimate brand advocates. Get it wrong and the results can be severe and extremely damaging. Your end user is the most important person, so ensure they are happy with what they see when land on your website as this will help form a lasting positive opinion of your brand. You only have one chance to make a good first impression as a person and this is the same rule for websites. Are you confident your website is the best representation of you as a company? No? The good news is, UX can be improved by making simple changes. In fact, according to Zippia 85% of UX issues can be solved by only testing five users. Don’t think you need to undertake huge amounts of research to discover what is wrong with your website. Asking the correct questions and undertaking a user experience audit can help highlight the issues and provide you with solutions. Here at DBS, we offer a FREE User Experience Overview to help you unlock opportunities to grow your business.