For those of you who are either building software or a website, or are thinking about it, let me give you this INCREDIBLE advice.

The best way to have a shot at success with your software begins with a great UI/UX.

Some of you may be asking….
What’s a UI/UX?

Wikipedia states that in computer science and human-computer interaction, the user interface (UI) refers to the graphical, textual and auditory information the program presents to the user, and the control sequences (such as keystrokes with the computer keyboard, movements of the computer mouse, and selections with the touchscreen) the user employs to control the program.

User experience (UX) involves a person’s behaviors, attitudes, and emotions about using a particular product, system or service. User experience includes the practical, experiential, affective, meaningful and valuable aspects of human-computer interaction and product ownership. Additionally, it includes a person’s perceptions of system aspects such as utility, ease of use and efficiency. User experience may be considered subjective in nature to the degree that it is about individual perception and thought with respect to the system. User experience is dynamic as it is constantly modified over time due to changing usage circumstances and changes to individual systems as well as the wider usage context in which they can be found.

Let’s get down to the nitty gritty of it. Right now we are living in this Web 3.0 space. That mean’s there aren’t supposed to be Pac-man like animated gif’s used on your clogged up looking website. These days, the clean, crisp look is in. Some of my favorite sites are Freshbooks (screenshot on left), Basecamp, Tumblr, Wufoo, Eventbrite, and Yelp are just some of the great ones to name a few.

It amazes me how many crappy UI’s are still out there. Bascially what has happened is that some nerdy, geeky programmer decided to build his own software program and then neglected to hire some sort of web designer to implement a great looking user interface. Yet he sits there and wonders why people aren’t signing up for his software, why they have so many questions and complaints, and why they are canceling the software after the first month.

The easier you make it for your customers to navigate around and have a greater user experience, the less questions they are going to have and the longer they are going to stay a customer. It’s really that easy. Don’t get me wrong, you still need to have great customer support, great product, and competitive pricing, but most customers leave websites because they are too hard to use, aren’t intuitive or they get lost. Take the time to hire a great graphic designer and integrate their clean, crisp look with your software/website. You’ll have a better chance of winning.