Web Design Should Be Customer-Centric, and Here’s How
Tips on creating customer-centric design
Everyone believes that good web design is based on the client’s taste. If they like it, the web designer did a good job. If they did not, then they failed. But what about the current customer? The user of the website. Shouldn’t web design focus on the user and customer, not just on the client’s idea of their site? This article will see if web designers are duty-bound to design websites that appeal to their client’s wished aesthetics or the actual customer.
Defining Web Design Customers
Web design customers do not pay for the domain registration, hosting, or the website design itself. A web design customer is a user. The one that goes into the website, uses it and consumes its content constantly is the actual customer of the web design. The one who pays the web designer doesn’t want the design themselves. They want the design for their visitors and customers. After all, a happy client who can navigate the website and get what the business wants is suitable for the customer, the web designer, and the client.
So, what are some of the many tools and techniques that help website owners and designers create a website that serves the needs of their customers? Here we will tell you:
Take Advantage of Focus Groups and Surveys
Research in any business and for any task is vital. Designing a good website is essential to understanding your target audience’s needs, likes, and comprehension of design, user experience, functionality, accessibility, and other aspects. There are many ways that companies gather this information through metrics, tests, focus groups, and surveys.
Ensure Website Responsiveness
In today’s world, people are constantly switching the device they are navigating to the internet and having a website that adapts to the client’s devices from desktop computers, laptops, tablets, smartphones, and even smartwatches. This capability in web design is called responsiveness. It is so important that research shows that users will very quickly leave a website if it isn’t mobile-responsive. This responsiveness does not only mean that you change the size of your text or images. It means adapting the layout, optimizing the photos, and even adapting the logo presentation to avoid losing your identifier. Make sure you are there for your clients wherever they go.
Conduct A/B and Multivariate Testing
Once the website has gone live, it does not mean you should stop testing. Trends and users’ likes and dislikes are constantly changing, and you must test what is working and what should be updated or modified. A/B tests or multivariate testing are great ways to learn more about your website and its users. Anything that helps you keep your users engaged is a must.
Analyze This and That
We understand that not all businesses have the resources to run constant testing. Still, we fear not because web analytics and metrics can provide insightful information about your users and how they interact with your website and content. Tools like Google Analytics offer users a real-time analysis that lets you see what your site visitors are doing.
Integrate with Social Media
Social media integration is no longer an option; it is a requirement. Sharing has become a way for brands to get the advantages of word-of-mouth advertising with just one click. With how easy it has become, customers can let all the people they know about you and your product and link you so that everyone can get to your website or app in just a sec. Add social media buttons on your website and apps, and get the conversation going!
Track Engagement
A great thing about technology is its many options, not just in terms of what you can provide but on tracking tools too. Monitoring and analyzing the data you collect is critical for knowing what to improve and how to do it.
One example of a tracking tool that has become essential nowadays is click-tracking. This way, you can see exactly how users behave on your website. What are they engaging with, and if they are not responding how you want them to, you can correct them accordingly.
However, these tools work on an already designed and working website. This means it is not done before the design process starts and can cost a brand some of its reputation and money. This is why it’s better to start designing in a customer-centricity paradigm.
More Tips on Designing Customer-Centric Websites
Content contributes the most when deciding whether a website is customer-centric, more so than aesthetic. So, let’s look at how to make customer-centric content:
Use their language
Use the user’s language–we don’t mean Spanish or English. We suggest the vocabulary related to what they are looking for and the terms they will understand.
Make it about them
Get your customers to engage with the website using things like “you” and “your” so they have a feeling of belonging.
Say what they want
Sometimes, content showcases what the website owner wants. This can become a long monologue of self-promotion. Instead, focus on what will add value to your users.
Build credibility
Show what people say about you: testimonials, awards, reviews, certifications, etc. They all show that you are more than just what you say; you are proven results.
Not all customers are alike
Even when you sell them the same product or service, they won’t always be the same. Get to know the different segments of your customers and decide what you want your website to do: target them all. Target just one piece? Whichever you answer positively will mean a different approach to building your site.
Make engagement easy
Make it easy for your users to engage with your website once they are there. Have calls to action, engagement elements, and social media sharing buttons visible and easy to use.
Listen to your existing customers
Realize that customers do more than buy your products or services. How they interact and engage with your site and customer feedback is key to understanding how your content or site is doing.
To make a website successful, you need to understand what you are trying to achieve. Is it just an e-commerce platform, or is it a website your users will use to learn about you, your brand, and become customers? Answer this question and realize that user-centered design needs to go hand-in-hand with a customer’s needs, wishes, and pains. Make your website and content customer-centered, and you’ll achieve great results.
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