5 Ways to Improve the User’s Experience
As consumers, we go about our daily lives using products and services that were designed to make life easier. We use apps such as Facebook, YouTube, Uber, and Spotify everyday, not realizing how much of a convenience it has been to us all.
Have you ever wondered why some of our favorites apps or websites are so easy to use? Or why we are even able to incorporate them into our daily lives? Well, first thing we all should know is these products I’ve mentioned didn’t design themselves. Secondly, it took some awesome product teams to figure out solutions for us to be able to enjoy their products, while also creating a convenience.
Some of us have great ideas for an app that may contribute to the lives of many individuals. Do you have a product in mind that you’re thinking about creating? You may have an existing product that can use some improvement. Here’s a quick checklist that you can use when starting on a new product for web or mobile. If it’s an existing app or website you can use this quick checklist to improve the overall user experience.
1. Problem Solving
As previously mentioned, we all probably thought of an app we would want to create. But before this can happen, ask yourself what problem am I solving. What void are you attempting to fill? Create a list of obstacles you feel individuals may be facing today, alongside a list of possible solutions. Offer solutions to an unsolved problem, or a completely new approach to an existing one will make determine how effective your product will be. The same applies to existing products. You must first identify the most common complaints from your user base. Embrace the feedback and attempt to filter which may be the most useful. Try and deliver these meaningful solutions in a future update. This is one way to demonstrate you are keeping your user in mind.
2. Empathy
Focusing on the user, should always be on the priority list. You must first distinguish who your user in order to properly resolve any issues. Great design is usually the result of excellent user experience. The best way to capture an excellent experience is to empathize with the user. Empathizing with users can lead to a better understanding of how to solve their problem. Creating user-driven stories can help you start to identify potential problems. Gathering enough feedback from users about how they feel about the product or service is vital if you’re trying to deliver a better product. Answering questions that keeps the user in the forefront also helps, for example, if you’re designing an app, you want to make sure you design for easy interactions. Ask yourself, “Does this feel natural?”, “Is this intuitive enough for the user to grasp?”, “Are these commonly used gestures?”, “Can my grandmother be able to use this on her own?”. Questions as such will help when creating simple and clear interactions.
3. Clarity
When designing for the everyday user, you must keep in mind simplicity is key. Some may say simplicity is only noticed when compared to something more complex. Although there’s some truth to that, users of all ages should be able to grasp the concept of your product. However, some apps or websites don’t necessarily need to be too simple to be effective. The complexity of some products still make for an excellent user experience. But what both simple and complex products have in common are their clarity and consistency from start to finish. In the early stages of any product’s research and development, the goals of the product must be clear. Answering for Who, What, Where, When, Why, and How, will keep the product’s cohesiveness. This clarity will be a solid foundation for effective design.
4. Consistency
Establishing a clear view of what the product goals are can contribute to consistency throughout your app or website. All users want to feel comfortable using your product. In order to provided the sense of comfort, your product should be designed to be somewhat predictable. If not, at the very least the functionality should be easy to learn and the interactions should always be consistent from the initial state. For example, if I go on a site to purchase a book, the checkout process should be a straight-forward transaction. I shouldn’t have to figure out how to pay for the book that I want. Also, if I don’t feel comfortable enough during the checkout process, my next step will most likely be to exit the site. The user must feel comfortable enough to navigate through your product with ease: this is how you keep existing users and attract new visitors. Ask your user for feedback and make sure the consistency you’re creating is user-friendly.
All users want to feel comfortable using your product.
5. Prototype
Any feedback is good, but the critical feedback from your users is what matters. Feedback pointing out difficulty using your product can be useful. Build on what your product may be lacking. I strongly suggest you test your product out before any release. A/B test to get an idea of what your user base feels more comfortable with. Use the tools that are out there, such as UserTesting.com, Invision, Principle, and many more that help you and the stakeholders obtain much more clarity of what’s being designed. Establish a roadmap to apply the changes you received from your feedback. Your users will most definitely notice the changes and comment for the active listening.
I believe the user experience is the most important part of any product. Many companies do a great job at creating a seamless experience for the user. And the result of that is an abundant amount of active users. If we apply these core principles along with others onto any future products, we’ll be contributing to satisfying users with better experiences.
