Ghanaian Companies Need More UX Designers On Their Staff
You know what the top companies like Uber, Google, Amazon and Microsoft have in common? They’re all top tech companies who approach their products with a user centered design approach and have staff full of good developers AND UX designers.
It’s not an accident that these companies are at the top of their league.
In this day and age, if you’re a company trying to grow and be successful, you better make sure that the users who use your product are getting the best experience possible.
Unfortunately in Ghana, I don’t think we’ve gotten the message yet.
I recently posted on why Ghanaian businesses need to make sure that their websites are modern and up to today’s standards. This is a kind of part two of that earlier post.
Who is a UX Designer?
If you go on job sites in Ghana and you search for “UX/UI designer”, you’re not going to get a lot of hits. It seems that what most companies are looking for are web and app developers. That needs to change.
So who is this “UX Designer”?
User experience (UX) design is basically the process of enhancing a user satisfaction’s with a product by improving the usability, accessibility, and pleasure provided in the interaction between the user and said product. A UX designer is someone who works on creating that wonderful experience for the user.
Ok. Now that we’ve got definitions out of the way, let’s talk about what’s happening in the Ghanaian space.
Why Is This App/Website So Bad?!
Sometimes, I like to check out Ghanaian websites and also download and try out new apps especially created by Ghanaian developers. I download, try it out and after a day or two, I delete it from my phone. The same goes for Ghanaian websites. I visit once and then I never go back.
I’m pretty sure this happens for a lot of other people. So why does this happen?
Bad Visual Design
Most of the local apps developed are ugly. Sorry. That’s a fact. The problem is that most of the apps being developed are by developers who are not the best when it comes to visual designs * #NotAllDevelopers
Buttons are too small, font is difficult to read, not enough helpful information when navigating the app…I could go on and on.
Works Great On Web, Terrible On Mobile
The problem with some Ghanaian companies is that they sometimes fail to consider that most users these days are on mobile. So what tends to happen is that web version of their business website is not responsive or doesn’t have a mobile version. In the end, users are stuck with a bad experience on their mobile devices.
Having a UX designer on site, businesses could easily avoid this problem because the UX guy will make sure that the user’s good experience on the web is the same as the experience on their phones/tablets.
Benefits on Hiring a UX Designer
A UX designer can be an enormous benefit for a company. They have positive impact on the customer service division of a business. By designing a seamless experience for both web and mobile, end users will not go back and forth with customer service to solve simple problems. In effect, a UX designer can help reduce your operating costs.
If you’re considering developing a mobile app for your company, try to get UX designers on the team as well as app developers. Users don’t like or have the time for bad app experiences. 90% of users say they stopped using an app because of bad performances while 86% of them deleted apps because of bad design and functionality. Having a UX designer can help to stop the bleeding of users due to bad app experiences.
It’s The Users, Stupid!
There are times when I wonder if companies who put up websites and mobiles actually use their own products. Because if they did, then I’m truly baffled as to why they went ahead with product launches.
You know when a website or an app is bad after using it.
You want to create a good first impression for your users when they first use your product.
There’s no way you’re enjoying using a desktop version of a website on a mobile device. There’s no way.
This is why UX Design is important. User Testing is something that comes into play with User Experience. User Testing is basically bringing in end users to test your product and give you feedback. If the users have a lot of complaints about your product during testing, that’s a red flag.
That crucial feedback from the end users is something that you can use to refine your product before you release it to the mass market.
At the end of the day, those are the people that matter: The Users. Without them, you have no business and you’re dead in the matter.
Get Started With User Experience Design
I understand that it might take a bit of time before User Experience cements itself in the Ghanaian space. But there’s nothing wrong with getting a head start.
If you’re an app developer, I recommend you learn about UX Design. If you’re a startup, trying to incorporate user experience design in your business and product.
For the big companies, there’s almost no excuse.
Ghanaians complain a lot of services and businesses. It’s something that seems ever present. It’s almost like a race to the bottom. But if one company can outshine the result and deliver stellar experience for users, I can guarantee you that company would be high on everyone’s recommendation list.
Joseph-Albert Kuuire is a UI/UX Designer and currently the Technical Lead at Userhub Africa, a UX Lab in Accra. When he’s not talking technology, he’s honing his writing skills by blogging and writing poetry.
