You’ve probably wondered exactly what ‘user experience’ (UX) means, or why you should spend your business’ hard-earned cash on it. Before we delve into some of the many benefits of integrating UX design and UX writing into your business development strategy, it’s helpful to set out a clear definition of what user experience is.
In plain terms, UX refers to the experience that an end-user has with an organisation, its products and services. UX considers how the user feels when they interact with a system, and their response to that experience. With that in mind, UX designers take a holistic approach when designing systems, considering factors such as information architecture and usability. UX writers complement this approach when crafting copy, making sure that the brand conveys its intended message clearly and concisely.
The UX discipline has gained popularity in the last five years as an underrated revenue driver. If you’d like to find out how, here are five reasons why good UX is good for your business:
1. It reduces costs down the line
The principles of UX are based on doing in-depth analysis, research and testing to identify exactly what your users want. UXers use this as the starting point when creating new designs and content during the prototyping stage. Prototyping is the process of mocking up what a system will look like. These mockups can be used for user testing to get feedback before publishing the final product.
If you’re clear on what your users want from the outset, your product will be geared directly to your audience, and you won’t have to spend money fixing usability issues later on. It has been proven that building a product that’s set up for success will save money in the long run. Generally, addressing design issues in the prototyping stage is far cheaper than making development changes down the line.
2. Increases conversions
Most businesses are concerned with how the money they invest will increase their customers, and as a result, their revenue. By solely applying aesthetic design principles, you’ll attract customers who think your product looks good. However, if they find your product unintuitive, poorly laid out, or contains too much information, they’ll simply use another product.
Many websites and apps miss out on potential conversions because of overcomplicated designs that drive customers away. Data from the Nielsen Norman Group suggests that users typically leave a website after 10-20 seconds, but those that demonstrate their value proposition effectively retain users for longer. Reducing the effort required to interact with your product will keep users engaged, and maximise the chance of conversion.
3. Improves your SEO ranking
In order to exist in such a digitally dependent landscape, your product or service will more than likely exist online, even if it’s a physical shop and you’ve only created a website to advertise your offering. A little known fact outside of the digital world is that good UX can translate to healthier SEO rankings.
Google, the world’s biggest search engine, has the objective of pairing its users with the best solutions to their problems. For that reason, user experience is a significant factor in its ranking algorithm. If your website is easy to use and helps users successfully complete their task, you’re more likely to gain favour with “the algorithm powers that be”, which will increase the visibility of your product through organic search.
4. Increases customer retention
One of the secrets of a long-lasting, successful business is the ability to retain customers, and creating a sense of brand loyalty goes hand-in-hand with that. One of the best examples of how UX can help to achieve this is Apple. Apple popularised the touchstone UX principles of simplicity and intuitiveness, which has delivered positive results with their customer base. As of 2021, Apple’s brand loyalty rating exceeded 90% for the third year in a row.
Customers who are satisfied with your product will return to it repeatedly and good design, which includes the copy and information architecture on the page, will also help to foster trust. Apple, which also currently stands as the biggest company in the world by market capitalisation, is a great example of how prioritising UX impacts a company’s ROI.
5. Reduces other business expenses, such as support costs
Similarly to the first point we discussed, you can reduce the associated cost of operating a partially-optimised system by designing your products well from the outset. According to 2020 research by Forrester, businesses who invested in good UX reported lower customer acquisition and support costs.
As discussed, a well-designed product will organically attract more customers, both through word-of-mouth and the favour of search engines, who often track how users interact with the products and services they recommend. Additionally, if your product is easy to get around, you’ll have fewer customers needing support, leading to reduced long-term costs. Forrester’s data showed that, as a result of their investment, these businesses reported an average 9,900% ROI.
The undeniable impact of good UX
Whether you’re a start-up or an established business, there are countless benefits of prioritising UX. Good UX can increase your revenues through improved SEO ranking, increased conversions, and reduced costs, allowing your business more money to allocate elsewhere. Aside from just the monetary benefits, fostering a good relationship with your users can have significant payoffs. Creating products and services that are easy to use will help you build a long-lasting relationship with your customers.
If you’d like to discuss how we can help you improve your users’ experience, please email us at contact@essentialcontent.co.uk.
