Importance of UI/UX Design
We are living in a highly competitive manufacturing marketplace. Literally, everything happens in cyberspace now! And, if an enterprise wants to engage with its audience, the best way to do it is through its website/application. A website is a window of a business that provides the user with all the details about the product or service the business offers. Since the website is the face of your business, it becomes necessary to ensure a UI (user interface) that offers the best UX (User Experience).
People often tend to confuse UI and UX. Although they are related, UI and UX are quite different from each other.
What are UI and UX?
The user interface is the visual part of an operating system or software through which the user interacts with them. UI design refers to enhancing the aesthetics and interactivity of the web or mobile application.
UX or user experience development focuses on improving the overall experience of the user when they interact with the OS or software to achieve customer satisfaction.
When computers first made an appearance, their usage was restricted to those who were adept at coding. But soon they evolved with the help of graphics and simple layouts make it easy to use them.
Fast forward to present times!
Visual design is incorporated in websites and apps, enabling the user to access what they desire easily. Modern designs offer visual communication, making websites user-friendly.
Impression counts! This is true for a website where the first impression helps engage your audience. It is not just enough to engage the consumer, but websites now strive for repeat consumers. For this, it is imperative that the website has a good design and loads quickly. As the market becomes more and more consumer-driven, the design of UI becomes important because now there is a need to provide the consumers with the best UX. Research indicates that a good UX has the potential of increasing customer conversion by 400%!
Designers tread into 2019 with a hope to take on the challenges of a competitive market with innovative UI concepts that offer the audience a better user experience.
It is relevant to understand what aspects of the UI design defines the usability of a website to the user:
Loading speed of a website is one of the most important factors. 40% of users leave a website if it takes over 3 seconds to load. The fact remains that if the loading speed is reduced from 8 to 2 seconds the conversion rate can increase by 74%. (Digital Apeel)
Design aesthetics also play a vital role in the success of a website. 52% of consumers will not return to a website if they are not happy with the aesthetics. (Source: Digital Appeal)
86% of users expect to find relevant information about the product or service of the company. (Source: Digital Apeel)
In a world where people seek everything on their fingertips, responsive website designs are very essential. In fact, mobile digital time stands at 51% in comparison with desktop time which is 42%. And this trend is bound to increase. It is not only a responsive design, but the design should also offer a good UX. This is because data show 52% of users will not engage with a company if they are dissatisfied with their mobile experience. (Source: Digital Apeel)
Let's delve into the basic UI design process:
Step 1: Understanding the clients’ objectives
In a design process, the designer understands what the client wants his website to depict. The designer conceptualizes the design based on the client’s needs.
Step 2: Identify the audience
For designing a website, it is important to understand who your users are, why they need the website, and how they will be using the website. Designers can create user personas and define use cases based on their understanding of the users.
Step 3: Competitor Analysis
The designer will need to conduct a competitor analysis to get an understanding of what they are providing and where they lack.
Step 4: Research
Every designer needs to research before he starts with the creation of the design. He needs to update himself with the latest trends in the market and the UX guidelines.
Step 5: Concept
Based on all the above inputs, the designer creates the concept for the website to be designed. He summaries the user stories and creates a user flow. This is communicated to the various team members, client, etc. by storyboarding.
Step 6: Sketching
After this, there is brainstorming among the team members and the sketches for the basic layout of the website is prepared. Following this, a wireframe based on the user needs and user journey is prepared. Several iterations are carried out before arriving at the final wireframe.
Step 7: Prototyping
Images to be placed on the website are designed. Once the wireframe with designs is ready prototypes are created. Prototyping helps in turning a visual concept into a tangible one. After this, the approval of clients’ is sought. In the conventional method, there are a series of meetings, exchange of emails, telephonic discussions to finalize the design.
Step 8: Implementation of functionality
After the client approves the prototype, functionality is implemented
Step 9: Integrate UX
After designing the user interface, the designer builds the user experience.
Step 10: Testing
The website is tested for functionality and usability, etc. Based on the audit reports, further iterations are carried out until UI satisfies all the criteria for design.
It is a highly competitive environment for UI and UX designers. The way to beat the competition is to differentiate your designs from what is available in the market. 2019 has some innovative offerings that can help create power-packed designs.
Some of the trends that will influence UI designs in 2019 are:
Bold and Bright Colors
The UI will have vivid color patterns to catch the attention of the audience towards the brand.
Virtual Reality
Designers will leverage VR to add more depth and design elements to create more tactical designs.
Animation
Designers will make use of animations extensively to tell a story to their audience.
Conversational Interfaces
2019 will witness more designs that offer the users the option to interact through voice.
In Conclusion
The goal of any business is to enhance its revenues by increasing its sales. UI and UX design play a vital role in enabling the company to reach its goals. Users have numerous choices today. The onus is on designers to create such designs that catch the eye of the user and engage them. The UI should provide such an experience to the user that it leads to conversions.
Are you looking for a better design for your application or website? The UI and UX team at V2Soft will be able to provide you with customized websites that ensure you surge ahead of your competitors!
Let’s Talk! Contact Us to have one of our experts reach out and discover how we can help you with your challenges.