Establishing your business’s online presence has become a fundamental need rather than a secondary step. In the wake of the 2019 pandemic, a large chunk of interaction, social and business, has escalated online. The user’s journey is as important as functionality to stand out in the crowded digital marketplace. Whether your business needs lean or complex distributed infrastructure, software, a website, a platform, or a mobile application, your product’s user experience (UX) and the flow of operations within and beyond your product (CX) are fundamental factors for the success of your business. This blog will learn about the top UX best practices essential for any business operating in 2022.
What do we mean by UX?
User experience defines the social and emotional relationship between a consumer and your product. Don Norman of the Neilsen Norman Group coined the term, describing it as encompassing “all aspects of the end-users interaction with the company and its services, and its products.”
You might have heard of the term UI (user interface) and be wondering, UI vs. UX? It is a common misconception. User interface refers only to the front-end of your product that interacts with end-users. UX design entails the UI of your product and customer service, accessibility, personalized marketing, brand identity, and the product’s emotional impact on the end-user.
What constitutes a good UX?
A good UX accurately represents your business and communicates your brand effectively. It is engaging and accessible to your audience. It should lead them through an “experience” journey that fulfills their expectations. An effective UX leaves a positive impression on your target market that urges them to interact further. A successful UX design team incorporates the core product and UX trends with the expectations and needs of consumers.
According to a report published by PwC, 80 percent consumers say that convenience and speed are the most important factors to good customer experience. In other words, a good UX depends on ease-of-use and loading speed, for its users. The study also suggested that 33 percent consumer will leave a brand if they don’t have a seamless experience on the brand’s website. So your objective with a good UX should not only be ease and speed, but also include the most rewarding way to perform an action on the website.
Building an excellent UX in 2022, requires proper UX research and insights into consumer behavior. Germain UX is a cloud-based and on-premise automated solution equipped with tools to help businesses boost their UX through experience monitoring and smart insights.
Real User Session Video Recording & Replay
UX Friction at Scale
And because nobody has time to watch thousands of videos, offers a number of visualization options and search capabilities to help identify UX frictions at scale, so you only watch the User Replay Video(s) that affect your business the most.
Find out how Germain UX can help you perform UX best practices.
UX Best Practices in 2022:
Here are some essential things to keep in mind for an optimal UX design in 2022.
1. Focus on the customer’s journey and needs
UX design trends are moving away from the typical metrics in 2022, and instead becoming more user-centered. To make a product that customers will want, you have first to understand the needs of your target customer—research what your direct competition uses as tools and tricks. Then, carry out surveys to understand customer expectations.
Your UX design team should understand how customer interaction will vary from first-time users to regulars and how you can add value to their experience. Think about how each part of the UX affects your customer’s decision-making and what you can do to improve it. Finally, continue gathering end-user feedback after implementation to continue improving your product.
Your focus should be on the customer journey, as that leads to conversion. Make sure you are answering your target customer’s answers, anticipating their needs, and making recommendations for improving their experience on your website.
2. Use design to tell a story
And because nobody has time to watch thousands of videos, offers a number of visualization options and search capabilities to help identify UX frictions at scale, so you only watch the User Replay Video(s) that affect your business the most.
3. Minimize clicks
If you have mapped out how your customers will interact with your UX, you can now figure out how many steps it takes them to get from point A to point B. 2022 is all about streamlining these paths as much as you can. Giving your customers too many choices may confuse or discourage them. Instead, your UX design should use interactions that provide the end-user clear purpose in their next step. Use visual proximity to ensure your end-user understands the function of their choices.
4. Be accessible through user-friendly interfaces
Gone are the days of over-cluttering. One of the major UX trends in 2022 is simplifying your design for ease of use. So, don’t clutter up the design with too many elements. Overstuffed visuals, overloaded texts, and distracting pop-ups are common UX design slips that can turn away customers. While it can be essential to be engaging, do not sacrifice functionality for design. The design should complement the product function, not the other way around. Take a look at the Airbnb booking experience below, as an example of user-friendly UX.
5. Offer personalization for customers’ delight
Gone are the days of over-cluttering. One of the major UX trends in 2022 is simplifying your design for ease of use. So, don’t clutter up the design with too many elements. Overstuffed visuals, overloaded texts, and distracting pop-ups are common UX design slips that can turn away customers. While it can be essential to be engaging, do not sacrifice functionality for design. The design should complement the product function, not the other way around. Take a look at the Airbnb booking experience below, as an example of user-friendly UX.
6. Testing
UX designers and developers are becoming more open to the idea of testing in 2022. Run your UX design through user tests, like A/B testing and session recording, that help identify potential weak points. Testing can expose certain aspects of the UX that are not working as intended. It can also specify if certain product features are not as necessary as expected.
7. Improve your UX gradually
Every design is a work in progress. A few unexpected hiccups are expected even after your UX is operational. One of the best UX practices in 2022 is creating feedback systems that ensure such issues do not affect your pipeline. Monitor your system to identify and resolve these issues consistently. Then, analyze the feedback to improve your product for the end-user experience.
8. Accommodate diverse customers
If your brand manages to create a connection with your customers through your website, it’s going in the right direction. For this, you need to think outside of the box and outside of your typical user persona. Build different personas for your target audience, see if you can diversify your pool of customers by appealing and marketing to a specific subgroup through rewards, voucher codes, and offers.
For example, if your e-Commerce business introduces a specialized product for Pride Month or Black History Month every year, and advertise it on your website and other digital platforms. Your sales might go up during those months. So, you should always keep expanding your audience and keep the unique needs of your diverse customers in mind, while you design the UX for any business.
How to monitor UX?
After implementing your UX design, you need to monitor your product and analyze unforeseen problems. Use customer feedback and real-time monitoring to keep on fine-tuning your UX.
With software like Germain UX, you can monitor users and processes end-to-end and gain behavioral analysis and statistical insights.
Schedule a free demo with Germain UX today.
In short
In 2022, user experience (UX) has become fundamental to the success of your product, whether a website, application, or digital software. Figuring out the right UX for your business requires extensive research, carefully considered design, and rigorous testing. Monitoring real-time user experience can help streamline evolving UX and eliminate problems for your clients.
