UX design stands for usability design. Usability is one of the most important factors for any website and, all else being equal, if a visitor finds your competitor’s site easier to use, they will prefer using it over yours.
Slow loading times, confusing navigation, unusual design elements and badly planned content can all affect the usability of your site. Here is a guide to UX design and why it is so important.
What UX (user experience) designers do
UX designers essentially ensure that a site makes sense to the users. They do this through testing its ease of use and working out how appealing it is based on factors such as engagement levels and usefulness.
Experienced UX designers can test your website to ensure it is up to scratch. Their aim is to make your site as useful as possible for your visitors to ensure there is nothing that is turning them away or encouraging them to leave your site and seek out your competitors instead.
The key is to give your site the edge by ensuring it is the best that it can be. Often, a website may look great on the outside, comprising a beautiful and unique design. However, this can lead you into a false sense of security because it may not actually be performing as you expect.
You won’t know until you get your site tested by a specialist, so don’t rely on guesswork.
UX testing is a specialist skill
UX designers rely on years of experience and specialist tools to find out exactly what your site is getting right and where it can be improved.
Consultants will test a wide range of areas and then analyse the results, providing you with feedback based on these results. They will then make recommendations about where you can improve your site to make it more user friendly.
Key benefits for you
The obvious benefit of hiring UX designers is that you are helping to differentiate your site from your competitors’ sites.
You should be doing everything you can to make sure your site stands out in a competitive environment, especially if you operate in the travel niche. By taking the results and applying them, you can improve your site and give it the edge.
Customer satisfaction is also likely to go up when you make sure you are doing everything possible to improve the user experience. If you are considering a site redevelopment, testing can highlight problems that you may not have even realised existed, and you can then have more focus when making changes. Provide visitors with what they want and you could help to boost customer loyalty.
Overall, the main benefit is hopefully increased conversions. It is possible that a better user experience can reflect in your bottom line, so this is a great reason to give it a go.
Get a more usable website
Usability is so essential for your travel website if you want to get the edge over your competition. So find out how a UX designer can help you, and make sure you are doing everything you can to ensure your website is as good as it can be.