" This should be kind of self explanatory isn’t it? How important user experience is when it comes to retention is just like asking how important Kohli is to the current Indian Cricket fraternity. "
User Interface & Experience:
The combination of User interface and experience (UI & UX as we label it) is nothing shmazzy but everything a user perceives, feels and sees when he/she visits your website or mobile app. It could be the video that pops up on the landing page or the color tone of the entire website, or the placements of the cool icons, or the interactive form, or the ease with which the consumer can reach the checkout page (if applicable), or the clarity of font; user experience in its essence encapsulates anything and everything.
And its every business manager’s job to understand how user experience defines customer behavior and how this aspect can be controlled to increase sales, which is what every business is about at the end of the day.
First Impression is the Last Impression:
And we can’t stress enough the importance of that first impression. If you don’t pay heed to what your users see or feel when they visit your website, how will you end up optimizing it?
The overall interface is what affects the outlook of an end user. Is he/she greeted with a video that’s too long? Is there a form asking for personal details right off the bat? Are the brand colors too dark to suit all audience types? You need to ask these questions before you let your website go live, otherwise, this negligence could be detrimental to how your brand performs.
Content is and Always will be the King:
Now we’re not just talking about text or words in general, as there’s more to website content than what meets the eyes i.e. photos, videos, color shades and more. Users should be able to connect with most elements on your website i.e. right from the logo to the lightness/darkness of backgrounds, to the text written and the images used on the website – everything should portray a theme which should essentially propagate the essence of the brand as a whole.
For eg. You wouldn’t want a child day care center’s website color theme to be made of black and gold. Similarly, the images and the text used for a marketing website needs to be witty and articulate. Following the same model, website for a school or an educational institution should be vibrant yet professional with easy to understand content.
Simplicity Will Never Get Old
If your UI/UX and web developers remember this thumb rule whilst your website is being built, you can never go wrong. Users don’t want lengthy checkout processes before they can order a particular product. Also, you don’t want consumers to be filling out unnecessary forms with information that is not crucial to your remarketing strategy. Similarly, RSS feed and blog subscription pop-ups don’t exactly yell a good sales strategy. The key is to keep it simple.
Retention makes up a healthy percentage of sales; hence every little factor which can directly or indirectly affect it needs your foremost attention. And UI and UX top the charts, without one shadow of a doubt. Leave no margins for error when it comes to this and make sure you get the formula right!
