Everything you need to know about user experience (UX)

User experience (UX) is a very important concept that is heard a lot in the world of technology and online businesses these days. User Experience, or UX for short, is a popular field that is about two decades old, and many people are looking to learn it. This field is becoming more and more colorful day by day and in recent years many related jobs have been created around the world, including Iran.

However, being familiar with this area, especially if you work in startups and online businesses, can be very useful and even necessary in some cases. In this article, we will tell you what user experience (UX) is and how important it is.

What is User Experience (UX)?

Every user will have experiences when using any application or website. For example, when shopping from a store website, it may be difficult for you to find a page out of the many pages on that site, or you may be confused when shopping and the steps may seem complicated.

Another example is that you may enjoy working with an app or, so to speak, figuring out what to do, but another app bothers you so much that you immediately delete it from your phone and stop going to it.

These experiences will make you use a site or app many times, or you will get tired of it in the first few seconds and give it a try. In fact, a product (for example, a website) should be designed in such a way that in addition to providing the user with ease of use, it also experiences a good mood.

Everything depends on the user experience

User Experience (UX), as its name implies, means the experience, behavior, emotions and mentality that remain in the minds of your users when using your products, services, site and application.

The user must find what he is looking for in the fastest possible time on your site or application, and in other words, everything will be in the most understandable and convenient way for him. In this case, users will have a pleasant experience working with your product; Otherwise, when they are confused and annoyed, they will not use that product anymore. It is important to note that users today are looking for the fastest and easiest ways to meet their needs.

The importance of user experience

Regarding the importance of user experience, we must say that when the user has a pleasant experience working with your site and application, he becomes your regular customer. What could be better than this? On the other hand, if the user encounters the complexity and difficulty of accessing different parts of the site, he is more likely to leave the site and not look back.

In addition, when the user likes your site, Google algorithms also like your site. With this in mind, if you want to succeed in optimizing and SEO your site, you must pay attention to the user experience or UX of your site.

When you are user friendly, Google will also increase your website in search results and show it to more people. All of this, in simple terms, means gaining more audiences, retaining them, increasing sales of products and services, and achieving any other goal you have in mind for your business.

What does the UX designer do?

By this part of the article, you understand what a user experience is. So who does this? The answer is the UX designer. The UX designer makes the experience of using the product and service in all stages, from selection and purchase to its use, easy, desirable, efficient and convenient for the user.

In fact, the work of a UX designer begins when there are no products yet. The UX designer first identifies and evaluates customers and their needs on the customer journey map.

When designing a site or application, the UX designer takes into account all the activities that the user is supposed to do and provides the easiest and most efficient way for each; In fact, with the right guidance, the user tries to turn a confused user, who is entering your site or application for the first time, into a wanderer.

He designs to get the best feedback and create a great user experience with the site or app.

What skills should a UX designer have?

The above definition was a simple definition of UX design activities. User experience design work in practice requires a variety of skills; A UX designer needs to know about sales and marketing, be familiar with aesthetics and visual design, master copywriting, know content marketing, have technical knowledge, even psychology, and be able to predict user behavior. Be.

Of course, just because an UX designer has to figure out a lot of things does not mean that he or she will be in charge. To create a unique user experience, coordination between different units and the cooperation of experienced and skilled marketing experts, graphics, design, content, content marketing , etc. are essential.

Features of an optimal user experience

Of course, designing a user experience for any product or service varies from business to business, and should be unique, taking into account the details of that business. In general, but the most important factors affecting the user experience are:

The user should be able to easily use the product or service you provide, and the user should be able to easily understand the design.

The user should be able to easily find something when he is looking for it, otherwise he will ignore your product or service and go for other options! simply! Information and things that the user needs to be exposed to the user to find them quickly. If the user has a problem using your site or application, they should be able to find a solution very soon.

What you provide should meet the needs of the audience. If the gap and needs of the user are not filled, why should he use your product or service?

Your product or service should be user-friendly; This means that it is aesthetically appealing and easy to use and interpret. Make the user design as purposeful and minimal as possible.

Accessibility means that the design should be such that everyone with any ability can use your product or service. For example, you should consider that able-bodied people with mobility, hearing, vision, and other impairments can also benefit from that product or service.

You may ignore this issue because of material issues and by arguing that disabled people are a small part of society compared to healthy people; But in this case, you have lost some of your audience, although they may not be very large in front of other users. At the same time, you have not fulfilled your social responsibility.

The customer will come back if they can trust you; But if the first time he uses your product or service, he trusts you, he will probably not give you a chance again and he will replace you with another option. In designing the user experience, you should be able to gain the user's trust for future referrals and uses.

User experience design steps

The various steps in user experience (UX) design must be done in order and correctly so that the desired output is ultimately.

Strategy

Designing a user experience without having the right strategy will not achieve the desired result. The strategy document all cases not investigated and properly targeted. Also specify your tactics.

research and investigation

In the next step, you have to do research. You need to research well the strengths and weaknesses of your product or service, know the needs of users, be aware of their tastes and behaviors, and have a thorough and comprehensive research in general. With proper analysis and thorough research, you can  create the right persona for your audience.

Initial design

In this step, you have to draw the desired plan, the routes that the user follows and his possible actions on paper. This way you can see what is going to happen from the beginning to the end and what experiences are waiting for the user.

Initial production and evaluation

In user experience design, after the initial design, it is the turn of the initial production. You have to produce what you have designed in the initial version so that you can evaluate and test. In the evaluation and testing phase, bugs and possible problems are found, and by solving those problems, you get closer to the final version, which should have the least problems.

Production and publication of the final product

After you have done the evaluations and fixed the bugs and errors, and after simplifying the user experience, at this stage you can publish the final product. Finally, you can take steps to improve your product or service by receiving feedback.

Difference between user experience (UX) and user interface (UI)

You must have heard the names UI and UX together many times; But do you know the difference between them? What is the difference between user experience and user interface? The truth is that UI and UX have a lot of overlap in definition and execution; But at the same time, the two can not be equated.

A user interface (UI) is a set of pages, images, and visual elements such as buttons and icons that a user uses to interact with a device or application, site, or application. User experience is the feeling and experience that the user gets when working with different parts of a business's different products and services. In fact, the user experience is how the user interacts with your interface.

In another definition, user experience is the user interaction and experience with what we have provided by designing the visual space as the user interface.

As you can see, the user experience and the user interface are necessary to each other and can not be separated. If you have an attractive user interface but you cannot create a good experience of working with your site or application for the user, he will not come to you anymore. You need to be able to provide the best user interface and user experience at the same time.

Career future of user experience

These days, more than ever, we have a phone, and most of what we used to do in person is now done by phone and online. This means that in the present age, technology has had a profound effect on our lives and digital marketing jobs are in great demand.

Until a few years ago, when we wanted kebabs, we used to jump from kebabs on the street and when we wanted to go somewhere, if we needed a taxi immediately, we would go to the neighborhood agency. Is.

Therefore, as more and more people turn to online businesses, the required specializations in this field, such as user experience (UX), are becoming more and more prominent. However, your familiarity with UX design and gaining expertise in this field can determine a good career for you.

Concluding remarks

User experience improves efficiency, accessibility, simplicity and other aspects of the product or service. website can get traffic to the hot market of online businesses and the popularity of them, the user experience has become the trump card of different startups and businesses to compete with each other. You can win this competition by hiring a professional user experience designer and maintain and increase your audience and users.