UX plays big role in all areas of design
All the aspects or processes of design, in the end gives the product a better customer experience because of its delightful user experience.
Ask these below questions to yourself:
- Why do we create persona?
- Why do we ideate on the concept?
- Why do we create user flows and task flows?
- Why do we create wireframes?
- Why design testing is crucial?
So, in the end if we have got the answers it all boils down to the point that is “knowing our users will help us give them better experience”.
Customer Experience Design is something which is a combination of all the design processes and includes the whole end-to-end customer journey of the product. Starting from signing up with the product to completing the end goal of the user.
I have faced many instances where I thought about some of the improvements that can give a good customer experience to any digital product. Let me walk you through some of the pointers which can help shape up your product and make your users stay with you.
1) Clear experience design vision
So I am not talking about the product vision here. The company has already come up with a concept or idea about the product.
For example:
- Why are we building this product?
- Who will use this product?
- What is the goal of the end user?
In my terms having clear vision means we need to set some guidelines for us when we start designing for any product. This guidelines should include Design Systems, Flexible UI Framework, Relevant Team Skills, Design testing Setups etc. When we have all setup and guide in place we will not end up inventing every time for every feature user needs.
The design team gets more space to focus on the experience part and not worrying about the technical possibilities.
2) Know your users “individually” not as a user group
We should always consider a single user while designing and not a user group. When we consider a user group, we end up making assumptions and design accordingly.
Personalization is trending! When we focus on a single user, we serve better. Serving single user does not mean creating different designs for all users, it simply means that we have to learn what each user does and suggest them by tracking their activities.
An AI based interface might help users be organised with their actions and it can reduce user’s navigation around the product to find the relevant data they are looking for.
3) Send Real-time feedback to the user
Whenever user takes any action on system, update them about the end result of that action. We have seen normal feedback messages like action successful, action failed and action in-progress. However, what if we give more details to the user? After taking any action suggest the user about the outcomes of that action.
Affordance is very important for user to stay connected with your product. Never leave your users clueless.
4) Handling heavy data on screen
As I mentioned earlier designing for single user will solve many issues. Similarly, for on screen content. When we consider a user group scenario, we will end up putting all the content in one page thinking User A will need this and User B will need this. It increases the cognitive load and taking too much data at one point is frustrating. The assumptions will worsen the user experience of the product.
Segregate the data according to the single user by category, status, urgency, criticality etc. and various other parameters depending on the user roles.
5) Conversational User Interface with Voice Input as an add-on
Every user nowadays wants to go mobile. It is a convenient option to operate on your estate on the go. Some years back the mobile option was for those who travel but it is actually more than that. Having mobile app or bot means doing things quick. Users will be able to relate if the web apps are in sync with the mobile.
- Give quick insights on his estate
- Show most critical notifications
- Take voice input commands from user
- Take actions on urgent areas
Basically user need not see everything in mobile app. As a single user he should be able to personalize his experience of the mobile app. He should choose what areas he wants to see in his mobile app. He should be able to switch between app data and bot for seamless interaction. Considering global user usage will spoil the experience of the app.
6) Emotional connection with the user
“It’s not what you say, it’s how you say it”…How to build an emotional connection with the product’s user?
- Take customer feedback on the product. Show that you value their inputs.
- Provide them sense of security and safety.
- Personalization will definitely boost their emotions. They will feel more connected with the product.
- Provide customization wherever needed.
- Curated designs for each user.
Be it experience or the design of the product, both can help your brand to connect with users emotionally. What features or technologies you use, does not matter to the end user. What matters is how you deliver it.
7) User Interface Design
The design also plays very important role in customer experience.
No matter what cool features you give to users, if your interface is not usable and appealing then the whole experience goes for a toss!
Understand the domain, target users, accessibility, place, environment, device, time etc. to carefully decide how the user interface should look and interact. The visual cues should be subtle and prompting but not jazzy enough for user to get intimidated.
The user interface design decisions are very crucial and not to be taken just like that in a haste. The design system and framework needs proper research of the user base to come to a conclusion.
“You cannot design good interfaces just with good colour sense.”
Each and every colour has a meaning. It’s very challenging when it comes to designing the interfaces because of perception. Some feel indigo blue is dull and some feel it is lively. Red is only used for danger and on the other hand it’s the colour of love :)
Hope this has helped you :)
