Why the User Interface of a Website Is Important
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All of us are connected all day long. Post on your social media. Play with a few apps. Check out a couple of websites. What irritates you the most?
Let us guess, you’re annoyed the most when you’re facing a slow-loading interface, right? Over 88% of web designers think that the worst enemy of good user experience is a website with
- Confusing navigation
- Poorly written/structured content
- Unimaginative, outdated web design
If you want the consumers to be satisfied with your website, you need an exemplary user interface. But don’t take our word for it. Let’s see why the user interface of a website is so important.
What Is User Interface and Why You Need It
User interface or UI is a broad term that refers to how a user interacts with either an app or a website. Why is it so important? Let's say you have an e-commerce website. You want your customers to find what they need and purchase it quickly.
If they can't find their way around the site, they'll probably leave, never to come back again. More than 40% of consumers say they'll instantly leave a poorly functioning website.
What Happens When You Have a Poor User Interface
When you have a poor user interface, people will not only leave your website. They'll also
- Get frustrated: People will get frustrated if you fail to provide clear user cues. They won't know what to do next and how to advance through the site.
- Leave negative reviews: If people can't figure out how to use your site, they might leave negative reviews. Just think about how many times you've read a bad review before deciding whether to buy something.
- Lose interest in your product: When consumers can't find what they're looking for on your website, they'll lose interest in your product.
As you can see, a poor user interface can harm your business. That's why it's essential to find the right user interface designer.
Benefits of User Interface Design
Besides providing an excellent user interface for website visitors, user interfaces have several benefits:
- Guiding User Expectation
You can use user interface elements to guide users through your site. By using familiar UI elements, you can help users understand how your site works and what they can expect from it.
- Easy Navigation
A well-designed user interface should also be easy to navigate, making it easier for users to find the information they need. Nearly 40% of consumers mainly focus on navigational links when assessing the look of a website. Good navigation will lower your bounce rate significantly.
- Cost-Effectiveness
Simply put, user interface design can help you save money in the long run. By eliminating unnecessary steps or confusing navigation elements, user interface designers can help you minimize user frustration and redirect them back to your site.
- Higher Engagement
UI design can also help you increase user engagement with your site. By using engaging visuals and appealing designs, user interface designers can help keep users on your site longer.
- Customer Retention
Finally, user interface design can also help you improve customer retention. By providing an enjoyable user experience, user interface designers can help keep users coming back to your site. That leads to more sales.
- Conversion Rates
A well-designed website can have noticeably higher visit-to-order conversion rates than a poorly designed one. Research conducted by Forrester discovered that a superior user interface on a website can increase conversion rates by 400%.
Elements of Good User Interface Design
Now that we've talked about the benefits of user interface design, let's look at the three critical elements of excellent user interface design:
1. Simplicity
One of the most important elements of user interface design is simplicity. A good user interface should be easy on the eye and user-friendly. Fewer keystrokes, mouse clicks, and screen touches are required to accomplish this task.
What can you do to keep things simple? A user interface designer can help you implement many UI design techniques, such as using an appropriate visual hierarchy, a clear and consistent layout, and minimizing the number of user actions needed to accomplish tasks.
Adding many features might seem tempting at first, but you need to ask yourself - will your website genuinely benefit from them? You should add new features only if there's a compelling need for them and they add significant value to the website.
2. Consistency
Another important element of user interface design is consistency.
In user interface design, consistency means using similar UI elements throughout your website. That includes using the same colors, fonts, buttons, icons, etc.
Using consistent UI elements helps create a sense of unity and coherence on your website. It makes it easier for users to navigate your site and find the information they need. Consistency also establishes user expectations, which can help improve user satisfaction.
3. Intuitiveness
In user interface design, intuitiveness is another key element.
An intuitive user interface should be easy for users to figure out with little guidance or instructions. When a user interface is intuitive, they know where things are and what they need to do without thinking too much about it.
There are many ways to make a user interface more intuitive, such as using familiar metaphors, providing clear labels, and well-organized content.
Again, a user interface designer can help you implement these UI design techniques on your website.
How to Find the Right User Interface Designer
If you're looking to improve the user interface of your website, then you'll need to find a user interface designer. But just how do you go about doing that?
You can ask colleagues for referrals, read a bunch of interviews, or you can simply reach out to Striped Horse and get connected with our team. A simple thing like the design of the user interface of a website is nothing for our seasoned designers.
At Striped Horse, we specialize in user interface design and can provide you with a user-friendly website that your users will love. So why wait? Contact us today, and let's get started!