Who is in Charge? You or Your Users?

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I remember the good old days when IT consultants and in-house IT staff decided how users would interact with data, what software would look like and user needs and wants took a back seat to the dictates of technical experts. User manuals were written in technical jargon and training was long and ineffective. If you think this world is still a reality, you (and your business) are probably struggling to succeed in the online world.

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Customer Retention and Conversion. Great User Experience IS the Answer

Ux-Improvement

At a conference last week, I ran into Rick, an old colleague from a previous employer. Rick told me about a problem he had with a drop-off in conversion on a business website. His company hired a consultant to upgrade their product sales website and create a mobile app so customers could browse and purchase products on smart phones. After the launch, the enterprise noticed a decline in sales on the site, and poor results in user adoption of the sales app.

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The Importance and Benefits of a Well-Conceived User Experience (Ux)

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Your customers and business users are sophisticated. They have access to all kinds of apps, software and websites. They know how easy technology can be and how difficult it can be and they have no patience for the latter. Consumers purchase products or services, get information, make a hotel reservation, or buy a movie ticket. Business users leverage software every day to do their jobs, accomplish goals, collaborate and share. The bottom line is that the user experience (Ux) is critical to your business success and can make the difference between user adoption, customer retention and business success. Pay attention to Ux!
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How Does your News or Media Site Score?

How does your news or media site score

Are you striking out because of poor mobile usability? For the User Experience Scorecard, The search agency calculated the total score out of possible five points – a score of zero being the lowest and a score of five being the highest possible…for each of the sites.

The Way to a Customer’s Heart is Through the User Interface!

Ux-Improvement

Perhaps you are still trying to convince your executive team to employ user experience design services to accommodate user expectations for your enterprise applications. Is your organization debating the need to provide intuitive easy displays on all types of devices from desktops and laptops to tablets and the various screen sizes of smart phones? If that debate is still in the works in your organization, you are not alone!While mobile application development, responsive web design and user interface redesign debates rage on, your business is losing customers and sales conversions and your customer satisfaction is going down the tubes! Think of your user experience in the same way you think of customer service in a brick and mortar store.

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Spoil Your Customers and Users with Great Ux Design…and Reap the Business Benefits!

Ux-Improvement

With the consumerization of technology, today’s users are more sophisticated and they demand business and consumer applications and software that are intuitive, and easy to navigate and make purchasing, working, browsing and finding information a quick and simple task. Today’s savvy users have no patience for applications and software that lead them down dead end paths, throw error messages without telling them what to do, display half of a screen on a mobile device or demand that they use convoluted or restricted workflows and processes to accomplish a task.Designing and developing a new Ux, or upgrading or migrating to a new Ux, must include technology, framework and platform research, as well as thorough testing, and user involvement in prototype phases. These factors will ensure that the Ux is flexible, intuitive and meets the requirements of the targeted users and the environment in which the application, software or site are used – followed by multiple iterations to ‘get it right’.The optimal user interface is:

  • >> Flexible enough to accommodate changes in business or user processes or needs
  • >> Intuitive enough for the ‘average user’ to adopt and use with ease
  • >> Comprehensive enough to anticipate the twists and turns of user navigation and provide messages and paths through the system to get the user back to where they want to be
  • >> Appealing to the eye and familiar to users within their technology paradigm
  • >> Inclusive to all user perspectives, with UI controls, navigation and tasks that will help them to accomplish a task in a way that is meaningful and makes sense to them
  • >> Suitable for all types of target devices and screen sizes with mouse or touch-driven navigation

In considering the various requirements, factors and aspects of Ux design, many businesses conclude that they will require the services of an expert in Ux – to ensure that all aspects of this critical component of site, software and application design are effectively addressed, including standards and regulations for UI design, Ux techniques and knowledge of domains, frameworks and platforms. If a business takes the time and focus to truly understand human interface and the psychology of use and understands how underlying technology can positively affect this process, the design, development and adoption of the application will be seamless and successful.
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Responsive Web Design Keeps Your Customers and Users Happy as Clams!

EM-DEC-Blog-RWD

Don’t you hate it when people aren’t responsive? You make a call or send a text or email and the person you are trying to reach just doesn’t respond! That’s rude and unprofessional. The same can be said for unresponsive web sites. How many times have you tried to find information or look for an item you want to buy, only to be frustrated by unresponsive sites that don’t work well on the device you are using?If you are in business, you need to give some serious thought to the concept of Responsive Web Design (RWD), Adaptive Web Design (AWD). You need to serve your customers, users and partners with the software solutions and sites you have designed to promote your business and sell products and services.

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