Why User Experience Matters
It has always been said that User Experience or commonly known as UX is the factor that matters because a good UX does help users to easily use our products or solutions, also increases conversions and user’s impression. These are the common perception of why user experience matters, but allow me to tell you that there is much more about it.
User experience is not only designing the interface, but to go beyond and understand user behaviour. This way the problem users are facing can be tracked down to the core and resolved at the root cause level. So, I personally believe that user experience matters in various fields. In this article, let me take you through these 3 fields as following:
1. UX states company identity
From company’s point of view, branding is used as a tool to state company identity — colours, logos, fonts. However, from user’s point of view, that kind of branding is not what matters. Users do not appreciate much of the colours or the fonts of the logo. What really matters is the solutions the company delivers and the experience users perceive. These will be remembered as user experience, reminding users to come back in services with the company whenever they need that experience again.
The real branding is based on the perception of the users. So, the experience should rather be well crafted than to be happened by chance. The company should come up with the user experience flow — what users should be feeling using the products or solutions, before starting to create the products or solutions themselves. The user experience flow will set the goal to make sure that users will receive the experience as the products being designed and delivered.
What catches users’ attention is the solution and experience they receive from the company, which is considered as the real company identity rather than the stereotype branding. This is why small companies with better user experience can beat big companies, who focus only the functions, but not the experience.
2. UX reduces company risks.
One of the most common risk for online businesses is the drop-offs, which could be reduced by user interface optimization. However, what could be worse is that users don’t even give a glance at the products or solutions. This is a serious issue because the company spends time and effort to build the products, which, in the end, don’t solve users’ problems or don’t worth their time to learn.
User experience will benefits this scenario by providing the process to understand users before starting to build the products. It helps us know user insight, pain point, need, and goal, so that the products can be designed accordingly.
Moreover, the user testing can be done to ensure the best results. This way the company can manage the risks by testing and getting feedback before the actual launch. Not only we know whether the products work, but we also know if the users are satisfied or willing to buy the products as well. Imagine if the hypothesis has not been proven before building the products, how much time and effort you risk to waste, let alone the cost and the opportunity to be successful.
3. UX brings the team out of the box.
If the boss always makes the call and gives the very clear concept of end product to the team, that is good; the team can start building the product promptly and accurately as they are told. However, there are lots of projects going on in the company at the same time and that means the boss has to squeeze his brains out into each projects.
What is implied by the above scenario? Let’s say, there’s a hundred of head counts in the company and not a single head, besides the boss’s, can be counted on? The boss will be drained with workload as he is the main functioning gear while not fully utilizing the brain powers of the team. The consequences are that the team is not left with enough space for creativity, but to follow the boss’s lead.
So, instead of a clear concept of end product, what should the boss communicate to the team?
The boss should optimize the use of UX by communicating with the team the experience aimed to deliver to users — what to deliver, what to be remembered, or what feelings to get.
Keeping in mind the user experience, now everyone is on the same page working towards the same goal — to achieve the targeted experience. The combination of the clear goal and the talent of the team will bring out thousands of brilliant ideas, whereas a single head might not go that far. At this point, the boss should add a little bit of faith into the team by observing from distance and admitting that the team knows their products the best.
In conclusion, the UX optimization doesn’t happen by hiring a UX specialist only, but rather from everyone because, more or less, the user experience is reflected to the users through every part of the company. Moreover, when the teams understand the UX as a goal, they can creatively work on, validate, and adjust to make the products better and better. This will help reduce the risk of businesses in delivering the unwanted products or solutions, too.
In the end, users will remember the experience they perceive and come back in services with the company whenever they need that experience again. These are just 3 fields of why user experience matters. It matters because no company wants to be an ordinary choice, but to be one of the users’ most loved and always be.
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