5 Most Common UX Mistakes Designers Should Avoid

The worldwide web has opened doors to new opportunities. Thanks to the Internet, businesses can now reach a global audience without digging deep into their pockets. When it comes to increasing brand exposure, the importance of having a website cannot be emphasized enough. Having just any other website, however, won’t do the trick. There are more than a billion websites; however, only a handful of them get substantial traffic. Have you ever wondered why? The major difference between a good website and a bad website is its user experience. While good websites feature a simple and user-friendly layout, bad websites, more often than not, are a pain to navigate.

Some factors that impact a website’s user experience

The simpler your website, the better. A cluttered website featuring a poor layout is the last thing you’d want. Messy and muddled websites fail to attract users. By the time the business realizes what went wrong, their brand image had taken a major hit.

Your website does more than just introducing your business to your target audience. It is the face of your business. To make a positive first impression, you need to create a visually appealing website without compromising on user-friendliness. Before starting to design your website, develop an understanding of the factors that will impact its UX.

Logo placement

Getting the placement of your logo right is more important than you think. There is a lot more to it than meets the eye. Logo placement is more than just a matter of presentation and can have a major impact on the visibility of the content. An accurately placed logo identifies the site without distracting visitors from the content.

Take a cue from top websites and place your logo at the top of your page (towards the left). Ensure uniformity by having it in the same position on every page. To improve usability, link it (your logo) on different pages back to the homepage.

The quality of visual aids

Using visual aids on websites seems to be the trend nowadays. High-quality images can drive engagement. Before you jump on the bandwagon, decide the number of pictures to be used on your website. Using too many pictures on your website can make it look cluttered. To prevent this from happening, make sure that every image on your website is there for a reason.  Use impactful images that tell engaging stories and reinforce your brand.

The presence of a search bar

One thing common between top websites is that they all use a search bar. Having a search bar on your website can do its user experience a world of good. To help your users avoid confusion when looking for information, place a search bar at the top right end of your page.

UX Mistakes to avoid

Having a cluttered website can do more harm than good. A website with inferior user experience can negatively impact the site owner’s reputation. To ensure your website serves its purpose, steer clear of these UX mistakes.

Using inappropriate fonts

Oftentimes designers get so obsessed with making their website visually appealing that they discount the importance of using user-friendly fonts. Aesthetics should never be prioritized over functionality. Avoid typefaces with extreme slants and tight and condensed letterforms. Look for fonts that match your brand’s tone. Before deciding which fonts to use, master the art of mixing them.

Using inappropriate images

While impactful images will dramatically improve your site’s user experience, unsuitable visual aids can drag it down. Prefer using unique and relevant images over common pics. Avoid using out of focus images with poor clarity or those with lesser resolution. When choosing images to tell a story, make sure they provide an overall idea about the topic.

Failure to optimize pages

The modern consumer is impatient and hates waiting. Nothing frustrates buyers more than unresponsive pages that take forever to load.  A study shows that around 47 percent of netizens expect a page to load within two seconds, whereas 40 percent of the users expect a webpage to load in less than three seconds. Users participating in the survey said that they would abandon a website with pages that take six seconds or more to load.

To steer clear of this problem, optimize your pages and images. High quality images consume lots of bandwidth, which impacts the loading speed of the page. Using larger sized images and then cropping them causes the website to load slowly. To avoid this problem, do not use images whose size exceeds 1MB. Use JPEG images instead of PNG/GIF images. Scan images and take corrective actions promptly.

Using complicated forms

Businesses that use complicated forms with unnecessary fields unknowingly push their customers away. Most consumers would forego filling a long form and may look for other options. To simplify the process of filling out your forms, use only necessary fields. To improve the user friendliness of your forms, use a simple title. For confusing fields, provide examples. Use asterisks to mark required fields. To attract attention, use an impactful call to action that captures the intent of the form.

Downplaying the significance  of responsive design

People use different devices to access websites. Creating a responsive website that adapts according to the device used has become more of  a necessity than a matter of choice. Make sure the content on your website can be effortlessly read, irrespective of the device used. When designing a responsive website, follow these success mantras

• • Make sure the most important menus are visible on smaller screens
  • Use keyboard triggers in your forms
  • Ensure buttons can be easily clicked even on smaller screens