Common Sense Isn’t So Common – Seven UX Errors To Avoid

User experience (UX) errors are common and dangerous to online businesses.

UX design impacts businesses both big and small. Especially with ecommerce becoming more accessible, conglomerates and mom-and-pop alike should give it more serious thought.

This is because UX design directly impacts conversions, for better or for worse. Good UX improves sales, ergo balloons your bottom line. Meanwhile bad UX – those riddled with UX errors – can cost you any and every potential sale.

The latter case is built on the fact that today’s consumers are less forgiving and more impatient with websites and apps that have confusing or lengthy transaction processes. These are instances of design failure and UX errors and mistakes are made because the overarching principle of simplicity is forgotten.

READ ALSO: Explaining the Impact of UX Design Principles on Digital Marketing

For your part as the business owner, these mistakes can be avoided by choosing the right UX design partner – the one with a solid process for design, development, and quality assurance. Mindful awareness of specific UX errors will also help you maintain the checks and balances with your collaborators so that you can work towards building effective solutions together.

Seven common and costly UX errors to avoid

Making UX errors are not uncommon. In fact, in a technical and always-changing landscape, errors happen frequently and unknowingly in the digital space.

However, avoiding them is easy with the proper practice of vigilance in spotting them when you see them. Below are some of the most common ones you’ll need to watch out for whether you’re working with in-house, freelance, or UX design agencies.

1. Making your website hard to navigate.

One of the most important things to keep in mind when designing your website is usability. Hence, if a website or app is not designed in a way that’s hard to navigate, it’s not usable.

Hard-to-navigate websites are confusing, at best, and can turn away users faster than it took you to get them even to visit. Hard-to-navigate websites have confusing instructions, buttons that are hard to read or click, with links that lead to pages you didn’t intend to go to.

To avoid this, design with simplicity in mind. This allows you to be guided toward designing for usability and navigation. Focus on the core needs of your customers and try to keep instructions as simple as possible so that users can find what they’re looking for without any difficulty.

Another good way of making your websites and apps easy to navigate is by using clear and concise labels for your navigation items and using drop-down menus sparingly. You should also use consistent styling throughout your website so that users know where they are and what they need to do at all times.

2. Not prioritizing mobile.

These days, more people are accessing the internet on their smartphones and tablets than ever before. That means if your website isn’t designed for mobile devices, you’re losing out on a lot of potential customers.

3. Ignoring the importance of typography.

Designers often focus so much on the layout and graphics of their website or app that they forget about the importance of typography. And that’s a mistake because typography can play a big role in the usability of your website or app.

Poorly designed types can be difficult to read, which can lead to user frustration. In fact, bad typography can even make your website or app look unprofessional.

To avoid this, make sure your fonts are both easy to read and visually appealing. You should also use different fonts sparingly so that they don’t clash with each other. And lastly, always make sure your text is properly kerned and spaced out.

4. Making use of too many animations and effects.

While animations and special effects can add a lot of visual interest to your website or app, you need to use them sparingly. Too many animations can be overwhelming and distracting for users, which can lead to them leaving your site or app altogether.

When deciding whether or not to use an animation, ask yourself if it’s really necessary. If it’s not essential to the functionality of your website or app, then it’s probably best to leave it out. Also, make sure all your animations are smooth and don’t cause any slowdown or glitches on mobile devices.

5. Focusing on looks over usability.

It’s natural for designers to want their websites and apps to look beautiful, but sometimes they get so caught up in making things look good that they forget about the usability aspect altogether. This is a big mistake because if users can’t figure out how to do what they want on your site, they’re not going to stick around for long.

So remember, while aesthetics are important, usability should always be your top priority. Make sure all your buttons are easy to see and click on, and that all your menus are easy to navigate. Use clear and concise labels for everything, and test your designs on actual users to see how they fare.”

Make sure your website is responsive so that it looks good on all screen sizes. You should also consider simplifying your design for mobile devices so that users can easily find what they’re looking for while on the go.

6. Ignoring search engine optimization.

If you want people to find your website, you need to make sure it’s properly optimized for search engines like Google and Bing. That means using the right keywords throughout your site and making sure your titles and descriptions are succinct and informative.

It also means setting up Google Analytics so you can track your progress and see how people are finding your site. By taking the time to optimize your site for search engines, you’ll be sure to attract more visitors – and potential customers – to your business.

7. Making forms difficult to fill out.

If you want people to fill out forms on your website – for example, contact forms or newsletter signups – you need to make sure those forms are as easy to use as possible.

That means keeping them short and sweet by only asking for the necessary information. It also means using clear and concise labels so that users know exactly what they need to do.

Finally, make sure you provide clear instructions on how users can submit the form once they’re done filling it out.

ADDITIONAL READING: User-friendly Form Design Principles for Increased Leads

Key takeaways

There are many factors that affect your digital marketing efforts but the foremost of this is UX design. As one of the pillar concepts of conversion optimization, this is something you can’t just be willy-nilly about.

Apart from this list, there are other ways you can find out if your UX designs need improvement. These are:

• User feedback. Which, perhaps, is the most accurate and valuable source. Scout reviews pages, your social media pages, or even ask your users directly about their experiences. Respond accordingly to the woes and raves.
• Your metrics. Declining conversions and traffic along with rising bounce rates are the key indicators of poor UX designs. During your performance reviews, remember to monitor these closely. Often, they point to infrastructural concerns that you must fix.
• Search rankings. Declining rankings are also a signal of poor UX. This is because Google prioritizes the experience of the searcher. If Google detects high bounce rates and poor UX from your site, your rankings will drop as a form of penalty.

What’s the most difficult aspect of UX design for you? Tell us about it on Facebook, X, and LinkedIn. We’d be happy to hear you out.

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