December 2023
UX can make or break your business: Here’s why
Unlock your phone and look at all the apps you have downloaded. How many of them do you use on a regular basis? Have a lot of apps you haven’t opened in a while? Statistics show that 21% of all mobile phone apps on a person’s phone have been used only once. Most users download apps but don’t use it twice if they aren’t happy with the interface.
UX or User Experience plays a major role in determining whether you will interact or use a product or service more than once.
At first glance, user experience sounds like something only tech geeks would talk about. After all, user experience is used in reference to websites, apps, and digital platforms. But did you know User Experience isn’t limited to technology but is in everything we interact with around us? From the way we instinctively reach to push or pull a door open or the way we unlock our phone – UX research and design plays a role in its efficiency.
Let’s start at the very beginning.
With everything in our lives going digital, user experience becomes crucial to how we interact with and perceive a product, system, or service. When computers became more accessible in the late 1970s, there was an increased focus on the field of human-computer interaction. Developing this relationship paved the way for what we now know as UX.
Design is the silent ambassador of your brand. 
— Paul Rand, Art Director and Graphic Designer who designed the IBM logo
The rise of user- experience or the Don Norman era
There is a lot we expect from the technology we interact with. We want our mobile phones to be intuitive, website searches to be accurate, and our overall experience to be seamless.
Don Norman, a cognitive scientist and designer (now known as the father of User Experience) played a pivotal role in shaping UX discipline. He designed some of the most user-friendly Apple products during his career and guided designers to create products with users’ mental models. In his influential book, The Design of Everyday Things, Norman introduced the term, ‘User-centered design’ and emphasized the significance of designing products that are intuitive and user-friendly.
Think about all the times you have reached for a particular brand of milk or juice at the grocery store because of its easy pour spout or traded in your phone for a newer model from the same company because you are “so comfortable” using it. This is the magic of UX at play.
If you think good design is expensive, you should look at the cost of bad design.
— Dr Ralf Speth, CEO of Jaguar Land Rover
The relevance of UX today
There is a lot we expect from the technology we interact with. We want our mobile phones to be intuitive, website searches to be accurate, and our overall experience to be seamless.
In this fast-paced era, where attention spans are fleeting and options are limitless, businesses and designers alike are recognizing the indispensable role of UX. First impressions are formed within milliseconds and a good UX design is crucial for products and services to connect with users. For example, ecommerce behemoth Amazon makes your shopping experience truly seamless with a few simple additions. One, showing you products that you have bought earlier so you can buy them again with a simple click and two, adding a list of similar products thereby narrowing the search to exactly what you are looking for.
Good UX plays a role in your relaxation too! If you have booked a vacation rental through AirBnB, you may already be a fan of its interface. The website uses multiple filters and simplifies the process of navigation by using visual cues, user-friendly icons and clear instructions. The company invested big in good UX research and have managed to revolutionise the travel industry!
A user interface is like a joke. If you have to explain it, it’s not that good.
— Martin LeBlanc, CEO and founder of IconFinder
In a sea of options available at the click of a button, a good UX will help you stand apart from competition. Users are more likely to engage with and remain loyal to products that offer an enjoyable experience. Good UX is a way to overcome Digital Complexity. Mobile phones have come a long way in its design and features and as technology get more complex, UX design becomes crucial in simplifying and enhancing how a user interacts with the device.
So why is UX important and so relevant today?
- Every $1 invested in UX results in a return of $100
- 39% will stop engaging with content when loading time takes too long.
- 85% think that a company's mobile site should be as good or better than a desktop site.
- 88% of users are less likely to return after a bad user experience.
- Mobile users are 5 times more likely to abandon a task if a site isn’t mobile-optimized.
Can your business afford to argue with these numbers?
Let us help you transform your business with our UX design strategy. Write to us at enquiry@ticworks.com.
