Why is User Experience Important?

If you provide a good user experience on your website, your visitors are more likely to fully enjoy and access all the options on your site.

Let’s say a user decides to check out your site. Now let’s assume it’s your digital portfolio, and the user would like to see more of your work. Naturally, he would look for a button called “work" or “portfolio" or something along those lines. If the user doesn’t find one within a few seconds, then there’s a good change he’ll give up. It’s not worth the trouble he thinks, and proceeds to leave.

Don’t let this happen to you. Without usability, a good design is rendered useless.

You’re no expert.

Let’s face it. You’re no user experience expert. I’m probably not one either. Why? The answer is simple. You’re not viewing your own site from a user’s perspective. Sure, you know where every button, every link, every image is. That’s because you put it there. If you designed the site, then how can you even try to see things from a user’s perspective? For a first time visitor, they won’t have any idea where things are. They have to find them for themselves. A visitor won’t have the knowledge that you possess.

Getting Feedback is Important

Receiving feedback on your design is very important. Letting your users tell you about the functionality of your site, bugs you may have missed, etc… is vital. If a bunch of users tell you they can’t find a link, then you’re missing out on possible traffic and sales. Make that link more prominent (and no, we don’t mean bigger) so users can find it easier.

So how do you get feedback? Try making a survey or a button that lets users contact you for feedback. If you run an ecommerce site, why not let users add any comments they have at the end of the order? But remember, don’t force it on them. Never force your users to complete a survey or give feedback. It should always be optional. How would you like it if I forced you to give feedback at the end of this post? You’d probably leave, right? Of course, leaving a comment is optional, and is a great way to share your thoughts.

If you are looking for a way to give feedback, try some of these options:

Google Analytics

While it doesn’t provide comments from users themselves, Google Analytics is an excellent tool to track your sites stats from daily page views, to returning visitors, and even what pages a user visits.

5 Second Test

Five second test is a free service that lets you upload your design, give a user 5 seconds to view it, and ask what was most noticeable about the design. It’s a great way to get feedback on your designs and improve on them.

Wufoo

You can always create surveys on Wufoo and embed them in your site to get feedback from users. Remember; never force them to take it.

Silverback

Silverback is a premium service that lets you get quality feedback from users including video and screen capture. For those serious about usability test, this is a good way to start.

What do I do with all this Feedback?

It can be confusing as what to do when you receive feedback. If all you’re getting are comments like “love the site" or “nice design", pat yourself on the back. But be watchful of any other comments that demonstrate a flaw in your design! If a user reports a bug, fix it as soon as possible! They probably aren’t the first ones to notice it, just the first to tell you about it.

So take your feedback, and improve your designs. I always like to think that my design is never good enough. There is always more room to improve.

Further Resources

• UX Booth
  A blog dedicated to user experience articles and awesome tips.
• ">35 Usability Resources for Designers
  A great list of resources for usability testing.

So what does User Experience mean to you?

Let us know what you’ve done to test you’re site’s usability. Did you discover flaws? Did you fix them? Leave a comment below!

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