What is UX design?
An integral part of web design, UX (User-Experience) design is the process of designing a website to make an online product or service accessible, usable and attractive to the end customer.
UX design actually has its roots in ergonomics, since it involves addressing the users’ needs and tailoring a product or system to fit these needs. Yet of course, in the case of UX, everything is executed digitally.
Why UX design is so crucial
No matter how great an online product is, poor UX design can seriously affect its success. People like to buy or use products that not only sound great, but also look visually appealing, even if they are simply digital products. That’s why the job of a UX designer is so crucial - the aim is to make everything as attractive and smooth as possible for the user, so the latter will feel confident to purchase the product or use the site in question without facing any visual or technical obstacles.
For this reason, a UX designer should also familiarize his or herself with the company’s brand guidelines, in order to reflect the image and tone that the company wants to convey in the user-interface. For example, if a company has a fun and playful theme, this can be reflected in the UX by including interactive elements that the end user will enjoy exploring. Another thing to be taken into account in UX design is the market segment, since what serves to attract one market may not work with another.
Ensuring a smooth user-experience
To give one example, the task of a UX designer behind an online casino platform is to make the games easily accessible to players by optimizing site’s navigation. Since a casino typically hosts hundreds of games, appropriate menus, search functions, as well as sub-menus with additional filters are needed to make it easy to locate specific games (you can find examples here). Visually, things also need to look neat and not cluttered or confusing, whereas the pages should be quick to load. Registration and payments also need to be smooth so as not to deter players from creating a funded account.
Today’s users are getting increasingly impatient and less tolerant of web design flaws. It’s not uncommon for someone to abandon a purchase just because he or she finds the site too slow or the process too complicated! This is why UX has become and will remain so crucial for any online business, creating great career opportunities as well as room for growth and innovation for those working in the sector.