User Experience
User Experience Pitfalls To Avoid
Summary:
Today organisations have specific UX research and design teams, or might send the research and design components of a project out to different suppliers. On one hand this makes a lot of sense because you obviously want those people skilled in research carrying out the research and those skilled in design carrying out the design. However, doing this means that a lot of the important research insight can get lost in translation as one team communicates findings to the other. Research also shouldn’t be carried out for its own sake and it’s important that any design research is able to feed into and influence the ultimate design. This is why there is a need to advocate having the same team carrying out both the UX research and design. Of course within that team you might have research and design specialists but you want the continuity and know how that having the same team involved throughout can bring.
Body:
Smart companies are now placing customer value at the heart of their organisation by developing a company-wide experience strategy – one that crosses UX, branding and marketing, with the goal of creating a uniform experience for customers across all ‘touch points’ of their company.
Many companies in the past have made the mistake of thinking it was OK if their website wasn’t particularly easy to use because their offline offering made up for it. Unfortunately it’s no longer acceptable to treat your customers in this way and deliver them a sloppy product. Every touch point with your customer ismarketing. It’s a competitive world out there and other, more innovative players are looking for opportunities that arise where people are receiving a second-rate experience.
The difference between a good app and a bad app is usually the quality of its UX. But making changes on mobile UX can be a tricky process, especially if you come from a web background. This list will get you on the right track by helping you steer clear of common pitfalls.
Not Optimizing for Mobile
The mobile user has a device which is not only smaller in terms of real estate, but is also frequently on a lower connection speed or limited data plan. But mobile users want to get tasks done quickly, as they’re often on the run. As a result, speed and responsiveness are the most important. Any moments of confusion create opportunities for the user to disengage with the app.
You should focus on both speeding up processing time and making common user flows smart & simple. Otherwise, you increase the risk that users will abandon your app for a competitor’s.
Copying other app experiences
Online advice is generally a good starting point, each app and product is unique in their goals, audience, value, functionality, etc. What works for someone else doesn’t mean it will automatically have the same effects for you.
Instead of implementing example tests found online, draw your ideas from customer feedback. Create surveys, read reviews, and gather as much qualitative data as you can as to what users would like to see changed. Using that data, create new test ideas specific to your app, then use A/B testing to determine their effects on your audience.
Copying Your Competitors Experience
Implementing generally accepted good practices without questioning if they suitable for your product. Even the world’s most innovative companies have resorted to copying. While competitor’s experience is generally a good starting point, each product is unique in it’s goals, audience, value, functionality. What works for someone else doesn’t mean it will automatically work for you.
You should take something great and either put their own spin on it, or they attempt to improve it in some way. The thin line between good experience and blind copy is one marked by improvement.
Adding a Lot More Features
I am absolutely sure that you are familiar with Pareto principle. In the world of business the Pareto principle is the rule that says 80% of profits come from 20% of customers or clients. In case of mobile experience this means 80% of app users never utilize more than 20% of its features. This 20% becomes the whole product.
Stop adding new features and focus on existing instead. Make sure you get constant feedback from your users. In order to collect valuable feedback, you need to make it easy for users to provide it. And you need to pinpoint which features are most popular, and get rid of the ones that are not provoking interest.
Login Walls
Everyone knows there are a ton of benefits to having users sign in, but users almost always annoyed than when they come across a login wall. Because demanding that users must register or log in before they can use an app or see website information has high interaction cost.
If registration is a pain point, why not see what happens when you remove that pain entirely? Just allow users to skip registration.
Onboarding First
Onboarding is supposed to give users a great sense of value for an app, making sure they know all they can do with your app, and what they’ll get out of it. A common onboarding approach is to provide a tutorial to teach your users how to use your application. This concept can be extremely powerful when done well. But what if your users are already familiar with the core value proposition of the app and simply want to get started using it as soon as possible?
Trying to convince users of possible value through a tutorial can impede them from getting to the actual value in an app.
Bombarding Your Users With Permission Settings
Both ask your users for permission both too early and also asking them for access for too many things are common mistakes. When you open a new application the last thing, you want to see, is multiple popups in a row asking for permission:
- App Would Like to Send You Push Notifications
- App Would Like to Access Your Locations
- App Would Like Access Your Contacts
- App Would Like to Access Your Camera
If this permission is critical, find the right time to ask it and tell the user why you need access. That way user understands the benefit of giving you this permission.
Bombarding Your Users With Push Notifications
Whilst push notifications can be a valuable way to interact with users, if you bombard them with missives, they will get frustrated.You should always think carefully about the triggers for push notifications, so that communication never becomes irritating.
Underestimating How Long Updates Take On Mobile
Since an app is hosted on a client’s phone, any updates need to go a long way before users will have them. After development, any changes are subject to an often lengthy app store review process. Fixing mistakes on mobile can be an excruciating process, but integrating testing (e.g. A/B testing) as part of your development cycle can help alleviate much of the risk.
Request for Personal Information Right After First Launch
How would you react if during onboarding process app is asking you for your credit card information? Like most people, before you offer up that kind of information most probably you want to see what the service is offering and get to see how the app actually works. Ask such information only when it’s beneficial for user.
Follow these 10 tips and you’ll be on the right track:
- Build the right product before the perfect one
- Involve UX early in the process
- Have a clear value proposition
- Focus, focus, focus
- Test and refine with real users
- Make forms fun
- Microcopy is your friend
- Develop a personality
- Make technology human
Reference websites:
uxplanet.org,uxforthemasses.com, sitepoint.com,creativebloq.com
