Summary: User experience (UX) is the battleground where brands compete to win customers. User experience is defined as the application of design or practices designed to make a website or a software more user friendly, accessible, pleasant to use. In a digital age, user experience determines a brand’s relevance, growth and ability to successfully embrace digital transformation. GlobalLinker member and SME expert, Sandeep Raut explains the pillars of a good UX.

Digital Transformation is the first step towards driving any company towards its future. Companies like Disney, Nestle, Apple, Amazon and other leaders have digitally transformed themselves and the reason they could do so was because they focused primarily on the customer/user experience.

If you want to reap the rewards of the digital revolution, a smooth, easy and positive user experience is vital. People may not be extremely tech savvy, but they have become more comfortable using their smartphones to download music, find the nearest movie theatre or pay for purchases. This raises the bar for user experience.

Today organisations are adopting mobility, analytics and internet of things (IoT) for digital transformation. However, platforms or websites that are not intuitive, responsive and social, lose out on customer stickiness. So, it becomes necessary for companies to give priority to user experience.

A sound UX design can supercharge productivity, add immense value to customer interactions, and make employees love their jobs. It is extremely important to do an accurate analysis of users, their needs by conducting surveys and workshops to design the UX.

Here are six major criteria for UX design:

• Ease of discovery: How easy is it to find a site or application
• Ease of use: How easy is it to use the site or application; how easy to learn
• Easy of accessibility: How easy is it to access the site or application; easy to understand; easy to reach
• Usefulness: How useful are the features and functions and do they meet customer needs
• Elements of desirability: Does the application have visual appeal
• Credibility: Do the users trust the site or application, contributing to the overall positive brand experience

A UX design should have short navigation steps so that users require very few clicks to get to the information they want. It should be based on responsive web designs so that the application maintains full functionality, usability and appeal on different browsers and screens from desktop to laptops to tablets and smartphones.

Once you have applied these criteria it is also important to measure the results, for future course correction. One initial KPI (Key Performance Indicator) is user adoption rates, which should be higher than 60%.

A good user interface makes the customer experience better, transactions easier, decision making simple and cuts down operational costs.

A great UX is the deciding factor for successfully engaging and retaining a customer.

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Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views, official policy or position of GlobalLinker.