Improving Your Website Design for the User

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How important are user journey and user experience to the success of your website?

You’ve might have noticed by now how much we enjoy talking (and writing) about web design. As well as it being one of our specialities here at Create8, we also know how essential web design is to the success of businesses. Long gone are the days of throwing up a homemade-looking website and expecting results. We live in the age of all-singing and all-dancing websites, Swiss army knife websites, with tools galore.

One of the most valuable assets of your website design is its usability. Potential customers won’t part with their hard-earned cash easily. Knowing exactly what they want to see and putting it in front of them in a way that they appreciate is all you’re trying to achieve. To get this process right, you need to think long and hard about how your customers will interact with your website design. The best way to plan your website’s usability is with wireframes.

In this blog, we’ll serve you up a slice of Create8 knowledge, from understanding the process of wireframing to how it can improve the user experience of your website. So, let’s move on to the fun stuff.

What is wireframing?

First thing’s first, let’s fully understand what wireframing is and how it’s valuable to us. Wireframing is used at the beginning of a web design project to understand your website’s layout and functionality before you start any coding.

Wireframing helps a designer sculpt the landscape of your website design and the user journey. For example, if you run a food blog, your website will likely show the latest blog posts front and centre; removing the thought process from a customer – they can find what they want instantly. Make it as easy as possible for the user to find what they are likely to be looking for.

Wireframing offers various advantages to the design of your website. Wireframing allows the web designer and client to understand where each piece of content will be and how the user will interact with the website when it’s easy to move and organise elements, instead of when the page has been coded and created. This saves so much time. If you see the term UX, this is User Experience (you might be thinking it should be UE, but it’s not, sorry!)

But how can I utilise wireframes?

If you’re looking for a website rebuild or you are building an entirely new website, wireframing could be the difference between building something awesome and something average. The truth is that unless you’re a design whiz, it’s your designer who will benefit from a wireframe. But it’s your customers who will appreciate the extra effort in the long run.

The wireframe will help understand what paths and directions (journey) your users will follow and how they will end up in certain parts of your site. If you can put the specific item your client is looking for in front of them as quickly as possible; they are more likely to deem it a memorable purchasing experience.

Web design at Create8

When it comes to building the perfect website design for your business, you’re going to want to use a web design agency that understands you. At Create8, each project is equally valuable to us.

We know how feeling out of the loop when it comes to your project can lead to the wrong end results. That’s why we keep in touch with all our customers throughout their projects.

We want to create something that we are as proud of as you are, and that’s the key to success in web design. If you want to browse some of the web design projects we have recently built, follow the link below.

Knowing your audience!

If you are going to improve your website’s user journey (or if you are looking to hire an agency to do this for you) it just isn’t possible if you don’t fully understand your demographic.

We aren’t talking about the simple stuff like whether men or women prefer your product. We want you to show us the granular data that can really optimise your offering. What time of the day do your clients like to shop? What products are your most popular? Which demographics are they popular with? It’s the more specific information that allows a web designer to mould your website into something memorable for your target market.

Knowing your competition

OK, it goes without saying that you and your competitors will be fighting for the same audience. The initial wireframing process can be far more integral in the battle for sales than a business may imagine.

As you aim to fight off the efforts of your competitors, how usable your website is can be the difference between converting a customer and losing one. If you are selling the same products or similar ones as competitors, you must make it easy to find and buy those products.

Of course, the price point will come into play as we are all looking for a bargain; however, if there isn’t much to separate you and your competition, it’s time for the user journey to shine.

For example, if your potential customer lands on one of your competitor’s websites and their sites aren’t optimised for the user, they won’t be able to find what they are looking for. In contrast, on your site, the product is produced instantly; you’re going to win the battle.

Create8 and Wireframing

As a web design agency, we are no strangers to the value of wireframing. We understand how the end-user wants to feel when they land on a website and how your business can offer the exact information they are looking for.

User journey and user experience are two things that keep your customers coming back. Repeat customers power some of the biggest global businesses as they provide a constant income and allow businesses to scale within their capabilities.

If your website creates an unforgettable experience that can match up against an in-store experience, they’ll keep coming back!

If you want to learn a little more about the value of wireframing, follow the link below.

Wireframing and responsive web design

The value of wireframing on the user experience of your website goes far further than the obvious online benefits. The responsiveness of your website as a whole is largely down to those hard hours planning and wireframing at the initial design phase.

The figures highlight that half of all online traffic now comes from mobile devices, so what use is a website that looks immaculate on a desktop but isn’t easy to navigate on a mobile? You’ve immediately given 50% of your potential sales a negative experience.

During the wireframing process, we have website responsiveness at the forefront of our developments. We want your business to be noticed across the web no matter where the user is looking for you.

Producing several concepts

If user experience is truly the driving force behind your website specification, you should be asking a designer to produce several wireframe concepts.

We produce several wireframe concepts; to understand every move that a user can make within your site and learn how they respond to prompts given whilst navigating through your website. If your business relies on eCommerce sales, you don’t want to miss out on sales because your website isn’t optimised to put the user’s priorities first.

As a web design agency, we’ve been supporting the growth of businesses since 2015. Our team of creatives see things that others don’t and fully understand the specifics of every project we undertake.

At Create8, we aim to break the mould and reimagine what is expected within the creative sector. Over the past six years, we have proven ourselves time and time again in the web design sector.

We enjoy what we do, and we always put each of our clients first. So, let’s cut to the chase; if you want to find out more about us or if you want to discuss how we could work together, leave us a message; we can’t wait to hear from you.

Take a look at some more of our blogs for helpful tips, tricks and advice:

Improving Your Website Design for the User