User experience is more important than design

One thing I frequently have to explain to people is that if you want your website to work, if you want your users to follow your call-to-action, click the button, or take the next step, you have to make the website easy for them to use.

So what does this really mean for you?

It means that when we design the website, we have to think about who the target audience is and how they will use the site, and we have to do this before  we think about how the site should look.

For example, if your target demographic are senior citizens, then we need to make the text larger and we need to make the navigation very simple. Toggle menus, easter eggs, and fancy rollover effects, while fun, may not be as intuitive for those people.

Take Snapchat as an example. I’m over 40, so I found the user-interface of Snapchat to be extremely confusing. I work in tech, and yet I couldn’t figure it out. I finally had to have a 20-something show me how to use it, and it was super intuitive to them without any tutorials. (I still find it confusing, but I’m getting better!)

One of the first questions I ask people when they request a quote for a new website is who is your target demographic, and one reason I want to know that information is because different people use the Internet differently.

• Younger people spend more time on their phones, so it’s much more important that a site targeting the younger generation be mobile-friendly.
• If you are targeting businesses or business owners, these people are more likely to be looking for your service/product when they are at work on their work computer, so having a strong desktop experience is key.

Knowing how your audience will use your website is important so you can make their experience the best for them. Because if they can easily use your website, then they are more likely to contact you about your product/service. And that means more sales for you.