Wondering how web design influences customer experience? A website is one of the essential tools for any brand in the modern business environment. It is not only one of the sure ways of future-proofing your business, but it also has a massive impact on brand engagement. Many companies have now realized the importance of a website in attracting potential customers, and web design is one of the factors that you can use to improve brand engagement.
With that said, how does web design impact a customer’s experience on your website? Statistics show that 8 out of 10 people start their search for a product or service online, and when the web design is done correctly, it will increase the number of site visitors and conversions exponentially.
For this reason, it is necessary that you get a professional web designer in Singapore. Given the changing trends in web design in Singapore, a professional web designer will make a critical difference to the success of your brand.
In this article, we look at the ways web design impacts your customer experience. Read on to the very end to learn how you can leverage your web design to improve your customer’s experience on your website.
Appearance
When it comes to websites, first impressions matter a lot, and the appearance will determine whether the visitor will become a client or not. This calls for you to have a responsive design on your website since most Singaporeans are now accessing their internet via mobile devices.
There are many ways that you could improve the appearance of your website. One of the sure ways is to use big and bold serif fonts for headlines. For the body, use easy to read fonts (sans serif) such as Calibri or Times New Roman.
You should also break the monotony with high-resolution images between the texts. On that note, it is imperative that you incorporate parallax scrolling. This is where you overlay two visual elements on a page and when a visitor scrolls, the elements will move at different speeds. This gives the site visitors a fantastic viewing experience, encourage them read through the content and to take action.
There are two web design standards
- Older websites that were designed in the 90s
- Newer, sleeker websites that integrate modern web design trends
Most of the websites fall between these two extremes, and it is possible to have a site that is in the middle. The goal here is to ensure that it incorporates current and up-to-date design trends.
Professionalism
When a browser lands on your site, they will be keen to see if your website exudes professionalism. You must do all that it takes to convince them that you are a respectable business built on professionalism, and your web design plays a huge role. Various elements of web design contribute to the professionalism of your business such as
- Photos of staff
- Customer testimonials and results
- A culture or about us page
Are you wondering how pictures of your team will affect the professionalism of your business? This action removes you as the sole face behind the brand and it will shows that you are more than just a name. It is up to you to decide how you will show off your staff. However, avoid using stock images as they are too generic.
Customer testimonials, on the other hand, show that you are a customer-centric business and this will be the force that drives your potential clients to convert. For the culture or about us page, highlight the values you uphold at your company or the unique things you celebrate. They will show more about your company and what you do other than work.
Speed
In the past decade, the number of internet users has burgeoned, and with increased connectivity, the chances are that you have potential customers far off the shores of Singapore. This has led to an increase in the number of websites offering similar products or services to yours.
The internet users, on the other hand, are impatient, and will leave a site if it takes too long to load the content. This makes it crucial that you consider the loading speed when doing web design.
There are several ways that you can increase your page loading speed
- Disable auto-play multimedia
- Optimize your images
- Use white space
One of the ways of ensuring that your pages load faster is by optimising the images. It is advisable that you use a.jpg file format for images since of high quality, and they use up less space. If you have video content, avoid setting them on auto-play as this will increase the loading time.
Besides this, most Singaporeans use smartphones to access the internet, which is another reason why you should disable auto-play. This is because they are wary of how they spend their data, and auto-play videos are a corny method of content marketing.
White space, on the other hand, increases the readability of your texts. This is the blank spaces on your pages, and they are crucial in helping the reader understand the content without having to reread the content. The clever use of whitespace will improve the page loading time as well as enhance the readability of the text.
Simplicity and Clarity
Millions of websites are losing out on converting visitors into clients because they are not communicating their messages effectively. Achieving simplicity on your website is an art, and there are many ways of achieving it.
First off, you should minimise the multimedia you have on a page. You should use the least number of images to illustrate your message. Do not go beyond two images for a single page. Your visitors should also use the least number of clicks possible to navigate the site.
There are two popular styles you can use to simplify the navigation on your website
- Drop-down menu
- Breadcrumb
Drop-down menus are very popular, and when a visitor positions a cursor or clicks on a menu title, they will see its contents. They can then click the section that interests them. For breadcrumb navigation, when a user clicks to a new page, their previous page is automatically added to the navigation bar.
If they need to go back, they click to go back in an instant. These are the two most popular, but you can check this article for more types of navigation menus for modern websites. The point of keeping it simple stupid (K.I.S.S.) is to improve the clarity of your content.
Increase Conversions
Your approach to web design can impact conversions in a multitude of ways. Your business could not do without them, and this makes them a crucial part of web design. You need to optimise your website to improve your conversion rates. While there are many ways you could use to improve conversion, we recommend the following impactful methods
- The KISS principle
- Colour
- Faces
Modern web design trends dictate that simple designs are great designs. Various studies show that the attention span of many internet users has dropped significantly and coupled with impatience, visitors will leave a site that appears cluttered and disorganised. On that note, ensure that you keep everything neat to increase conversions.
Colour has a significant bearing on the rate of conversions since it has been shown that colour elicits an emotional response in your visitors. You can use different colours from the main colour scheme to highlight the selling points.
For example, you could use red, yellow, or green for the Call to Action button. However, it is vital that you do not use more than three colour tones on your web design as it can negatively impact your conversions.
As much as your online audience will not have any interaction with a majority of your staff, it is essential that you add a human feel to your online brand. You could post the picture of the team while they are at their workstations or out having a good time.
It is advisable not to use stock images and pass them off as your staff. With the three concepts discussed in this point, you are sure to increase conversions.
Top 15 User Experience Testing Tools For 2021
If you are launching a new app or want to know your website user experience, user testing tools offer helpful insights based on every customer’s personal experiences. According to TrueList UX statistics, 55% of companies perform user experience testing.
These insights enhance performance because they will help you identify areas of weakness and improve them to suit your target audience.
In today’s world, usability is a top priority for all digital products. Users are no longer ready to put up with subpar usability for any reason. Therefore, poor usability translates to product failure in the market.
To succeed in the digital market, you will need usability tools. According to Forrester Research, a well-designed user interface with a good UX design can yield a 400% conversion for your website. Before deciding the tool you want to invest in, you should consider the product you wish to produce, the size of your team, and what you want to achieve.
Given the plethora of UX tools available, people often ask how I can know which tool is suitable for my business? Each tool has its unique features and is equally important. We will look at the top 15 of these tools in 2021: their features, pros, and cons.
-
UserZoom
Photo credits: www.userzoom.com
UserZoom is one of the most preferred usability testing tools in the market today. It is a powerful and intuitive tool that measures people’s experiences on apps and prototypes. It is also used to measure website user experience.
One outstanding feature of this tool is that it provides insights into every stage of the product development cycle. This feature is essential because you will be able to keep track of your progress. It also means that you will be able to notice mistakes early enough and correct them. Therefore, they will not be carried to the next stage.
Another feature of this tool is that it provides quick user feedback on design concepts and prototypes. It also enables users to carry out several studies in fast succession. As a result, users’ experience is improved.
Most importantly, UserZoom allows you to customize packages to contain the add-ons that you need for your project or target audience.
Due to its features, UserZoom is mainly used by researchers, designers, product managers, and marketers. It is essential for people who are starting up businesses and also small companies that want to grow.
Pros
-
- Quality screen recordings
- Fast
- Flexible
- Responsive support
- Easy to use
- Provides quantitative and qualitative data
- Produces easy to understand results
Cons
-
- Its user interface (UI) is a little bit outdated
- Steep learning curve
- Setting up tests can be time-consuming and cumbersome
- A limited number of simultaneous studies
-
Loop11
Photo credits: comparecamp.com
Loop11 is a free usability testing tool that allows non-moderated remote usability testing. It comes with various features, including live website or prototype testing, heat maps, and clickstream analysis.
This tool allows businesses to create online surveys and customized tests aiming at achieving specific goals. Users can customize the surveys and questionnaires to look like their website.
If you are a loop11 user, you need to bring your participants. However, this tool does not have a participant database. Therefore, you are allowed to get an unlimited number of participants if you have the pro plan.
Using and understanding this tool is easy since it does not require coding. It can also be used on any website and provide valuable data. The data is displayed in the form of reports containing task time and path analysis.
Sometimes for people to participate, they need to download the Loop11 app on their devices. Downloading apps can turn off participants since many people do not like downloading foreign apps on their devices. It may be due to storage or security issues.
These tests can also be availed to participants through user’s email listings, social media channels, and pop-up ads
This tool works best for small and medium businesses.
Pros
-
- Coding is not necessary
- Unlimited number of users
- Cost-efficient
- Accessible
- Generates reports quickly
- You can test loop11 on any device that browses the internet
- It can be used remotely
Cons
-
- You cannot edit tests after publishing
- Judging the success or failure rate can be challenging
- It takes time to load on some websites
- You might find more people participating than you had planned for
- It may be challenging to know who did the test properly
-
CrazyEgg
Photo credits: segment.com
CrazyEgg is a cloud-hosted website optimization tool. This tool is designed to help you to understand your customers better. It helps you know your website user experience and why they are leaving your website. It also shows you how customers click or scroll through your content.
In addition, this tool helps you to know where your customers are coming from and which customer clicks a specific type of content often. Therefore, it gives you more control over your business.
This software is easy to use. It does not require you to be an expert, even if you are new to the digital business world.
This tool is divided into four parts, namely;
Heatmap– Takes records of where customers click on your webpage
Scroll map– Shows how far people scroll down each page
Overlay– Breaks the number of click on pages
Confetti– Provides details of components and search items
Pros
-
- Easy to set-up
- Cloud-based
- Records visitor interaction with the website
- Data segmentation
- It links analytics in overlay report
- Easy to understand reports
- Visualizes user experience
- Easy to add pages using WordPress
- Saves snapshots of results and pages so we can compare results and export them
Cons
-
- Sometimes setting up the tool for different devices can be clunky
- A limited number of snapshots that can run simultaneously
- Lacks cross-domain tracking
- Exports take a longer time
- It does not display data for recent hours visits
- Advanced targeting can be confusing
- The plans available are a bit expensive
-
Userlytics
Photo credits: userlytics.com
Userlytics is one of the most popular usability testing tools globally because it has an extensive and detailed filtering system for participants in each study.
You must first specify your test objectives, target audience, and unique screener questions. You may also choose your most preferred device where the test will be conducted.
The tests may be set up in minutes thanks to Userlytics’ sophisticated test design procedure and unique interface. Custom analysis and reports may then be prepared in a few hours.
One outstanding feature of this tool is that it records the webcam, audio, and the screen of the participants’ device for moderated and moderated UX testing. It also supports an infinite number of comments, highlight reels, admins, participants per session, and the number of concurrent studies.
However, if you want to block screen recording during sensitive moments in the user experience testing journey, you can use the PII (Personal Identifiable Information) protection feature.
Pros
-
- Simple and user-friendly platform
- Allows an unlimited number of participants
- Visualized testing
- Quick and qualitative feedback
- Fast and friendly customer service
- Allows you to choose your target audience
Cons
-
- The user interface (UI) is a little bit outdated
- For screen recordings, you have to upgrade to an expensive package
- The initial set-up of tests can be time-consuming
- The data visualization tool may be a bit rough and may be challenging to users who are not conversant with statistics.
- Many different types of payment plans
-
Usabilla
Photo credits: usabilitygeek.com
Usabilla is a usability testing tool that is slightly different from other testing tools. Unlike other testing tools, it is peculiar on what things you can test. It primarily tests website user experience and other live products like apps and email campaigns.
The tool is not necessarily designed for prototyping or evaluating new designs in their early phases. Instead, it attempts to assist designers and marketers in improving their products after they have been launched. The feedback that the users get helps them to know where to make changes in their products.
Users may create surveys, put a feedback button on their website, or develop pop-ups that can be readily modified to match any website layout. When customers give feedback, users receive it in the form of a screenshot with a clear indication of the customer. Therefore, you won’t have to guess what people meant in your remote testing anymore.
Pros
-
- Easy to create, implement and manage campaigns
- Easy to collect feedback
- Friendly UI
- Visualized feedback through screenshots
Cons
-
- As other feedback systems are emerging, its price becomes expensive
- It does not allow for native integration
- Styling and positioning of the feedback button could be improved
-
UserTesting
Photo credits: wired.com
UserTesting is a panel-based usability testing tool. This tool helps companies to provide the best digital experience possible based on consumer feedback.
This tool has excellent features like live conversations, allowing users to speak with their customers one-on-one. Therefore, it will be easy to understand what customers want.
It also offers video recordings to capture critical moments during the test. Users will then receive these recordings after a few hours, thus enabling them to know their customer experience.
Pros
-
- Unmoderated testing
- Qualitative testing
- Outstanding customer support service
- Quick feedbacks and results
- Broad participant pool
- Easy to use UI
- Allows video recording of sessions
- Enables users to conduct a variety of tests
- Recruits targeted users for tests
Cons
-
- Expensive for businesses that are starting up
- After saving video clips, you cannot rename them
- Downloading and setting up can be time-consuming
- After the test has been launched, you cannot add a different audience
-
TryMyUI
Photo credits:swiftsalary.com
TryMyUi is a usability testing tool that provides standalone and customizable tests. It allows users to test various wireframes and prototypes in remote studies. The tool works with both websites and mobile apps, and it even has some extra features like written surveys and impression testing.
Unlike other testing tools, this tool allows users to use their participants or bring their own. If you decide to use the participants in the database of this tool, you will enjoy screening and segmentation capabilities.
Database screening is a primary feature of this tool, and it is available in all plans. This tool also offers other features like impression testing and demographic curation. Additionally, it also provides website user experience testing, mouse click, and keystroke testing. It also has narrated videos with a voice-over to explain user experience.
Pros
-
- Flexible pricing
- Comprehensive features set
- Easy to use
- Fast sign-up process
- High hourly pay rate
- Low barriers to entry
Cons
-
- There aren’t many tests available
- Getting paid is not always guaranteed
- No control over how many tests you get
- High test rejection rates
-
hotJar
Photo credits: hotjar.com
HotJar is a usability testing tool that offers heatmaps as its main feature. This tool also has a recording feature, and so users can see how their participants behave. By watching these videos, users will see where visitors experience UX problems and leave your website. Therefore, they will know how to optimize their website user experience and increase their conversion rates.
Another outstanding feature of this tool is that it enables users to set up event-based targeted questions to collect real-time feedback on issues. Users will then get the feedback either in written or visual form.
Pros
-
- Quick customer insight
- Ease of use
- Quick and easy to install
- Tracks user journey
- Live user recording
- Records user interaction with certain pages
- Generates heatmaps from traffic
- Allows users to target a specific audience
Cons
-
- The UI is a bit clunky and requires too many buttons to click
- Limits on data use
- Difficult to integrate at the user level with other tools
- Hard to organize data if participants are many
-
Optimizely
Photo credits: tutorialspoint.com
Optimizely is well known for scheduling multivariate testing. It also provides easy and quick editing of images, texts, and colors that you want to appear on your website.
One of the most outstanding features of this tool is the ease with which users can create new tests. Users can put everything on their dashboard, so no coding is required. It is also capable of testing new websites, such as pages with dynamic content.
It also enables extensive segmentation of studies. These studies can be narrowed down to participants from certain geographic regions or have specific cookie settings. This, of course, aids in the refinement of the study.
One of the most significant aspects of this user testing tool is that it was designed for various groups and not designers exclusively. Optimizely provides a visual editor and many extensions, Application Programming Interface (API), and code choices for designers.
It also has various sets of features for managing the workflow of many teams within the software itself. Those features include backlogs and commenting.
Pros
-
- Users can create tests without coding
- Able to run more than one experiment at a time
- API output
- Easy to learn
- Excellent support resources
- Great training and certification resources
- Allows for quick changes
- Advanced targeting capabilities
- Easy to use UI
Cons
-
- Limited flexibility for developers
- Some pages take time to load
- Events can be hard to configure depending on tests you are running
- It is not the best for personalization
- There is no way to do a proper approval appeal
- Previews can be a little sketchy sometimes
- Quite expensive
-
UsabilityHub
Photo credits: pintrest.com
UsabilityHub is one of the usability testing tools that aim at simplicity. For this tool, participants are shown the website for like 5 seconds. The website is then closed, and the participants are asked to say what they saw, and the answers are listed.
One of the questions that the users will ask the participants is what they found memorable. Their answers will then help adjust the website’s layout to ensure it leaves a long-lasting impression on people.
The best aspect of UsabilityHub is its highly developed heat maps. These heat maps go beyond just indicating click-density. Besides heat maps, this platform provides factual information and data such as time-to-click.
Like other usability testing tools, users can bring the participants of their choice or use those in the database. Also, there is no limit to the number of participants users can get. It is also important to note that if you choose to use the participants in the database, you have to specify demographics that you are interested in
Pros
-
- Ease of navigation of certain pages
- Fast responses
- Easy to use
- Excellent customer support system
- Attractive website layout
- Tests are quick and accessible
Cons
-
- Tasks are small, and the pay is also little
- The quality of participants in the database is not reliable
- The tests are infrequent, and you may miss them if you take time to respond
-
Validately
Photo credits: wowitinc.com
Validately tool is one of the simplest contenders in usability testing tools. It focuses on taking care of all the technicalities so that the study’s organizers may concentrate on the tasks and questions.
For this tool, the only work users have is determining who will take part in the test while Validately takes care of the rest. It carefully selects, sets up, and conducts the exam. Validately goes as far as you need for people who want to be engaged.
This tool is helpful for small and medium-sized businesses.
Pros
-
- Quick payments; takes up to 7 days
- High rate of earnings
- Tests are always available
- Tests are not time-consuming
- No minimum payment threshold
Cons
-
- Payment options are limited
- For you to sign up, you have to pass the initial test
- Tests are available for a short period
- You can only participate in the tests if you meet the required criteria
-
ClickTale
Photo credits: comparecamp.com
ClickTale tool is among the most preferred usability testing tools nowadays. The platform keeps detailed records of participants’ actions and provides many options for analyzing the data. The recording and sequential analysis of participants’ activities within the app allow users to see what they did and how they did it.
The most distinguishable feature of this tool is that it allows users to create multiple dashboards with their Experience Center. That means product managers, designers, and analysts may have their dashboard with distinct Key Performance Indicators to keep the team focused.
The platform also offers a crash trend report. These reports show users what causes the crashes. Users can also see crashes individually and analyze the records of the behavior that led to the crash.
Pros
-
- Provides accurate analysis
- Raises alerts on crucial goals
- Records visitors’ activities
- Has flexible plans
- Easy to install
Cons
-
- Tracking tags can slow down your site
- Watching recordings can be time-consuming
- It can be expensive for small businesses
-
Lookback
Photo credits: lookback.io
Lookback is also among the widely used usability testing tools. It is flexible and offers users options to carry out moderated and unmoderated tests. It also works with native apps, thus boosting their mobile-testing capabilities.
The program also has many valuable features, including the ability to date and take notes at specific points during test recordings. Users like this feature since it facilitates communication about website user experience.
Another fantastic feature of Lookback is that all recordings are automatically stored in the cloud. It also has a broadcasting function which enables teams in different geographical location to get the same results.
Pros
-
- Easy to set up sessions
- Great for remote tests
- Friendly price for people new to the business
Cons
-
- Participants have to put their details to use it
- It does not have its pool of participants
- Connection often fails during the session
-
Qualaroo
Photo credits: getapp.com
Qualaroo is a usability tool that enables you to carry out tests on website user experience in real-time. You need to add a code to the website to launch a survey that does not require any support from the initial web developers.
This tool allows several questions and responses via email notification. It also allows you to choose the type of response you want and the type of participants to do that test.
Pros
-
- Uncovers user’s intent in real-time
- It helps people see how to invest their money
- Captures additional information about respondents
- Excellent customer service
Cons
-
- Stringing questions together can be tiresome
- The reporting functionality is somehow limited
- Not versatile in terms of visual appeal
-
UserFeel
Photo credits: 9to5workonline.com
UserFeel is among the most popular usability testing tools. It is also used to test the website user experience. This tool gives you video recordings of people speaking about the experience they had on our website.
UserFeel was developed for usability researchers, people who are new to UX research, and those who want to optimize their websites or apps.
To take part in the test, you will be sent an email invitation which you need to accept. You should then visit the website specified in the email and check it out. You should then record your thoughts about the website
Pros
-
- Fairly easy work
- Good pay
- Ease of use
- Great customer service
- Friendly UI
Cons
-
- No consistent work
- Your tests may be disapproved, and you won’t be paid
Conclusion
Doing business on an online platform such as your website is not that much different from being in a brick and mortar store. The customer experience comes first, and your web design will play a huge role in how your customers perceive your brand and business.
Customers will always look for a brand that gives them value for their money and time. This is the reason why companies with quality products and look professional both online and offline win the most customers.
Usability testing tools are a must-have in the UX design world. Nowadays, people have high expectations of digital products. Therefore, getting insights into the website user experience is essential because these insights will help you know where to make changes.
More so, there are millions of people conducting business on the internet every hour, and you could lose out on a chance of a lifetime if you have a poor looking website. You should also keep testing your website to optimise the design for success.
Do you need web design services for a new website or to revamp your current website and improve customer experience on your website? Contact us for a non-obligatory quote of our web design and SEO services in Singapore.
