UX might sound like some space age acronym, but it is really something each and every one of us encounter every time we use our phones or visit a website. Whether you’re scrolling through Pinterest or learning to use the updated version of the Facebook app, UX is everywhere.

UX, or “user experience,” is the design process behind what makes a website or application easy to use and navigate. It is part design, part psychology and part development. The process starts with the inception of a new interactive project-such as a website. The designer tackling the project must approach it with questions like, “Where will the consumer click next?” and, “What will the consumer expect to see here?”

Rather than focusing on purely visual design like color and typeface, UX focuses on how the consumer is interacting with the experience. Our web designers have to keep the site user’s thought process in mind the entire time. When asked about his views on UX, Jared Law, Vice President and Digital Project Director at Fuzzy Duck said,

For a site to be successful it needs to be a positive experience for the user…Speaking in general terms, a site that is attractive, intuitive to navigate and provides calls-to-action to lead the user to their desired goals, will be a positive experience.

Industry giant Google’s website, for example, is extremely clean and easy to use. The main goal of the site, to search, is front and center with an easy-to-use search bar. After the search, the user can easily scroll through thousands of search results using keywords and shortened page titles to help. Of course, unlike Google, most other sites have more than one goal, making proper UX design more challenging. Nevertheless, Google’s simple layout makes it the prime example of an easy user experience.

So, why does UX matter? According to a survey from Cameron and Wilding, more than 88 percent of consumers said they are less likely to return to a site after a poor experience using the site. That means less communication, fewer visitors to the site and, in the case of e-commerce sites, fewer completed transactions. Law said, “Without proper understanding and attention to UX an online business may never obtain the level of success that they are looking for.”

Fuzzy Duck can maximize your chances of online success by helping you create a user friendly experience for any website. For more information on how we can help, contact us.