Popular UX design solutions
10 października 2017
User Experience Design is one of the most rapidly developing fields in terms of web design technology. UX design is based on skillfully designing a positive user experience related to our product e. g. online service. The inventor of the term UX is Don Norman, an employee of Apple Computers, who in 1993 used this term for the first time. User Experience Design is a combination of technology, psychology and art. UX Design's task is to provide the user with an unforgettable experience and create something unique. It is not without reason that this term was born in the most expensive company in the world, Apple. The company is famous for giving its customers the best possible experience. The iOS system is a true example of this, whose reliability and innovative design have resulted in high iPhone sales results.
Many people began to question the User Experience industry. A few years ago, the first opinions on the "collapse" of UX and all related industries appeared. Nevertheless, UX is very good and the UX research methods we use allow us to influence our user experience even more positively.
Let's start with how the UX tests are carried out. A large part of the research is done by capturing the user screen. This allows us to determine how users navigate through our website and how much time it takes for them to reach the key place. User observation allows us to clearly identify the weaknesses and strengths of the service. During UX tests, the so-called "test results" appear frequently. Pain points - these are the elements that adversely affect our conversion. This kind of research allows us to fix all defects and replace them with a real value for the user.
Design process
5-second confidence and credibility tests
Trust tests are based on identifying the problems of coherence and credibility of the communication. These tests are carried out at an early stage of product design - they provide information on whether the user concerned would actually benefit from our website or whether the product we present is of interest to him or her. Reliability tests can be carried out in many ways - one of them is the use of a scale from 1 to 10, according to which the users surveyed express their confidence in a particular product.
The sensory test
Experiences and sensations may seem very similar to confidence and credibility tests, but they differ in their complexity. Such tests focus on identifying the problem of communication. Their main task is to examine whether the users consider the website to be consistent. If the user has to think about what we are trying to communicate, it means that we have a lot of room for improvement. Results are collected through interviews and expert opinions conducted with users. Then they allow us to decide in which direction a project should go.
Comparative / Preferential tests
Also known as A/B tests. Preferential tests are carried out to assess the effectiveness of two or more alternative versions of the product. Such tests can already show us what options and solutions work best at the design stage. Tests A/B are recorded through online surveys conducted among users in our target group (e. g. demographics). For example, when designing the website we can assume that the blue colour will arouse more positive emotions for our user than the yellow colour. We carry out surveys among a specific demographic group and we get a concrete result, indicating the percentage of people who considered our thesis to be true.
Smear tests / unclearness tests
Smearing tests are used to determine whether our users are able to identify important images and Call to Action (CTA) buttons. This kind of test is based on dilution of the most important elements of the site in Photoshop (mainly graphics) and the focus of user's attention on what is most important to us. In this way we can define whether we use the right colours on our website, whether our components and CTA buttons are in the right place and whether their size and location are in accordance with your requirements.
Scenario tests
This type of User Experience tests will allow us to determine whether the user is able to perform the tasks we want on our site. The test focuses on measuring the time you need to perform a specific activity. This allows us to determine the project workflow and to correct the issue of minimizing unnecessary time that a user loses on a specific task. Scenario tests allow us to verify the places where the user encounters difficulties and find out what takes him the most time. If our user is not able to make a quick and secure transaction in an online shop, their feelings with the website will not be positive.
Quantitative tests vs qualitative tests
We often meet with the division of UX research into quantitative research and qualitative research. Quantitative tests enable us to obtain specific figures, which we can use in a detailed analysis of the product. Skillfully conducting quantitative research will give us information about what the user is doing on our website, how many pages the user has visited, how much time he has spent on a particular subpage, etc. Qualitative studies shall be carried out at an early stage of the project or immediately at the start of the project. Such research methods are usually carried out on a small group of users and allow us to get early information about our audience and their feelings about the project.
Surveys
Very often surveys are a key element of UX research. Detailed questions allow us to determine the final user experience of our website. You can use software such as Google Forms to conduct surveys, which gives us the ability to create clear graphs and information tables. The questionnaires give us the opportunity to reach a large group of recipients and get quick feedback on whether the project we have created evokes emotions in the user.
Heatmap, Eye-tracking, Mouse-tracking
More and more companies are using solutions that allow you to track the movement of your mouse and eyeballs. This gives us the opportunity to build detailed maps on which our user moves. With this type of tools we can determine how our users use our service. One of the most interesting software for tracking your mouse movement is https://www.crazyegg.com/.
All User Experience tests should be carried out on a group of at least 5 users. In the case of larger projects, this number should reach the limit of 50 respondents. UX research is constantly evolving and allows us to come to new conclusions, which positively influence the user experience related to our website. We believe that the UX industry has the best years to come - that's why we should make even greater efforts to improve our interfaces and improve our products - with the involvement of users at every stage of design of course.
Many people began to question the User Experience industry. A few years ago, the first opinions on the "collapse" of UX and all related industries appeared. Nevertheless, UX is very good and the UX research methods we use allow us to influence our user experience even more positively.
Let's start with how the UX tests are carried out. A large part of the research is done by capturing the user screen. This allows us to determine how users navigate through our website and how much time it takes for them to reach the key place. User observation allows us to clearly identify the weaknesses and strengths of the service. During UX tests, the so-called "test results" appear frequently. Pain points - these are the elements that adversely affect our conversion. This kind of research allows us to fix all defects and replace them with a real value for the user.
Design process
- Get to know your user, do research and find out as much as possible about it.
- Think about how you can meet their expectations and encourage them to perform a specific activity on your website.
- Create a prototype of your product based on your original assumptions.
- Carry out tests to determine the effectiveness of your thesis.
5-second confidence and credibility tests
Trust tests are based on identifying the problems of coherence and credibility of the communication. These tests are carried out at an early stage of product design - they provide information on whether the user concerned would actually benefit from our website or whether the product we present is of interest to him or her. Reliability tests can be carried out in many ways - one of them is the use of a scale from 1 to 10, according to which the users surveyed express their confidence in a particular product.
The sensory test
Experiences and sensations may seem very similar to confidence and credibility tests, but they differ in their complexity. Such tests focus on identifying the problem of communication. Their main task is to examine whether the users consider the website to be consistent. If the user has to think about what we are trying to communicate, it means that we have a lot of room for improvement. Results are collected through interviews and expert opinions conducted with users. Then they allow us to decide in which direction a project should go.
Comparative / Preferential tests
Also known as A/B tests. Preferential tests are carried out to assess the effectiveness of two or more alternative versions of the product. Such tests can already show us what options and solutions work best at the design stage. Tests A/B are recorded through online surveys conducted among users in our target group (e. g. demographics). For example, when designing the website we can assume that the blue colour will arouse more positive emotions for our user than the yellow colour. We carry out surveys among a specific demographic group and we get a concrete result, indicating the percentage of people who considered our thesis to be true.
Smear tests / unclearness tests
Smearing tests are used to determine whether our users are able to identify important images and Call to Action (CTA) buttons. This kind of test is based on dilution of the most important elements of the site in Photoshop (mainly graphics) and the focus of user's attention on what is most important to us. In this way we can define whether we use the right colours on our website, whether our components and CTA buttons are in the right place and whether their size and location are in accordance with your requirements.
Scenario tests
This type of User Experience tests will allow us to determine whether the user is able to perform the tasks we want on our site. The test focuses on measuring the time you need to perform a specific activity. This allows us to determine the project workflow and to correct the issue of minimizing unnecessary time that a user loses on a specific task. Scenario tests allow us to verify the places where the user encounters difficulties and find out what takes him the most time. If our user is not able to make a quick and secure transaction in an online shop, their feelings with the website will not be positive.
Quantitative tests vs qualitative tests
We often meet with the division of UX research into quantitative research and qualitative research. Quantitative tests enable us to obtain specific figures, which we can use in a detailed analysis of the product. Skillfully conducting quantitative research will give us information about what the user is doing on our website, how many pages the user has visited, how much time he has spent on a particular subpage, etc. Qualitative studies shall be carried out at an early stage of the project or immediately at the start of the project. Such research methods are usually carried out on a small group of users and allow us to get early information about our audience and their feelings about the project.
Surveys
Very often surveys are a key element of UX research. Detailed questions allow us to determine the final user experience of our website. You can use software such as Google Forms to conduct surveys, which gives us the ability to create clear graphs and information tables. The questionnaires give us the opportunity to reach a large group of recipients and get quick feedback on whether the project we have created evokes emotions in the user.
Heatmap, Eye-tracking, Mouse-tracking
More and more companies are using solutions that allow you to track the movement of your mouse and eyeballs. This gives us the opportunity to build detailed maps on which our user moves. With this type of tools we can determine how our users use our service. One of the most interesting software for tracking your mouse movement is https://www.crazyegg.com/.
All User Experience tests should be carried out on a group of at least 5 users. In the case of larger projects, this number should reach the limit of 50 respondents. UX research is constantly evolving and allows us to come to new conclusions, which positively influence the user experience related to our website. We believe that the UX industry has the best years to come - that's why we should make even greater efforts to improve our interfaces and improve our products - with the involvement of users at every stage of design of course.