User experience is critical to good customer relations

In the previous Happy Stories we’ve told all about UX testing, but why is it important to conduct user testing? With the explosion of social media and smart, mobile devices, customers are becoming more empowered and the online experience of customers is becoming just as important as face to face contact. A research to the user experience design is critical to your relationship with the customer and we tell you why in this Happy Story.

So, at the end of this article you know:

What’s the difference between user- and customer experience

Why UX design is critical in the current media landscape

Why user experience is essential to the relationship with your customer in general

According to a study by Forrester Research, a well-designed user interface increases a website’s conversion rate up to 200% and a good UX design even brings the conversion rate up to 400%. This study shows the importance of a good UX design and why it is important to invest time in finding out the needs of the user. Unfortunately, businesses are not always focused on defining meaningful experiences and are still underestimating the significance of UX design and customer experiences.

UX versus CX?

But what is the actual difference between user experience and customer experience? User experience is part of the total customer experience. Customer experience is the general interaction with the customer, while user experience is focusing on the usability of your digital product or site. The two fields are very much intertwined. But the user experience with your product or site has one of the strongest influences on the overall customer experience. For example, if the design of your website or app is not working well, your users/customers will become frustrated and that will have an influence on your overall reputation. The most important thing is that you put your customer (or user) first, as well in the user experience as the customer experience.

The importance of technology

Especially in the current media landscape, where technology is becoming more important and there is a big change in the way customers discover and share information, it’s essential that your users know how to navigate on your site or product. The online experience of users are becoming just as (or even more) important as face to face contact.

If your online product no longer delivers value, a customer can effortlessly unlike, unfollow, unsubscribe or even delete the product and they will probably go to a competitor with a better user interface. Marshall McLuhan once said: ‘The medium is the message’, but that’s not the case anymore. The medium is becoming the experience and an enabler to the journey. If your customers are happy with your interface and have a positive experience with your site or app, they are more likely to come back. User experience is becoming critical in customer engagement in order to compete for attention. Now, but also in the future.

Why you need to test your design

Customer expectations are increasing because of the changing technology. Simply just making use of these technologies and not thinking about what the customer wants and needs, is not enough. The most important thing to keep in mind as organization: you are not your users and you can’t assume what they want or need. That’s why you need to get close to your users and test your product. To develop the best UX design, you need to pay attention to what your users do and want!

You don’t want to find out after launching your site or product that your users don’t enjoy using it. That will not only cost you a lot of time, but also a lot of money. UX design should always find a way within the design of any new media strategy today. In every organization! To put it simply, UX design is important because it tries to fulfill the user needs and provide positive experiences that keep users loyal to the product and brand! And that’s why you need UX design: to build and maintain a good relationship with your customers/users.

Happy Testing!

So as you can see, user experience is really critical to customer relationships. You’re main goal is to serve your user the best content and to offer a design that is easy and friendly in use. User experience is related to customer relationships as well as your brand reputation overall. And if you need help with testing and improving your UX design, we are happy to assist! Click here for the possibilities