User experience design - the mantra for 2016

The Indian startup ecosystem is booming and entrepreneurial dreams feel real now more than ever. With 3,100 startups in 2014 and projections of over 11,500 by 2020, it’s safe to say that this isn’t a passing trend. This is the place for the dreamers or,as Steve Jobs’ described it, the place for the‘misfits’.

In this fast growing ecosystem,the significance of user experience design can only increase. What is user experience or UX design. Simply put, it's understanding and designing the experience a user will have with a product and making that experience memorable and addictive. Its about making a product ( app or website ) easy to understand/use while aligning the experience with the objective of the product.

Why does it matter?

User experience is just as important as visual identity. It doesn’t matter what your site or app looks like if people don’t enjoy the experience of engaging with it.

While UX is generally important for all digital products, it is even more significant for certain types of digital products: complex sites or applications, retail or online sales, startup sites and businesses, small-budget projects and projects or sites that are expected to last a long time.

Users must be able to easily navigate the site and understand how to use it. Neglecting UX design can lead to the user not understanding the product as intended or not enjoying their experience with the product because it was too complex or confusing.

Here is why UX design will be the mantra for 2016:

It's the building block for content marketing: User experience extends to content marketing as content also defines experience.

Google wants marketeers to concentrate more on the relevance of content and made changes to its search algorithm. The experience a reader gets should be of value rather than being purely promotional or sales-driven.

Facebook recently made changes to its news feed with the aim to encourage brands to provide more valuable content and less of promotional material.

Mobile is now bigger than ever: Mobile has overtaken desktop as the primary device for accessing the internet.What this means is that websites need to be mobile friendly and responsive to cater to this shift. Startups need to focus on mobile experiences and create mobile-friendly interface which is easy to maneuver. A good mobile app design is of no consequence if there is no focus on usability.

Experience will be the saviour : There is no‘one unique’idea here. Startups are also aiming at amplifying existing ideas and adding their own unique touch to an existing product. With so much clutter, the only way to differentiate yourself from the others is by differentiating and amplifying the experience of the product.Users are more likely to return to your product if they like the experience and if it is easy to use and understand. Stand out by giving an epic experience.

Startups need to hop on the user experience yacht and cruise their way into the minds and hearts of users.

(Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of YourStory)

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