The user is a vital element without which the web would be unable to function. What is the point of this infrastructure and data if not for the benefit of the person utilizing it? It may appear to be self-evident, but it has not always been that way.
In the last few years, a shift toward a more customer-focused approach to developing digital technologies has taken place.
Companies have exerted a lot of effort into constructing programs to evaluate user-friendliness, and UX designers are making advantage of these tools – as well as numerous others – to make decisions depending on actual user information.
The requirement for superior online experiences has been the force that has moved web platforms to produce resources for coders and advertisers to construct improved webpages for people all around the world.
User-Centric Design in Ecommerce
We can observe an impressive transformation towards better user experience in the field of ecommerce. User-centered thinking in ecommerce is similar to that found in other sectors; however, it entails its own collection of obstacles and resolutions.
A site must be fast.
The Wharton Business Journal calculates that when website speed goes down by 10%, there is a 4.2% decrease in sales. It is essential that your website loads faster than usual and presents a satisfactory interface from the initial moment a visitor reaches it.
One technique that can be used to make your website faster, and is incredibly effective, is to reduce the file size of any images that are used.
On an ecommerce site with many product offerings, images that have not been optimized can lead to an unnecessarily large page size. This can extend the amount of time required to obtain the item and could cause customers to reconsider getting it from your store.
A site must be easy to navigate.
Discovering how visitors negotiate sites is straightforward and there are a variety of methods accessible to comprehend your customers’ experiences.
After comprehending the voyage and its disadvantages, you can focus on making it better. It is a simple task to look at navigation menus and make sense of them. Take a look at your main navigation and ask yourself these questions:
- Is my menu easy to read?
- Is my menu easy to find?
- Are my menu options easy to understand?
- Does my navigation stand out from the rest of the page?
This draws attention to another crucial element of designing from the user’s perspective: creating user experience writing. Communicating in familiar terms can be beneficial when engaging with potential customers as using specialized language, or jargon, pertaining to your industry may intimidate them and discourage them from purchasing your products. Utilizing straightforward and understandable communication can aid in minimizing issues and enhance the user experience.
A site must provide a seamless checkout experience.
One simple way to judge the success of UX research in ecommerce is to determine if the customer bought something.
If yes, congratulate yourself on a job well done. If not, you may want to reevaluate your site. The navigation menus? Of course. Product listings and catalogs? Yes. But one area is absolutely vital: the checkout process.
Let’s investigate the characteristics of a customer-oriented checkout procedure, in addition to the instruments we can use to augment ours.
The User-Centric Checkout Process
There is no Platonic ideal of a checkout process. The degree of it varies depending on the industry, the particular customer and even the type of device. Though various elements can influence crafting a checkout process centered around the user, a few details rise above them and can aid you in achieving the desired result.
These are its core characteristics:
It should be optimized for mobile.
eMarketer reported that 2021 saw mobile commerce sales reach $360 billion. It is projected that in 2025, the amount will rise nearly to $710 billion. This implies that your website and the process of you checking out need to be tailored for use on mobile devices. Otherwise, you could be losing out on potential sales.
It should be frictionless.
Does this sound familiar? After trying to find the ‘checkout’ button on an online site, when you eventually arrive at the add to cart page you are asked to either log in or register, and thus having to share personal information in the process.
Some shoppers prefer to check out as a guest. According to research done by the Baymard Institute, a quarter of shoppers leave a website if they are asked to create an account. That’s why a guest checkout option is a must.
Customers dislike having charges they weren’t expecting, costly delivery choices, or feeling obligated to build an account. They desire a checkout experience that is effortless and smooth, enabling them to quickly search and locate what they need before leaving.
It should have a clean design.
This one speaks for itself. Make the checkout process simple, so buyers don’t lose interest prior to finishing. Make sure to give your customers as little to do as possible so they understand what they have to do and what they should press. Ensure that the environment is safe and pleasant so customers feel comfortable when paying for their purchases.
It should be secure.
As an ecommerce business, it’s not just about offering a product or service. You are requesting that your customers disclose their personal information, such as credit card numbers, home addresses and birth dates. Creating an account can be greatly beneficial when it comes to keeping someone’s information safe.
Utilizing encryption technology such as SSL certificates can help to reassure users. Many big sites will supply you with an SSL certificate for your website without any cost. Any stores on BigCommerce that have their own domain name (for instance mybcstore.com) will be given a free, secure SSL (secure socket layer) certificate known as Encryption Everywhere.
You could also collaborate with credible payment collaborators who could bring while bringing a further measure of protection to the payment procedure. This brings us to the fifth feature that should be included in a checkout process designed with the user in mind.
It should be easy to pay.
It is essential to have a straightforward and secure payment system in place for your checkout. The quicker someone is able to press the purchase button, the sooner you can close the sale.
The quantity of payment options available online has increased significantly. Your clients are able to make payments using virtually any type of debit or credit card. They can also enroll in payment services that keep their credit and bank account information, which make it effortless to make payments with a few simple steps.
Tips to be User-Centric
Get To Know Your User
We need to have a thorough comprehension of who the intended user is if we want to come up with an item page outline and explanation that is focused on the user. As Saari and Turpeinen point out, in order to begin the process of customizing the Web, an individual, group, or community model must first be created. Once you have constructed your user models, you can accurately evaluate what they require and how to write effectively for them.
In her book Letting Go of the Words, Web usability expert Janice Redish suggests these strategies for getting to know your target user:
- Scope the email responses that come through the website’s “Contact Us” form and other feedback links. Consider the profiles of the senders. You can discover commonalities in lifestyle, technological capability, education level and communication preference through these channels.
- Talk to the customer service or marketing employees at your company. Don’t approach them with a broad demand to describe the typical client. Rather, ask questions about their interactions with clients. Who is calling in? Who is stopping by the office? What queries and complaints are common?
- Offer short questionnaires to visitors to the website. Redish suggests asking people “a few questions about themselves, why they came to the site, and whether they were successful in finding what they came for.”
- If possible, acquire a sense of the client simply by observing the people who walk through the front doors of the business. This is a great way to pick up on key phrases, jargon, emotional behavior and demographics.
Once you have an established understanding of who your intended user or audience is, then you can move on to creating the structures to direct the writing.
Bear in mind that the amount of time and resources devoted to collecting and organizing these details can be flexible – depending on both your own and your client’s allotment – yet still be effective. Leonard Souza made the point recently that a trip to the nearby coffee shop to talk to 5-10 people from your target audience can give you beneficial information. By being willing to be flexible, it is possible to locate educational possibilities that are both practical and inexpensive.
Personas constructed from user research allow for better understanding and empathy for all team members on a project according to Souza. Utilizing personas when writing copy for users can help focus on a user’s individual needs and desires for the project.
A persona is an imaginary individual created by blending together the qualities of your desired user. You can be imaginative with the individual’s name and image, but don’t overdo it. Creating a character should be done carefully, taking into consideration the age, educational background, family status, and all other relevant personal information gathered through research.
Having a personal to focus on when creating a product description and organizing the layout makes being user-centric simpler.
The product explanation assumes that the reader is familiar with a certain set of terminology: How many people who don’t do yoga would know what downward-dog refers to? What are referred to as “pipes” in the “Key Features” section? This material is tailored exactly to the wishes and desires of one precise user. She is looking for something cozy, easy to wear, and that will motivate her to have an active lifestyle. The product must have thermal characteristics, fabric that has been pre-shrunk, and be comfortable to layer.
Having a deep knowledge of the user has enabled this goods page to be successful and specially tailored to the customer and the company.
Master S.M.A.R.T. Content And Layout
Without clear, quantifiable, achievable, pertinent, and measurable user objectives guiding the content on the product page, the writing will lack strength. I make use of Dickson Fong’s edifying work “The S.M.A.R.T.” in this section. Creating a plan for the user experience should be a priority when creating product pages. This should involve making sure that the content reflects the user’s goals.
The S.M.A.R.T. system can be employed to ensure you remain focused as you plan out product specifics and determine which descriptive approach to take.
Fong outlines an outstanding ambition for a product page: “I need to do more exploration on the item’s design, qualities and details to find out if it meets my expense plan, goals and inclinations.”
Create a list when deciding which information should be presented first, and which should be optionally available when arranging the page’s design (see the “Create Information Hierarchies” area below for more on this). It offers guidance while producing content and assists you in concentrating on the advantages for the individual. As Darlene Maciuba-Koppel states in The Web Writer’s Guide, the aim of copywriting should be to promote the advantages of the item or service, not the item itself.
Users can reap the rewards of what they have achieved. An item that is not within their allotted funds, requirements, or likes yields them very little gain. For S.M.A.R.T. objectives to be achieved, the product pages must be oriented towards users, so the accompanying text must also be user-focused. Fong proposes disclosing relevant material connected to the purchaser of that type of product.
Use Personal Pronouns
Consider again Dell’s description of its Inspiron 570:
Make It Yours
The Inspiron 570 desktop has all of the features you are looking for, without anything extra. Offered in vibrant shades, you can match your look or differentiate from those around you. You can design your computer to fit your specs with various AMD processors, NVIDIA ATI graphics cards, and further custom specs. Regardless of what you may be doing online – browsing, writing emails, grabbing music and pictures, or talking online – the Inspiron 570 desktop computer is up to the task.
What you want, how you express yourself, what you require, the people you surround yourself with and the activities you do online. The title plus seven other occasions of “you” or “your” appear in this 86-word passage!
It is a good idea to incorporate personal pronouns into product descriptions, as this will be most likely to hook users, according to Redish who argues that people are more likely to absorb messages when they are written from the perspective of ‘you’, consequently allowing the consumer to visualize themselves in the text.
Dell’s content has been directed at a certain class of tech-savvy users, who are interested in customization and feeling special, while preserving a wide appeal for both genders.
The statement claims that this canoe will assist you with traveling through a body of water which you’ve recently come across, no matter if it is a present reality or a hope in the future.
The product display is centered around what the user requires and demonstrating how they will profit from purchasing the canoe. Talking directly to the user and utilizing “you” is the most effective manner for this retailer to get the shopper’s attention and prove to them, whenever it is, that this canoe will make a great purchase.
The Final Word
User-focused design will be the future of the internet: Companies are creating tools to measure its effect, analysts are coming up with innovative strategies to improve it, and organizations such as Amazon are providing solutions that enable large and small businesses to take part in and sustain an experience that is user-centric.
Ensuring that the consumer has a positive experience during the checkout procedure is one of the highest priorities when it comes to ecommerce. Think about speed and simplicity when creating your checkout process, and make sure it is user-friendly. Even the tiniest amount of resistance during the checkout can prompt a consumer to reevaluate their purchase choice.
Leave a Reply