User experience design (UX, UXD, UED or XD) is the process of enhancing user satisfaction by improving the usability, accessibility, and pleasure provided in the interaction between the user and the product.
It seems all too easy for companies to put their focus on, and money into telling their customers what to expect from them and what they are about. Focusing on User Experience (UX) and building a brand around a user can hugely benefit a company.
“Ensuring that customers are experiencing the brand creates a meaningful and lasting impact on the customer. Which then builds a loyal fan base and increases user satisfaction.”
Enhance user satisfaction and align with the customer’s needs. To do this, the customer story must first be defined. A meaningful UX can only be achieved with a clearly defined story to model from. The customer story includes expectations, likes, dislikes, behavior, attention span, demographic, and especially, the psychology of the user.
What many companies may not even realize, is that under the UX umbrella there is a plethora of other elements that play into the overall UX and satisfaction of the customer. Just some of these elements include, packaging, the user interface (UI), typography used on the site, company engagement and correspondence, and the list goes on.
For a company to clearly define the user story, they’ve really got to get into the head of the customer.
By putting themselves in their shoes, a brand can define challenges and provide solutions from the customer’s viewpoint. It’s easy to make assumptions from the standpoint of a brand. Also, it greatly helps to consider how an aspect of the site or packaging could negatively impact the consumer.
I like to call this tunnel vision. Being too close to something inhibits seeing it from an outside perspective. Understanding where the user is coming from and what they are looking for ultimately saves the company money. It does this by bringing the same customer back time and time again.
Aligning the customer to the brand through user experience is essential.
Invest time in defining the user story before you invest thousands of dollars to build out a company. Also, you can invest in a company that specializes in this – which would be a much better use of funds.
Finally, we recommend getting clear on the needs of the customer from the very beginning. This saves everyone involved from an unnecessary headache.
To create a meaningful user experience, you have to understand the user story.
To request a Vitals Workshop and have us help you identify your user story click here.