Why Follow the Footsteps of Big Brands and their Website Structure?

Big brands like Google, Amazon and Facebook spend millions every year in user experience research. With a massive pool of users in different regions, these websites have to optimise their interface for every type of user. Obviously, they are doing something right. This is why we spend hours on their websites and applications without even realising it. Studying the leaders of any industry is the best way to understand what works. This is because they have already been through the different stages of growth and have finally reached a point where their UX and UI is good enough to cater to the likes of billions of users worldwide.

Just looking at their website is not enough to gather inferences. It takes a keen eye to notice the small details that have been tweaked to make the browsing experience pleasurable. Most of these websites have clean and fluid interfaces that are easy to navigate and understand. Many businesses also outsource their UI/UX efforts to a website design and development company in order to ensure that the latest trends are followed in their website. The use of familiar features like notifications, hamburger menus and product filets help users reach their information with ease. Here are a few things to keep in mind while designing your next website:

Goals and Purpose

Before you even begin the design process, it is important to identify the purpose of your website. For example, if you are an e-commerce business, your priorities may be to ensure that customers are familiar with your products and can easily make a purchase. For a media outlet, priorities may include ensuring that more users click on the latest headlines or making sure that users are delivered the news that is aligned with their interests.

You must set fixed goals and have a clear understanding of your expectation from the website. This is necessary because modern web design is very goal-oriented. Websites that exist for the sole purpose of profit fail very quickly. Efforts should be taken to ensure that the content is relevant and that users find your site authentic on their first visit.

Identifying Your User Base

Most important design decisions are made keeping the target user of your business in mind. Different age, region and profession can require different types of aesthetics. A child for younger children may include a colourful interface with animations and audio output whereas a construction company would keep things simple and informative so that their ideal user can get to the checkout page as soon as possible. When the demographic for your average user is vague and unidentifiable, it makes to have a generic and simple UI that can be navigated even by users that are not tech-savvy.

Goal-Driven Design (GDD)

Now that your goals are set and you have a concrete brand image in mind, it is time to get to the actual designing of your site. There are countless resources on the Internet explaining the fundamentals of GDD or goal-driven design. Most of these are inferences collected from various websites and the data that they have collected. User behaviour can vary drastically just by changing one icon or even the placement of a certain component.

GDD involves subliminally guiding users in the direction that you have intended for them. The “about” page on your website should be easy to find and reach. This is to give users a simple way to understand your company and its story. Other buttons like “download” or “register” should generally be a contrasting colour and larger.

Some companies also provide e-commerce solutions that can help you with understanding GDD in more depth. Other browsing features can also be simplified. Give users quick links to help them get to webpages faster. Loading times can be reduced and least distractions should be placed during the checkout process for your user.

Micro-Interactions

This is the latest trend in most websites. It gives the user a more interactive and comfortable feel. Browsing the web must feel natural and micro-interactions are the best way to achieve this. Micro-interactions are the small gestures and feedback given to users when they provide the right stimulus to a component on a webpage. Hovering, scrolling and clicking can provide users with small responses. A great example of this is Facebook’s “like” button or Amazon’s small indicator above the cart icon.

At the end of the day, the interface and overall design of your website is completely your choice. So, don’t be afraid to make your own choices even if they are slightly out of line with the convention. The data above is based on what has worked for companies in the past, there is no way to say what might work for you. Keep experimenting and analysing the response to your changes. ‘Trial and error’ is the best way to ensure that your website attracts the most users and generates more revenue. Go ahead and start designing, the possibilities are endless!