What good UI/UX design actually changes for your customers

When people say a website or an app is well designed, they usually mean it looks good. Looks matter, but they are the surface. The design work that pays for itself is the part customers never notice, because nothing got in their way.

Fewer decisions on each screen

Every screen should have one thing it most wants the visitor to do. When a page asks for five things at once, people do none of them. Good design chooses, and makes the main action the easiest thing to find.

Words people already use

Labels written from inside a company are a common cause of confusion. Customers look for the word they would say out loud. Testing a menu with three people outside the team will often change half the labels.

What to look for

• Can a new visitor say what you offer within a few seconds?
• Is the main action visible without scrolling on a phone?
• Do forms ask only for what you really need?
• Is it clear what happened after a button was pressed?

Design is ongoing

The first version of a design is a set of informed guesses. Watching how people actually use the product, and adjusting, is where most of the improvement comes from.