5 User Experiences All Customers Crave

by Steve Olenski

User experience, or UX, is one of the most important facets of any technology-focused product or marketing approach, including an e-commerce site or business website. Referring to the way that a customer interacts with a brand and the brand’s technology, focusing on creating a high-quality and engaging UX is essential for forming meaningful buyer relationships and long-term customers.

Here are the top five user experiences that all customers crave:

1. An Emotional Factor
Whenever a consumer uses a mobile device, an app, a computer or a website with hopes of accomplishing a task, an emotional response occurs. When the task at hand becomes difficult to navigate, confusing or boring, the emotional response is much the same: boredom or frustration. On the other hand, when systems are designed well, and with customers’ emotions being taken into consideration, a completely different experience results for the user. Animation, graphics, pictures and interface design can all be fantastic tools for creating the emotional experience for users that you’re hoping to achieve.

2. Human Memory-friendly
While the human memory is a remarkable thing — after all, most people are able to recall years’ worth of information — it also has its limitations. For the average mind, recalling more than seven pieces of information at a given time is very difficult. As such, all websites and mobile apps should be designed to be human-memory friendly, as suggested by Retalix in their study The Importance of UX in Retail. Limit the number of items on a page or on a menu’s hierarchy, allowing the users’ brains to process what’s right in front of them and ultimately leading to a more efficient system.

3. Enhanced Engagement
Perhaps the biggest component of UX is user engagement. Users who are able to use mobile shopping apps, self-checkouts, price checks and other forms of interactions when using a brand’s technology are more likely to become long-term, repeat customers. Anytime the user is taking actions to directly interact with your website or app, user engagement is occurring. A design and features that contribute to user engagement will ultimately contribute to an enhanced UX, such as that of Quora’s site.

4. Easy Controls & Great Layout
If a user can’t navigate your website or app, it’s guaranteed they’ll have a poor user experience. To prevent this from happening, always design apps or websites using layouts that make controls easy to visualize (and that won’t be obstructed by other actions), put the main display area in a place on the app or page that’s always visible, make buttons and interface menus large and seeable, use text and page colors that are easy on the eyes and never make a user work too hard to have to do something, like make a purchase.

5. Customization
Finally, the fifth key element of UX that all customers crave is customization. Customization can include everything from a customer being able to specify filters on a mobile app to being able to design custom clothing, the latter of which H.M Cole, and its co-founder Michael McConkie, have mastered. The H.M. Cole mobile app displays all options for style, and allows their reps a chance to explain why styles/features work better for some things. The app also allows clients to see what they are getting before it arrives– a novelty for truly custom or bespoke clothing

When thinking about user experience, always focus on the emotional factor for a customer, the limitations of memory, high levels of user engagement, easy-to-navigate interfaces and a customized approach.

*This blog originally appeared at Forbes.

Steve Olenski was named one of the Top 100 Influencers In Social Media (#41) by Social Technology Review and a Top 50 Social Media Blogger by Kred. Steve is a senior creative content strategist at Responsys, a leading marketing cloud software and services company. He is a also a member of the Editorial Board for the Journal of Digital & Social Media Marketing and co-author of the book “StumbleUpon For Dummies.” He can be reached via LinkedIn, Google+, Twitter @steveolenski or at the nearest coffee shop.