Users often decide in just a few seconds whether or not your site or app is worth their time. If your software is unusable or confusing, it can result in user mistakes, reduced productivity or even the total failure of the project. This is why user experience (UX), whilst often neglected, is one of the most important features of your software. What is user experience design?

UX design is the process of enhancing user satisfaction by improving the compatibility, usability, appearance and performance provided in the interaction between the end user and the software. In simpler terms, this means that good UX design works to ensure the user's experience of your software is as enjoyable, intuitive and satisfying as possible. What is Enable's approach to user experience design?

Enable is passionate about UX design. Our goal is that our applications genuinely enhance people's day to day tasks and are a pleasure to use. To meet the high standards we set ourselves, we conduct a UX planning exercise for each area of work. The key point of this exercise is that, before any code is written, the team has considered the different possibilities for the look of what is to be created and how the user will interact with it. Planning is one part of the UX process but reviews are required to help consolidate it. During the build phase, UX reviews are held periodically to consider what has been developed and if it is the best that it can be for the client.

So let's dive in and explore how user experience design can benefit your business.

1. More satisfied users

One of the most obvious benefits of good UX design is by providing a satisfying experience to your users by creating software which is simple to use. Whatever purpose your software might have, a strong emphasis on UX design will allow your users to complete their tasks in a way that is engaging, without being a struggle or inconvenience to them. Enable takes user satisfaction very seriously and we consider it to be an important selling point of our software.

2. Test the usefulness of your software's features

User acceptance testing (UAT), which plays an integral role in UX design, is a great way for you to assess the features of your software. Any number of industry experts can say you need this feature or that, but if your users don't like it, or can't even use it, then you know that changes will need to be made. At Enable, this process will occur on test servers, using realistic data. UAT benefits your software significantly by giving you an understanding on how it will behave in the live environment, and if any critical issues will arise when least expected. This ensures your software has the features that your users will want and need.

3. Increased user trust

A satisfying user experience is essential to increasing your users' trust in your brand, service and software. Our goal is for every project to set a new benchmark for this. We learn from every engagement and feed lessons learned into the next piece of work in a controlled environment while working to structured quality assured processes. A seamless, enjoyable experience translates into something that your users will believe in and this, in turn, translates into brand loyalty, and recognition.

4. Improved performance

By making the process of interaction and task completion as simple as possible, UX design essentially ensures that your users are able to effortlessly accomplish what they came to do on your software. Performance plays a major role in achieving this. If your software is running painfully slow or crashing continually, the user will most likely lose interest and consider other options. By proactively performing data and user volume load testing, Enable is able to identify and resolve performance issues, ensuring that an application can comfortably handle anticipated data volumes once launched.

5. More accessible to customers

The very nature of UX design means designing software accessible to all users, regardless of ability or how that content is consumed. Whilst typically described as making web sites available to people with disabilities, developing for accessibility in fact makes the web site more accessible and more usable to all users. Enable believes that all users, should be able to consume web content. We develop applications with a strong focus on usability and accessibility in mind, ensuring that our applications provide a high-quality experience for as broad a range of users as possible.

Conclusion

With software interaction playing an increasingly substantial part of our working lives, it is of great importance that alongside designing specific features there is also an emphasis on strong UX design. Ensuring the relevant steps are in place, such as sufficient planning, regular UX reviews during the software build and thorough UAT is vital to the success of a project. The end product is software that is not only enjoyable for your users, but also improves productivity, brand loyalty and overall satisfaction.