Attention spans haven’t decreased, people just process and reject information faster
2. Keep it simple
The most simple user journey is the one that gets your user to the goal in the shortest, most simple method possible. Providing a user with access to tools to learn about complex ideas and topics should always be secondary to that journey.
Once you have a journey in mind, go back and remove anything that is not necessary; restructure it to make it easier to scan; make your calls to action clear and singular where possible; and make what needs to happen next as obvious as possible – they’ll be much more likely to do it if you do.
Linking out to those information sources gives the user the choice on whether they want to learn about those things, but make sure that these are secondary actions and that they’re less visible than the main user journey.
3. ‘Intuitive’ means putting things where people expect to find them
Have you ever noticed that all your home appliances have started to look the same? The controls are always in the same place; microwaves always have doors that open on the left; most kettles have a switch at the bottom…
It’s the same with digital solutions. Most major websites have profiles at the top right, logos at the top left, and contact information in the footer. This isn’t accidental.
People process their interactions based on stored knowledge, so if most of their previous interactions tell them that a company logo sits top left, that’s where they will go first. Want your solution to be intuitive? Put your logo there too. If you want people to know how to use your digital solution without any help, make it function like the ones they’re already used to.
4. Research won’t always give you the right answer – but it can get rid of a lot of the wrong ones
User research is a useful tool because it can answer your questions about the user and the journey; but it’s important to remember that it’s like any other scientific study – it only really eliminates possible solutions, and often poses more questions.
For example, does eating margarine cause divorce? It’s highly likely that most of us would give that a hard ‘NO!’. However, if you live in Maine, USA, the stats say…
User research and testing can get your team moving in the right direction. It can eliminate your assumptions and point you in the right direction, but don’t be quick to jump at the results showing you the exact cause. And, even if you think you’re right, make sure you test!
UX professionals can help structure that research to get significant findings faster. Asking the right questions can be half the battle, but that can be harder when you need to find out what you need to ask first.
5. Plan for scan
People are bombarded with vast quantities of information every day. From news alerts, notifications, emails and texts, to personalised content that’s tailored to our interests and screaming for our attention, users have to process such much data that they’ve adapted the way they absorb information.
Users won’t read your page first; they’ll scan it, identify the key elements, and then – if it’s worth reading – they might go back. However, if they don’t think it’s worth the effort, it’ll be closed down and forgotten.
User attention hasn’t reduced, people have just become better at filtering out the content they’re not interested in. And that’s where making content more scannable comes into play. By formatting your content to suit the way your users scan, it’ll help them understand the value of what you’re saying, encourage them to keep reading and improve the chances of them continuing the user journey.
6. The user journey doesn’t start at the homepage
So you’ve come up with your solution (whether that’s an app or a webpage), you’ve checked that it works, that users can do what they need, and that they’re happy to come back – but you’re still not getting significant results.
One important thing to realise is that user journeys do not begin and end with your solution. If you want a complete user journey, you need to consider what happens before and after the user has visited your solution.
Were they prompted by printed comms or an email? Did they see your solution on an advert? However they got there, you need to plan for what happens when they arrive, as well as how they perform while they are there.
And don’t forget to consider what happens when they leave. Working with the user through the end-to-end process, not just your digital solution, ensures that they are comfortable, confident and likely to come back.
7. Your solution isn’t the goal, it’s the path to the goal
Your user isn’t looking for a drill that drills a straight hole, they just want a drill.
No, they want to put a hole in the wall.
No, they want to hang a family picture.
No, they want a happy reminder of something from their past…
Maybe they just want to be happy… Who knows?
The fact is, your users probably don’t really want to be on your website… Shocking, but true!
If they’ve landed on your solution to perform an action or to find something out, your website or app is just a method of doing that. So focus on the process the user has come to perform. If you want to make your solution an impactful experience, you can’t do it at the cost of that user journey.
8. White space is good
Would you believe you can improve the look and feel of your solution by adding nothing at all? It’s true – adding additional white space tends to make a solution or brand appear more sophisticated and elegant.
In fact, white space can improve user understanding by making text more legible; it can make your designs more intuitive by grouping elements more clearly; and it can focus your users on more relevant content, directing them through the story you’re trying to tell.
9. Use the right kind of images
UX experts can make the images on your solution disappear, hide them so users never see them or even care that they ever existed. Actually, they don’t have to – the truth is, your users might not even be looking at the images on your website.
The fact is, images can help set the tone and improve the experience on a website, but if they do not contain content users won’t look at them. Giving stock images pride of place on a website tends to add little value and can break up a user flow.
However, photos of real people who have a relationship with the content, product images and information carrying images are all good additions – plus, users actually engage with them. The important thing is to emphasise the images that matter, and worry less about the ones your user will ignore.
10. Watch your words
Something people miss when they read a website it that subtle changes can make your life easier. One of those things is line length.
If they are too long or too short, it can make it difficult for the user to keep track of where they are in the sentence, which can lead to frustration, which will lead to disengagement.
The simple answer is, if you want your users to read your content, make it as easy to read as possible; removing even small impediments can have a massive long-term impact. The magic numbers are between 50-75 characters including spaces per line, so try to keep your content as close to that as possible.
The golden rule here? Make everything as simple as possible for the end user – they might never notice, but your metrics will.
*This article was first published in the Journal of Internal Communication brought to you by Gallagher. As a world-leading internal communications agency, we are excited to share our round-up of internal communication trends and provide practical examples of how organisations communicate.