Transcript
User experience applies to physical products, software and websites alike. To give you a simple example of good user experience. Imagine a recipe from a mommy blogger website that has a buttload of sweet, but irrelevant content that you have to scroll through before you actually get to the recipe at.
Self someone who’s paying attention to UX will add a jump to recipe button at the top of the page, which allows us to skip right down to the bottom, to the recipe card, without needing to scroll through loads of text. I know this example isn’t quite relevant to what geeky tech does, but it’s an example we can all relate to.
User experience is such a big topic and one that’s so important to your rankings, but from what I’ve seen is really all about incorporating common sense and even a little empathy into your. So here to discuss user experience with me today is beta Jarrah, a senior UX designer for the Canadian red cross and someone who had years of experience in designing everything from apps to websites, to products.
Hi beta. Thanks for joining me today. Hi Jenny. So let’s start today’s topic with this question, which is, can we first get a clear and simple definition of user experience?
Um, UX design is a commitment to building products that are created with the customer in mind. Okay. And yeah, it’s a starts with studying who the users are, what they need. What are their frustrations. Okay. And taking that information to provide products and services that improve the quality of people’s users lives.
But yeah, I can say you are, or user interface is what you use to interact with the product. Okay. What UX is concerned with, how this overall interaction feels? Oh, well you. Yeah, like you, uh, interface user interface can be a button, can be a form, but UX is the logic or the psychology behind it. So the user interface is the point of human computer interaction and communication on a device website or application though, UX is the art and knowledge of generating positive emotion.
true product interaction. Oh,
Okay. And. Static visual content. It can be print materials. It can be it’s normally about the marketing. Okay. It can be print. It can be online, but normally static visual content. Okay. They use colors, typography, text, and images to communicate a message. Through visual design mm-hmm and then UX designers take a broader perspective by focusing on the entire interaction between a user and a product.
So let’s say graphic design is often just one part of the bigger user experience. Okay.
So UI designer is the person who’s working, uh, with the UX designers.
Okay. And, but the one I hear a lot. As, uh, UX and UI are the same thing. Okay. Yeah. That’s what I, yeah. Yeah. But the thing is they’re not separated and you can say it’s nearly impossible to work on user experience without considering the user interface and vice versa. Got it. Got it. But they’re not the same UX is about how users feel when they use a system or product and UX.
In fact is the biggest. Or the bigger picture with UI being just one part of it. Okay. Uh, another, another thing that I hear a lot, which, uh, you’re rolling your
Hmm. Well, yeah. Beautiful design is always a good solution when it comes to UX. However, on its own, it does not guarantee the success of a system or product. Even if your user, I. It’s cool. Your website is beautiful. It’s modern. It still needs to be tested for the usability. Oh, okay. Yeah. do you want more example?
That’s really juicy
We learn it to, to survive. Okay. But yeah, but fewer creeks, it doesn’t necessarily warrant a good user experience. So.
When they’re doing a task. Okay, so you, you just, uh, want to, I don’t know. You want to, uh, put everything, let’s say you have a website and you want to put all the content content on the first page, right? So user cannot, uh, doesn’t need to. You know, go to the inner pages. Yeah. To find help, to find the form, to find information in need, because you want to create less click.
Ah, okay. But you know, even in SEO, mm-hmm you need to have the block page. Yeah. You need to have the FAQ page because the horizontal links can bring you more, uh, can increase your, uh, rank in Google. so, uh, so that’s, that’s, uh, that’s a misconception. Mm. So does
Okay. you are not gonna put everything on the landing page. Okay. Uh, or on the homepage, because you think that people. That much lazy that they, or they, they don’t want to click, so you have to put everything there for them. Okay. No. Okay.
Sure. Go for it. But I, I, I have no comment about this one. Okay. This is the one that I love the most. Okay. Uh, it says UX is about make, uh, making things be. So, okay. But, so I have no comment about this
People. Exactly. Okay. Yeah. Okay. Yeah, exactly. Does that mean that a psychology degree would help in, uh, this department?
I can imagine. Yeah.
Or warehouse and they can change the whole environment based on people’s psychology. Oh,
Not just for the end user, but also for your business.
Rebuild user personas, create user journeys, journey maps. It all sounds right. Designers’ job is to meet user expectations. Okay. And bring the joy of using the product. Right. However, UX design also must meet business goals and objectives. Right. It is start with an understanding of the product vision, like the reason for having this product from a bus business perspective.
Okay. The target market to be considered. And then, uh, the issues that this product can solve. Okay. This means the website or applications. Objective must be clear from the beginning is not only about our. End user is about the business objective also. Okay. So keep this in mind. So why businesses have to apply UX or user experience?
Mm-hmm because a bad UX can cost businesses a lot of money. Okay. For ex for example, you are, uh, setting your product on your website. if visitors are discouraged from purchasing, do a bad experience. Well, they will leave and they never come back. Yeah. Yeah. Right. Fair enough. So not only that, but bad UX can also have a very damaging effect on how your site
Okay. I was just gonna ask you that. Okay. Sorry. Do you wanna, do you want to, um, expand that a little? So how does it affect your ranking? Yeah,
Right. Build a website that ranks well in Google and boom. You’re done. the money. It doesn’t matter what the user’s experience is, as long as they are on the website. Okay. So where does UX come into this? Well, we know the, the job of landing page website is to solve problems for the, for the, for the visitors.
Yeah. Doing this well results in a long click. Like, they’re gonna stay longer on your website. Mm-hmm doing this badly in a short click. They’re just gonna click and leave. Okay. If a user cannot find information, they are looking for quickly, they will head a straight back to the search engine. Okay.
Sending a signal that your site did not satisfy their search. Okay. , you know, be, uh, because Google can track Chrome user activity, they can see how people are using your website. Right. Are they clicking two pages more quick, quickly than leaving? Mm. Do you have a lot, a low pages per visit, average or user getting lost in your.
These are all signals of bad UX that Google can see and penalize your site in favor of a better performing competitor. Hmm. Also let’s not forget about responsiveness. Okay. Your site is better to be responsive so that people can check it out in their mobile. Yeah. And which we know now that can increase your Google.
uh, as to involve your users from the beginning. Okay. Like do to the research, define your, uh, problem, create your, um, problem statement. Do you have to work with your users? Okay. You have to talk with them and you have to define it. Okay. And then the second thing is, uh, I can say, consider the cognitive load.
What’s. you know, people already have mental models about how websites work. Oh my God. Based on your past experiences, visiting other websites, this is how we learned. Right. Sorry. I
Got it. That’s why you are not gonna follow all the trendy, right. Uh, things that you see. Yeah. Yeah. Okay. Because people, they have to learn and they are not there on their, on your website to learn mm-hmm and then the last thing I can say is, uh, keep things simple. Okay. You know, um, normally we have to design website for scanning, not reading.
Because people will do the least amount of work possible to get, to get a task done. Yeah, I can. Yeah. I’m definitely
Yeah. You know, I do, I do use a better testing at work to test the features that I’m designing. Yeah. And I have to create a task okay. For the user, for the participant. And I just notice that people don’t even want to read the task. I’m learning, I’m learning their behaviors. I’m trying to reduce as much as I can.
So, but still. Still, they don’t want to read, especially people who are working in, uh, in tech.
It can be a business, uh, on the list and they just, uh, open the, the task and they’re like, oh, okay. I’m gonna go and start clicking around. I’m like, but you have to, you have to read it. you have to read it first. Okay.
sad,
Yeah. So keep things simple.
But can you tell me why taking the Google first approach? Isn’t always the wisest first
Mm-hmm and why we are designing this. Okay. So that’s the first step. after that. Of course we know we need an SEO friendly website yeah. To show up on Google when people are searching for your product, but you also need to create a good experience right. For the visitors. Right. So people can find what they want to buy or use mm-hmm
And so I’m not totally against this, but yeah. Users. Needs first.
You have to know what what’s, what’s the reason behind designing this website. Okay. Who who’s gonna use it. Mm-hmm so I, I, you know, I understand that, uh, finding a balance between, uh, being user and EO friendly, it’s a conflict. Yeah. Yeah. I’ve, I’ve been in the situation where the CEO team wanted to ensure the website had enough content.
So that Google could rank it successfully. Mm. And as a UX designer, I wanted to build a stunning and functional website with a good user experience. Mm-hmm and this was so challenging, but let’s keep in mind that the website needs to be SU optimize and user friendly. And I think Google, I was checking and I.
Um, Google has refined its, uh, criteria. So that user experience related me, uh, metrics factor into rankings, right? Yeah, I think so, because yeah, because now Google only wants to rank the best sites mm-hmm to prevent its own user experience from being impacted by poor websites. Right? Yeah. So.
Exactly. Okay. Uh, okay. Vita, because you have such a trained eye. Can you tell when a website hasn’t been designed by UX designer?
At first glance mm-hmm makes of website or application seems easier to use mm-hmm so for me, normally I see the user, I. Yeah, and I can, I can feel that, okay. This has been well designed. Mm-hmm and when I use it, uh, I see the usability. I see the aesthetic and minimalist design. I see the responsiveness. I see when I want to let’s say.
buy a product mm-hmm and the, the website send me the right notifications confirmation. Show me the, the steps. Yeah. Yeah. That shows that someone with the knowledge worked on it. Okay. Okay.
Did it work?
and visual design focus on the user’s need. And when we are talking about minimal design, it means reducing the design clutter and bringing design clutter, what matters to the forefront. Okay. Which is the content. Okay. So how a company apply their style? Normally companies, they have branding style branding guide mm-hmm their, their own standards.
They define their type of. Colors. So they have all those things. So whether UX designer, uh, or here we can say UI designer can do is they cannot go and create a design system based on their company, branding guide and standards. And they’re gonna keep consistency across multiple channels. Like let’s say, uh, because UX is about the psychology, right?
So, uh, one of the main things we are doing is building trust with the, you know, uh, uh, or build building customer trust, right? When a customer opened your website and see the familiar color, uh, colors, the familiar font, the familiar content, which can. on their Facebook yeah. On their Instagram account. So that builds customer trust.
Okay. So this is how they can use their own unique style and design. Okay.
Yes. Yeah. Even down to the size of the button.
Right. They can see all the color code, all the font, all the sizes and everything. It’s like a great reference for
I see. They copy from mobile design to the websites. Nice. On bigger. Like, uh, hamburger menu. Oh, okay. Yeah. Yeah. Like that, that three dots that icon has been designed to be used in a smaller devices, like phone, because you don’t have space. Why you have to put it on your website. When I see that I’m like, oh my God, what is this why you have to do.
Are you trying to hide your content? Mm-hmm are you trying to, you know, confuse or frustrate your users? Are you trying to hide what’s your website about okay. Or creating more clicks? Maybe, maybe. Oh, that’s
It’s so cool. So. Let’s take them and shrink them and use them on the bigger devices. Mm. Like websites and, uh, for, for desktop. Yeah.
It’s true. You’re gonna, I dunno, you’re gonna do.
So I remember even I had that type of website before for my portfolio, the banner or the hero yeah. Was animation. Like you would move your, you know, mouse and everything would move. But now I see, um, the whole website. It’s at interactive, uh, when you scrolled down and it’s beautiful. I love it. Oh, wow.
I’m curious.
Okay. With different backgrounds and, uh, yeah. So I hope that’s, uh, that’s not gonna kill you X, but I see that there are so many people that, uh, I had some calls from friends and they ask me if they. If this field is, uh, good for them to join. Okay. Because they can make a fat salary or whatever that was their motivation.
Okay. And then when I explained it for them, they were like, oh, okay. No, that’s not that much easy. So forget it. Yeah,
Or virtual reality, or I see some people are working on, um, user experience of drones. Ooh. So what, yeah. They’re ex that’s crazy. Yeah. They’re exciting. And even voice comments on, um, for the cars, you know? Yeah, yeah, yeah. So, yeah, there are so many, uh, opportunities to improve user experience, but my hope is, I know I said that there’s so many people joining to this field.
My hope is, uh, like UX designers. Um, Also improve their skills to shift from focusing on interface towards human centered design. Okay. So learning about the psychology, just not go, uh, work based on your bias and create something. Right. Because it’s beautiful. Yeah.
Yeah, just the psychology behind it is so fascinating to me because you always come with your own set of, um, beliefs and experiences. Yes. And, but that’s not necessarily true for everyone. Exactly. Exactly. Are you able to share with us what you’re working on these
That I’ve been working on a web-based application. Okay. For the Canadian red cross, it’s a huge application mm-hmm and understand. Proud of being part of this team, because it’s the first time that Canadian red cross is creating an in ho in house, uh, digital solution. Wow. And it’s already launched people like, um, uh, red cross staff, Canadian red cross staff and volunteers are using it to register, uh, to reduce the people who are being impacted by different emergencies in Canada.
Okay. And so, yeah, it’s, it’s, it’s in kind, I can say meaningful mm-hmm application. That’s gonna save so many people life and time. Yeah. Wow.
If you could give anyone out there who is looking to revamp their website, you could give them any piece of advice. What would that be?
Okay. And you have to be sure that your website works well and it’s easy for a visitor to navigate. Yeah. So they can find information they’re looking for. UX is not expensive. Okay. It will bring you. A lot more than you invested. Okay. Yeah. And the last thing, stop, copy to the designs, big flashy, or I don’t know, whatever you see that your competitor has stop copying those.
Try to understand your objective and your users. And that’s copying turn. The design will not give your user. Oh, that
Beneath all of this SEO talk, there are human beings on the other end of every website and the importance of that cannot be exaggerated and listeners. If by listening to this episode, you realize that your website could use a serious dose of optimization. We at geeky tech are always here to help.
Remember that UX is all about making your websites intuitive and easy to navigate. So it doesn’t matter if your site is a work of art. If the user can’t figure out how to move from one page to the next, you aren’t taking the user’s experience seriously. Thank you very much beta and, uh, yeah. Look forward to talking you soon and seeing what, seeing more of your art.
Thank
Show Notes
Hello #techmarketers. Welcome to a very special episode of SEO Unfiltered. For this month, I’ve decided to look beyond the hallowed digital walls of Geeky Tech and seek out stimulating conversation with other geek-adjacent experts who could teach me a thing or two about user experience.
Why does user experience matter so much to me? Well, as the least technically-savvy person at Geeky Tech, I will tell you that I am frequently asked to be the guinea pig whenever a coworker isn’t sure if something they’re working on is understandable and readable to the average user.
But that’s not the only reason.
UX is so fascinating because it touches upon our shared human experience and makes us realize that human beings aren’t all that dissimilar. Those small little touches on a web page or food packaging that demonstrate “extra-mile” thoughtfulness always brings a smile to my face and just makes my day a whole lot easier.
In my lofty opinion, I think everyone should be fascinated with #UX.
For today’s episode, I’m joined by Bita Jarrah, an artist and senior UX designer for the Canadian Red Cross, who has so graciously lent me her time to explain why UX design is so important, not only for the end-user but for you, the marketer.
Here’s an overview of what we cover today:
- A working definition of UX
- The difference between UX and UI (no, they’re not the same)
- Why following trends isn’t always a good thing
- Why “less is more” doesn’t automatically make for great UX when it comes to buttons (a sensitive subject in the UX world, apparently)
- How a website should follow both UX and SEO principles
- What’s the point of having a beautiful website that no one knows how to navigate?
- Advice for marketers who want to build a UX-friendly website
Aaaaaaand, in case you’re wondering what website Bita is referring to when she’s talking about yummy UX design, here it is:https://bruno-simon.com/
Suggested Readings
Did you miss our last episode? You can hear previous episodes, transcripts, and show notes on our official SEO Unfiltered Podcast web page. Don’t forget to follow us on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter @GeekyTechGeeks for all things SEO and advertising related. And lastly listeners, just a small favour: if you like what you heard today, be sure to subscribe, like, and follow us on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen to your favourite shows.
