UX simply stands for User Experience and it is defined in the way users interact with a website. The goal of any UX design is to intuitively guide users through the website or service.
Since a large number of websites are built through WordPress, especially by beginners, it is important to know why UX design is important for WordPress. Not to mention that WordPress comes with a ton of themes and plugins, which can overwhelm users.
This guide takes you through the basics of UX design and offers the best tips to avoid common mistakes most users make with plugins.
The guide also shows the major drawbacks of plugins and presents an alternative to plugins.
There are many benefits that businesses can offer to their users from great UX design on WordPress and other types of websites, such as ease of use, increased brand reputation, better visibility and visual presentation, etc. Conversely, businesses can also get a major competitive edge over other companies, better branding and engagement, and in-depth analytics through well-designed UX.
All of these benefits provided to users work as contributing factors to a greater success for the business. Considering these factors, it is easy to say that UX design for WordPress and any kind of website for that matter.
Difference Between UI & UX
It is extremely common to group UI & UX together, and while the two complement each other, they’re fundamentally distinct in terms of form and function.
UI design has to do with the presentation, layout, and the ‘feel’ of a website or a digital screen. UX, on the other hand, has to do with the user’s journey in the website and how smoothly it can guide the user towards a solution or destination. When designing any kind of website, page, or screen, UI and UX are considered equally by developers. UI without any UX would lack purpose while the vice versa would lack presentation.
Developers tend to think deeply about common user behavior towards pages like theirs and create wireframes that act like a blueprint for UI & UX design for the team to model. The wireframes contain the visual cues that show how content is to be presented and placed on a page in a way that is aligned with user behavior.
Ways to Improve Your WordPress UX
There are a combination of minor and major steps that can be taken to improve UX design for a website, which includes WordPress but is true overall regardless.
1. Know Your Audience
As briefly mentioned before, studying user patterns and behavior is essential when building a UX design, as it reveals important steps for the developers to take. Having a greater insight into user patterns enables developers to create a UX design that feels natural and intuitive.
To evaluate the effectiveness of specific website pages, especially your landing page, requires an evaluation of user behavior. That is the reason why businesses invest heavily into Search Engine Optimization, though it isn’t directly related to UX design. Heat maps and content architecture are two prominent examples of visual data that help in understanding user activity on your website.
2. Responsive Design
A responsive UX design is what keeps users stay around for longer once they arrive at the landing page. It also encourages them to further explore other pages on the site. A responsive design has simple and effective layouts, consistent design, and is mobile-friendly. According to a study on Global Website Traffic, more than 50% of traffic comes from mobile devices.
3. Content Design
A lot of effort that goes into UI & UX design is done to present content in the best way possible. It is important to have the best content possible and to present it beautifully. The UX design should work in a way that puts users in a journey that starts with a question and leads to a resolution or answer.
From huge banners to small buttons, designers and content writers must know what to write and how to deliver it. The key is to provide some value with each piece of content on the website.
4. Site Speed
A fast website is yet another essential component in good UX design, one which prevents the user from going away from the website. Effective use of negative space, compressed images, and optimized plugins are great ways of maintaining a fast website.
Avoiding common UX design mistakes can also help in maintaining site speed, such as avoiding presenting too much content on one page or stuffing multiple ads.
Types of Plugins that Enhance Your WordPress UX Design
1. Caching Plugin
Caching plugins can decrease server requests by caching pages, which results in shorter load times and better site performance. Some plugins even offer advanced features such as cache pre-loading, image optimization, gzip compression, etc.
2. WordPress Form Plugin
WordPress forms have a variety of uses and enable website owners to make different types of forms, such as payment form, registration, etc. Utilizing forms can make it effortless for users to engage and convert, especially considering that forms work just as well on mobile devices.
3. Analytics Plugin
With an Analytics plugin, you can obtain comprehensive data, metrics, and insights directly from your dashboard, removing the need to leave your site. This feature enables immediate access to valuable information and assists in making informed decisions.
4. Site Maintenance Plugin
These plugins automate routine tasks and ensure that your website stays secure, optimized, and up-to-date. They also provide tools to put your website in maintenance mode, displaying a message to visitors while you perform maintenance tasks or make changes to your site.
Why Plugins Are Not the Only Solution
Plugins come with all kinds of functionalities but issues as well. They can significantly slow down your website, become vulnerable to hackers, and cause other issues.
You may not find a plugin that offers the exact functionality required to boost some aspects of your WordPress UX. You may have no use for the extraneous features.
52% of WordPress vulnerabilities are due to plugins. You’ll need to update your plugins and maintain them to avoid security issues. If your WordPress website was custom created, or if you have a specific kind of product, a plugin might not be flexible enough to adapt to the complexities of your business or product.
Establish and Maintain an Awesome UX Design with a WordPress Developer
A WordPress developer with experience in UX design can provide tailored solutions that align with your UX design goals. For example, at VisioSoft, we offer you experienced UX developers who can:
1. Build a custom WordPress theme
2. Develop or customize plugins to meet your website’s UX needs
3. Optimize site speed and security
4. Fix bugs
5. Help you make data-driven changes through website testing
And much more.
By working with VisioSoft, whose developers have immense UI & UX design experience, you can be confident that you’re engaging in best practices while also avoiding common mistakes that people make in creating their website.