The boom in the use of multiple devices has forced companies to provide a quality user experience. What are the challenges that must be faced when we talk about UX design? Here we discuss them.
If we are looking for the most common UX design challenges in a software development project, we must realize that there are many variables involved that we have to take into account.
One of them is, for example, that today’s user is multichannel, and many operations (from a simple search, to financial or business actions) are done through different platforms, regardless of location and time.
In fact, according to 2016 data revealed by GlobalWebIndex, the average number of devices through which people connected to the Internet is 2.71.
However, the boom in multi-device use (See Figures 1 and 2) is forcing organizations to focus their efforts on delivering a consistent and quality UX experience, according to consumer technology habits and a particular user’s needs.
Figure 1. Number of tablet users worldwide (in billions)
Source: www.statista.com
Figure 2. Number of smartphone users worldwide (in billions)
Source: www.statista.com
It is a reality that a user who does not have a good experience with an application or development is a potential customer that your company is at risk of losing.
To give an example, HubSpot emphasizes, to a lesser or greater degree, that Internet pages influence 97% of buyers in their decision, and 68% of users leave a website when it is not seen correctly in a device (responsive design). Given this scenario, are companies doing the right thing to deliver a user experience that truly represents profits and benefits for their business?
While it is true that businessmen are beginning to understand the importance of UX / UI design, and it is conceived as a great way to improve their business goals or the performance of a product, often the problem that needs to be solved is not clear, nor is it clear the effort that this involves.
Then what are the most common UX design challenges that might face a software development project? Here are the 3 most important.
Read more: 7 deadly sins of UX/UI Design
1. Not making clear what the user experience implies
The user experience design is a design philosophy that aims to create products that meet the specific needs of its end-users, achieving the highest satisfaction and best user experience possible with the minimum effort.
Often it is necessary to explain what things are not included in the user experience, which is not always associated with aesthetics, graphic design, ergonomics, or user interface.
It is important to be clear that what is determined as user experience goes beyond this and depends not only on the client’s goal but on the objective that the technological solution is intended to meet. To perform a routine work of 8 hours on a PC, a user prefers a “simple” screen to a “cute” screen and this is something that cannot always be agreed upon with the client.
To avoid this, it is important to clearly define the project’s expectations and bring the conversation to common understandings, as well as the tasks that will be carried out to meet the agreed goals.
This infographic might like you: 10 things you must do in UX/UI experience
2. Not understanding or adapting to the client’s level of maturity
While the concept is likeable, not all customers are able to go through the process of achieving a successful user experience. At Hexacta, we always say that for the client there has to be a kind of persistent “drizzle” that soaks him completely in what is happening with the project and its advances but without him realizing it.
Understanding the maturity level of an organization (its ability to adapt to changes) is, undoubtedly, one of the most common UX design challenges and the first step to getting started. It is all about being able to understand the context of the company, its realities, and the particular needs to take advantage of inertia and start the changes with the least possible effort and in the most transparent way possible for the client.
Organizations often mature and go through a process that ranges from an initial skepticism, to widespread trust in user-centered design methodologies. A good strategy is to focus on achieving small victories and communicating them to all people involved. It is essential to make incremental changes to the project and to make the client participate so he can quickly see the cost-benefit of his investment.
3. Do not assign a budget to UX
Paradoxically, the budget is usually allocated to the design of a page, to the purchase of software, or the hiring of a consultant, but in a few cases it is assigned to the design of user experience, although this is one of the disciplines that most facilitates the measurement of the Return on Investment (ROI).
Customers want a customer-centric service, but they are reluctant to invest in their own experiences, as well as to take the time to understand their problems. The result of this ends up in complex shopping carts, cluttered and unintelligible websites, and help processes from a call center, among others.
To Sum Up
Being aware of the importance of allocating a budget to UX design, understanding the context in which the company/client works, its needs and objectives, and knowing how to adapt to its capacity to face the changes and challenges will be the key factors in starting a development project on the right foot.
Do not miss this: Software solutions design: Going beyond the obvious
In order to deal with these 3 common UX design challenges, it is essential to communicate, design, and manage projects, for which we always recommend working on small iterations that allow the product to grow and to not embark on pharaonic projects, whose direct course is destined to fail.
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