One of the main purposes of every business is to create a creative, usable, and inviting website. The banks and credit unions are no exception. You want your clients to get what they need and stay on your website. The way you will integrate the key elements of design can influence the success of your website’s user experience. This is a customer-centered and dynamic process aimed to please clients at each touchpoint of the user journey. User experience (UX) focuses on having a deep understanding of users, what they value, what they need, their abilities but also their limitations while using banking services. It is a process that builds a strong emotional connection between your clients and your business. So, let’s outline some of the best practices and ideas for a first-class user experience.
Know your audience
It’s safe to say that user research is a natural first step in the design process, and it should come as no surprise that one of the most important factors when designing a website is the audience. If you want to have a website your clients will love, you must first have an idea of what your audience actually wants and needs. So, that means that user research should be a must in the UX process.
Focus on the user
Sometimes while creating a website, designers get caught in the idea of impressing other fellow designers, instead of creating a website that will be suitable for the user. As a result, designers project their behaviors and reactions onto users. Great design has always been about combining form and function and integrating user experience into your web design. Applying this involves thinking about the way in which your users will actually interact with your website and of course the most common tasks they’ll use it for.
Design for short attention spans
The average human attention span has declined over the years. Some studies found that the average attention span is 8 seconds. This means that we have a shorter attention span than goldfish. According to this notion, designers need to adjust to this behavior and get the information to the people that need it, as quickly as possible. Designers should simplify interfaces by removing unnecessary elements or content, but at the same time, it doesn’t mean that the experience should be limited. All information should be relevant and valuable.
Evoking emotions
We can say that design is not just a matter of how your website looks but it is about what your clients feel. A lot of designers or decision-makers believe that finance is all about rationality. But that’s not true. At our core, we as humans are emotional creatures and our emotions are driving our behavior. That’s why it’s important that the user can understand your website and your products and services, to get the value out of it, and to feel the emotional connection with it.
Real content while designing
Every website is based around content, whether it’s text, images, or videos. Still, many designers don’t take real content into consideration during the design phase, and they wind up using Lorem Ipsum instead of real text and placeholders instead of real images. Maybe that kind of design can look amazing on a designer’s artboard but it might be completely different when the same website is filled with the actual content and images. The goal of building a website is to get as close to the real customer experience as possible.
Consistency
It’s no secret that people are creatures of habit. Hence, consistency is key to gaining trust with your clients. Your bank or credit union website must be in line with your brand’s image. Everything about your business should be immediately recognizable. This helps strengthen your brand identity and also helps people remember your business. A more specific principle of UX design is consistency in your web layout. Clients should know where to find particular information every time they visit your website. At the broadest level, consistency means that designs and functionality stay the same across all of your channels.
We are living in a challenging age and banks and credit unions should strive to stay relevant in today’s marketplace and to respond more quickly to changing client’s needs. Our team at BankSite Service is always here to help you on this journey, so feel free to contact us.
