Search
Close this search box.
Search
Close this search box.

UX Design of online stores. Usability in 2020.

UX design for online stores

Share on social media

UX Audit.

UX Consulting.

The need to implement competitive UX solutions, as well as e-commerce ratings, are skyrocketing. 

People are becoming more and more confident about buying things online. 

BigCommerce's 2016-2017 Shopper Buying Habits Report. Really interesting statistics about online shopping are presented:

  • 51% Americans prefer to shop online
  • 96% Americans with Internet access have made online purchases in their lives, 80% in the last month alone
  • E-commerce is up 23% year-over-year, but US small businesses 46% do not have a website
  • Online orders rose 8.9% in the third quarter of 2016, but average order value (AOV) increased by only 0.2% - indicating that transaction growth is outstripping total revenue.

It would be unwise for any business to ignore such global trends, which have a large impact on profit and customer reach. 

Over the past couple of years, we have seen a clear and logical increase in interest from large and small businesses to build their online presence through websites and / or mobile applications. 

Based on our experience and research in this area, today we bring you an article that talks a little more about strategies and best practices in UX user interface design for online stores.

So let's start with 11 things to keep in mind when designing eCommerce user interfaces.






1. Make the brand of the Online Store visible.

Branding

From a business perspective, branding is critical: it allows you to deliver a product, company or service with a recognizable face and personality. 

In general terms, branding refers to a kind of image created with a set of distinctive features that help to increase the awareness and recognition of a product or service in the market.

Branding tends to be important in e-commerce user interface design, especially if stakeholders want to use a digital product as an additional flow of customer acquisition. 

In addition, an identity carefully crafted in the interface is an effective way to build brand awareness. 

Taking the time to properly research the market and users, identify the target audience, analyze the competition and develop a brand identity based on all this data, done by a professional designer, is a worthy investment. 

If this is done before the start of the user interface development process, the product has a better chance of becoming recognizable faster and easier.

In this case, the user interface designer working on the interface, its color palette, shapes, types and fonts, illustrations and icons, will find the design decisions to be consistent and in line with the overall product branding concept that will make them mutually supportive. 

This provides a more natural and harmonious feeling for the brand as a whole and for the distinctive interface as an integral part of that brand.

There are many ways to add branding to an interface. But some layout areas and elements have the most potential in this matter:

UX Headers. The headings represent a high visibility area. Thus, incorporating strategically important branding elements is a good way to increase branding memorability.

Screensavers. In mobile applications, the splash screen or welcome screen is the first screen that the user sees when loading and launching the application. 

It's a good idea to use a logo, mascot, or any other thing that creates an instant visual connection with the brand. Moreover, by adding a little wow effect with light stylish animation, it is easy to make the sign even more attractive and memorable.

Preloaders and pull-to-refresh indicators. These are elements that show the progress of the current download process in an application or website. Their elegant application of corporate identity can greatly contribute to the consistency of both the user interface and the individual design.

Talismans ... Mascots are images, usually personified, that often represent a brand, product, or service. May be a symbolic condition in all applications or on a website. 

Talismans expand the boundaries of personification and provide the ability to create unexpected combinations of elements or bring fantasy and non-existent characters to life. 

The talisman becomes an element of identity and a link between the user and the product. 

In many cases, it is the main element of communication and interaction that delivers the desired message to the user.

2. Set clear and simple navigation as your primary goal.

UX Navigation

In UX design for an online store (IM), whatever the website or application is amazing. No matter how stylish and fashionable design and breathtaking images it has shown.

The success of an Online Store will not be measured by the number of "wow". 

Efficiency is analyzed by the number of purchases made. If users don't buy, design doesn't matter as long as stakeholders lose their money. 

Clear, intuitive navigation plays the fiddle here. At each stage of interaction, users must clearly understand many simple things, such as:

  • what company or brand they are dealing with
  • what page are they on
  • where is the menu
  • how can they go back to the home page or directory
  • where is the search and filters
  • how long will the process take downloads pages
  • how they can see item details
  • how can they choose between an option for the same item (color, size, etc.)
  • how can they pay for the item
  • how can they keep things they would like to come back to later
  • how can they contact the seller
  • how they can see ratings and reviews from previous buyers, etc.

3. Check the scannability of the page or screen.

2020 Internet

As mentioned, users usually don't read or see all of the content on a page or screen from a starting point.

Instead, they start with a quick scan to see if it contains website what they need or need. 

Knowing eye tracking models, gestalt principles and visual hierarchy laws, you can put basic data and the interaction of elements in zones of high and natural visibility.

Calls to action (CTAs) should be instantly visible. In the first seconds on a page or screen. 

In e-commerce interfaces, CTA elements are a key factor in effective interaction with a product, critical to usability and navigation, and therefore profit. 

When the entire interaction and navigation path is clearly laid out for users, but the CTA is not thought out, placed, or designed properly, users can become confused. They will need to put in extra effort to achieve their goals. 

This increases the risk of bad conversions and overall user experience.

4. Minimize user effort whenever possible.

Online store design

Respect for the client is not about expressing gratitude. True respect lies in saving users time and effort day in and day out. 

Here are some UX design techniques that can make an interface economical:

Show related products... If you look at the product page for recommendations that are close to the capabilities of this product, users can significantly speed up the search and browsing process. However, it is important to check with the developers that this section does indeed work according to an algorithm that shows matching items and not random ones.

Aim for the minimum number of clicks... Too many operations are tiring and annoying, which is a kind of negative emotion. And emotion has a huge impact on user experience and makes user retention that much more difficult. 

Minimize the number of clicks on the selection and purchase method. This way you respect the user's time. This is better than the most grateful words.

Online Shop like with a simple login process. Imagine a situation where you are on an amazing website that sells the products of your dreams. They are presented so stylishly that you will want to buy them right away. 

But when you click the Buy button, you are taken to a huge form that you have to fill out in order to register on this site. 

This will cool off your burning desire to buy everything right here, right now, won't it? You go from a state, Take my money, give it to me, into a state of negative attitude towards the service. 

Not all users will survive this transformation. The site or application will lose some of the buyers. Therefore, it is necessary to simplify the login process as much as possible.

Custom shape and color coding to group items or content types.  Color and shape codes allow designers to apply Gestalt's principle of similarity not only on one screen or page, but across an entire application or website. 

Color or shape markers simplify navigation and maintain design consistency, allowing users to remember clues and easily find the content they want. 

For e-commerce platforms that are usually full of tons of items, this can make the interface a lot more user-friendly.

Make sure the perception of the layout is natural and harmonious to the human eye. There are many things that influence decision making. Harmony is one of them. 

Exciting color combinations, unreadable or varied fonts, aggressive backgrounds, intrusive pop-ups or animations, annoying sounds or pages that take forever to load. Any such point can quickly ruin the experience and alienate users.

5. Don't go too far by experimenting.

Store design

There are many articles and videos urging creative people to listen to their heart, trust their courage, and think outside the box. 

UX Design is not just creativity trying to show the full power of original solutions. First of all, it is a way to solve a problem and make users happier.

It's important to look at the interface from the user's point of view and find a way to interact that provides a smooth and easy shopping experience. Websites are not created for creative contests or galleries of fame, but for real users. 

The impact of a habit in terms of user experience may be stronger than the desire for revolution. Of course, a dose of uniqueness is necessary, but not enough to confuse the user. 

In ecommerce user interface design, often targeting a rather heterogeneous target audience, too much revolution can be confusing and intimidating.

Do I really need to buy this item, the user might think, if it's so hard to get it? 

Explore interaction patterns and typical products for this specific target audience to make their habits their strength. And don't forget to check that all icons on the screen do not have a double meaning. Strive for a balance between innovation and tradition.

6. Use landing pages for specific purposes.

Online Shop

For business purposes and profit margins, this advice can bring important changes. 

Ecommerce user interface design principles are usually based on working with complex websites or applications. They are filled with a variety of information. 

The approach of redirecting all traffic from external sources to the homepage can be a cost-benefit and cost-saving step. conversion rate

Users can be overwhelmed, distracted, or even annoyed by the amount of data they have to process. Especially if they are focused on a specific narrow goal from which they proceed. 

Using landing pages when it is necessary to focus the user's attention on something specific can effectively solve this problem. 

The page is focused on one element when the target user is looking for specific operations, services, or elements. 

This issue is especially important in the case of e-commerce sites, where unwise design decisions lead to a deterioration in the quality of user experience and financial losses.

7. Make your home page informative.

Online Store and how to make a design

A homepage can serve several functions: it is an invitation card, a starting point for site travel, a repository of vital links and data, and a strategic asset for marketing purposes. 

In most cases, this is the first visual and emotional touch to the site. Of course, design is one of the main ways to make that touch gentle, smart, and rewarding. Despite all the progress made on the World Wide Web, this position has not changed. 

The home page often determines whether a user is going further through the site, not only by beauty and style, but above all by the information they are looking for. By making designs accessible, visible, and understandable, designers increase the chances of a positive user experience.

In general, the home page can contain the following data:

  • nature of the site
  • brand or corporate identity elements
  • internal search
  • links to kernel interaction zones
  • contact details and links to social networks
  • signs of trust (testimonials, a large number of social media presences, etc.)
  • for e-commerce websites, this can be a visual representation of bestsellers and / or exclusive items such as specific books, toys, clothing, equipment, etc.

The decision as to which of the mentioned items will be included and how they will be distributed across the layout should depend on the goals set for the website and the research of the target audience.

8. Apply high quality images that convey the message.

UX design

Images play a big role in usability: because the vast majority of users use visual capabilities. Images become points for basic information about a website or application. 

Pictures represent a piece of content that is both informative and emotionally engaging. The level of detail and functionality allows you to classify images in user interfaces by types, including:

Photos: Themed photos to create the appropriate mood and message setting, demo photos, item photos, cover photos for blog articles and specials page, etc.

Illustrations: Custom illustrations in GUI design can look both informative and original, which allows the design to stand out from the competition.

Banners or sliders: used mainly in web design, these are large images, which are usually the first visual element that attracts the user's attention in the first seconds of interaction; they usually provide an attractive visual presentation of the main content of the resource.

Icons and icons: these are small but meaningful pictograms that are informative and support the exchange of information between the informant and the addressee. Icons play a key role in providing clear and intuitive navigation, but they should be checked for correctness and duplication.

Talismans: images, usually personalized, representing a brand, product or service.

Elements of visual identification:  various visual branding cues such as logos, custom lettering for the brand name and / or slogan, etc.

9. Think of different types of promotional videos.

UX-UI design of an online store

There are several common types of promotional videos:

  • introductory video  (the first information about a company, product or brand, showing its benefits to users)
  • product presentation video  (details about the features and benefits of the product, special interaction steps and the potential for solving the product problem)
  • landing page video  (reinforcing the message prompting users for the specific call to action suggested on the page)
  • video reviews  (reasons and signs of trust and loyalty to a company, brand or product)
  • entertaining and educational videos  (increasing emotional appeal and often introducing material for viral marketing).

All of these types can effectively serve marketing purposes and increase brand awareness. A creative and memorable video is a good way to get customers' attention and a proven way to communicate quickly and clearly. 

Video activates multiple channels of perception - audio, visual, audio - simultaneously and usually does so in a way that tells a story. 

People are overwhelmed with tons of information of all kinds every day, so most of them are not ready to spend a lot of time learning about products or services, especially new ones. 

Under these conditions, video can become a dynamic, informative and engaging way of communication. 

However, the technical side needs to be double-checked so that the video is properly integrated and does not overload the page.

10. Allow the user to contact you from any point of interaction with the store.

The most popular place for contact information is the footer, the bottom of the page. However, if any contact information is essential for conversion, it makes sense to place it in the prescroll area or even in the header. 

For example, on an e-commerce website that has an online store, users may want to call more often, and this opportunity will directly affect the conversion rate. 

In any case, contact information should be available at any time when users may need it. Among other things, this is one of the factors that affect the level of trust in the site.

Contacts can be presented in various formats. They can disclose data such as phone number and location, emails, links to instant messengers, contact forms, and an instant chat window. 

Making phone numbers clickable is useful as many users now browse their smartphones and may want to call directly from there. The address can also be clickable, revealing a screenshot or map showing how to find the location. 

Decisions should be based on thoughtful user research that determines the expectations of the target audience, the level of technical literacy and the methods of contact that are most convenient for them. 

for exampleIf your target audience is teenagers, just giving a phone number can be ineffective as they really stick with instant messengers and social media.

11. Add gamification.

Gamification integrated into digital products is a great way to stimulate extrinsic user motivation, which is mainly about seeking rewards.

It can be tangible (money, prizes, diplomas, certificates, cups, medals, etc.) and intangible (praise, support, recognition, etc.). 

Thus, leaderboards, loyalty rewards and large orders, discounts, badges, coupons, stickers and other such things can be a great incentive for users to not only start interacting with a website or app, but also to stay there to buy regularly.

The suggested examples and strategies for developing an e-commerce user interface certainly do not cover the full range of issues that need to be considered in these areas. 

They can serve as a useful checklist or UI design inspiration for anyone looking to build user-friendly platforms that support business goals. 

Without a doubt, the best user interface design for an ecommerce website is one that leaves the buyer happy and brings profit interested parties. 

Order an expert UX консультацию or UX audit... Today, increase the conversion of an online store or make a work plan for a constant increase in efficiency, ROI, KPI.

FAQ. FAQ.

✔️ What is UX design for an online store?

Ux Design or Usability Design is an optimized design of website pages to increase profits or conversions.

✔️ How is UX design created?

UX design is the process of testing user behavior or creating an expert design based on past test data.

✔️ Should I use animation on pages?

Use animation to greet the user.

✔️ What image quality should I use?

Use high quality images, but be sure to optimize their size so that pages load quickly.

✔️ Can I do UX design remotely?

Luckily for us, most UX design tools support remote control. A good laptop is all you need for great UX work. However, there are parts of the remote UX design process that need to be done with the right tools, such as remote user research.

✔️ Does animation slow down your site?

Too many animations can cause visual overload. In some cases, they can even slow down your site, depending on how you implement them, which you want to avoid at all costs.

✔️ What language do UX designers use?

Let's take an example from the world of software, in particular from the field of web development. In the front-end (aka client-side - whatever works for you), the main raw materials we use are HTML (Hypertext Markup Language), CSS (Cascading Style Sheets) and JavaScript.

Share on social media

5/5

5 thoughts on “UX Дизайн интернет магазинов. Юзабилити в 2020 году.”

Leave a Comment

Subscribe Now

Exclusive offers and premium cases

how to create an ico listing website
All Cases

How to create an ICO LISTING website?

Blockchain is becoming extremely popular. First of all, thanks to cryptocurrencies. But before cryptocurrency comes into play, a few things happen. One of them is ICO. The number of ICOs is growing rapidly, and, of course, only a few of them really deserve attention. We are going to explore the following questions:

how to create a successful ICO website
All Cases

How to create a successful ICO website?

While you should hire professionals to help you build your site, you can still do the preparation and planning a lot. This will simplify the design process and save money. Start by creating all the relevant content your site needs.

Looking to take your business to the next level?

Email us now

Conversion Growth

Back call

Write to us