UX Strategy for Your Business: Where to Start
Reading Time: 6 minutes Have you ever heard of a UX strategy? How can you apply it to your business? Do you believe that your user will be satisfied simply by showing him your new product? UX is not limited to the digital world but includes interactions created between brand and user.
Often it is thought that our role as UX designer is only to design on-screen or to create website interfaces, redo the e-commerce cart, or create the login of a new app.
In reality, the user experience does not only develop on-screen but also includes all those aspects that take place offline (off-screen) during which the user often takes the first steps to get to know your company.
All of this can include within a User Experience Strategy designed by a UX design or a full-stack UX/UI design agency.
The user experience designer designs the user experience from the first moment a user comes in contact with your brand and continues his work even after he becomes a regular customer.
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Now let us see how user experience usually works and what benefits it brings to your business.
Table of Contents
User Experience Strategy and Customer Journey
When you start a new project for a website, an eCommerce, or an app, the user is always at the center of the design process (Human-Centered Design). You can consider it as the beating heart of a project.
It is not logical to think that all users who want to get to know your brand or product more closely, start from the same point and in the same way for everyone.
There can be different approaches and dynamics with which it can interact with you and your company.
Designing consistently and with a clear UX strategy offers each user the opportunity to live the same user experience every time.
For this reason, touchpoints play a vital role in the design phase. You can consider them as the critical points between brand and user. These are all those moments when there is a contact of any kind with your company or your product.
For example, when а user enters your site for the first time through a link found on social networks (on-screen) or when he receives the product ordered directly at home with its packaging designed just for them (off-screen) or when entering the door of your shop – these are touchpoints.
- The above-listed touchpoints are arranged in chronological order in a timeline – taken as a whole they create the Customer Journey.
- It is a type of map that allows you to have a detailed overview of how your user interacts with your brand.
- The moods of the user are highlighted at that particular moment and identify possible fears and frustrations.
- It helps you understand the critical issues and allows you to find the exact moment of the trip where you can take action and improve it.
The foundation of the UX strategy is designed, the policy that supports all the user experience, and that allows you to combine business objectives with the needs of your users.
Designing Touch Points
Over the past few years, we have witnessed a substantial change within companies and the increasingly important role of UX/UI designers.
Many designers increasingly play a decision-making role within organizations because design thinking has become the engine of business, and the winning market strategy.
As we have seen through user experience design, it is possible to create an ecosystem that generates a positive user experience.
Apple Stores Case Study
Does Apple need to have physical stores to stay alive by selling the latest iPhone? Of course not. The physical store instead allows the user to get closer to the Apple world. It will enable him to touch with his hand, to have sensations, to have a real-life experience. But touchpoints aren’t just physical stores.
The interaction between your business and your user occurs at different times and in different places. We can find the touchpoints like:
- Website / eCommerce
- Application
- Social
Or non-digital like:
- Telephone support
- Packaging
- Return procedure
They are all of the contact points where your business has the opportunity to give the user an excellent experience and make sure that they remember your site.
But resist the temptation to sell at any and every possible moment. It was a thing that maybe once worked, but now customers have created “antibodies” for this kind of thing. Instead, try to make yourself indispensable through valuable content that can transmit your skills and make it understood what you know about it.
This approach, different from the classic street vendor, allows you to differentiate yourself from all the others, to be seen differently, and create a bond of trust between you and your potential customer.
The UX Strategy to Create an Ecosystem
As we have seen, companies are increasingly talking about user experience, and for this reason, it is essential to understand well how design impacts the corporate ecosystem.
Indeed, it is a very valid strategy for all types of activities, and, if you think about it, it has always existed, however it has only been reported in the online world.
Let’s say you sell a physical product. How can you create an excellent user experience through 5 simple steps?
UX Strategy in Social Channels
Where can you find a good pool of users if not in social networks?
Even though most of them are only there to chat with friends, we know very well that the possibilities in social media are enormous.
Through paid advertisements, we can target our audience and show them messages related to their interests and what they care about.
UX Strategy on the Website
When your user reads and is attracted to the content of your posts, we can direct them to the website or a landing page. What is the purpose of doing this?
Instruct him on what you do, make him understand why you are different, and explain how it might be useful to him what you are proposing by creating valuable content.
Many entrepreneurs would stop here. But you shouldn’t!
Users never enter a website and buy something on their first visit.
Instead, the user needs time to think about it, understand what it is all about, do research, and compare your product to other similar ones. This is where email marketing comes into play.
UX Strategy With the Contents of the Emails
Email open rate is at an all-time low – users are reading emails less and less.
But let’s not talk about sending an email to thousands of people and hoping someone will open it. Create content that is diversified based on the interests that users express.
It is not about sending the same content to all subscribers but personalizing the offer based on interests.
UX Strategy in Packaging
Let’s assume that we managed to sell a product after educating and informing our user, who has become a customer.
What we want to do is have him continue to live our “experience” even off-screen. We can do it by placing other surprising things in the package, in addition to the product ordered.
They can be free samples to try, scouting on the second-order or even the option of joining a community reserved for customers only. The possibilities are endless.
UX Strategy in Assistance
But you have to consider that there may be problems. Maybe the product is no longer wanted, or the user ordered it by mistake.
You will have to allow for returns, and above all, make sure this process is as simple as possible.
Many eCommerce companies insert an already printed sheet with instructions and addresses pre-filled so that the user only needs to make an online request, close the package, glue the paper on it and wait for the courier to come back to collect it. It is also part of the user experience.
Conclusion
As you have seen, the user experience and customer satisfaction cannot be achieved simply by having a beautiful website.
There are different factors: the clarity of information, the ease of searching for it, but also the relevance of content based on interests.
Through touchpoints, you can understand which aspects work and which instead need to be improved to create a positive Customer Journey.
And don’t just consider the online experience, but make sure that everything offline can tell about you and your brand. All these aspects joined together through a UX strategy can create an excellent user experience and will ensure that your user remembers you.
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