The Website UX Checklist for 2022!

By optimising user experience, you can create a journey that delights the customer by fulfilling their exact needs, and ensuring they stay loyal to your product or brand. But ignore your website’s usability, and you could be shooting yourself in the foot. The stats don’t lie either – as many as 88% of website users say they wouldn’t return to a site after a bad experience.

Furthermore, the growth of mobile has changed the way that people access websites, dramatically shifting their expectations. Mobile users are actually 5x more likely to abandon a website if it’s not doing what they need it to. This is why UX focused design is more important than ever.

If you want to improve your website in 2022, here’s a checklist of things to consider:

Begin with a site audit

Gather insight about your website from different stakeholders – the most important one being customers. One of the things to look out for is distractions that could be stopping users from getting the outcome they’re after.

For instance, did you know that people are 279.64 times more likely to climb Mt. Everest than click on a banner ad these days? If your site is full of banner ads, it could be compromising your website speed while also causing obstructions.

Go back to website UX basics

As well as conducting honest audits, you should also re-familiarise yourself with the five fundamentals of good website UX. The best UX websites have all five of these elements nailed. So if you’re not getting the results you want, it could be time to revisit the following:

1. Strategy (look at the purpose of your site, who it’s intended for, and how it will help you achieve your business goals)
2. Scope (define your functional and content requirements)
3. Structure (understand how a user will interact with your website, and how you can help users accomplish their goals)
4. Skeleton (a combination of interface, navigation and information design, and looking at how information is presented to users)
5. Surface (consider sensory design elements – visual design helps to improve the overall experience)

Run usability tests

Making the assumption that things are obvious to your users is a huge mistake in UX web design. The only way to know if things are clear to them (such as the navigation or call-to-action buttons) is to run regular usability tests. Usability audits can combine eye-tracking and neuroscience techniques to measure how well visitors are engaging with all aspects of your site.

Keep checking site speed

According to research by Google, over half (53%) of all mobile web users will ditch a webpage if it takes longer than three seconds to load. Now more than ever, site speed is the make or break of a website.

But there’s plenty you can do to reverse the problem, from compressing images and removing large, unnecessary files to minifying CSS, JavaScript, and HTML.

Improving site speed not only makes your visitors stick around, but it will improve your rankings too.

Use inclusive design techniques

Accessibility is important if you want to make sure your users have access to what they need. Inclusive design ensures that user experience is improved for those with impairments – but remember, the best UX websites do this for everyone, meaning every type of user is catered for.

Use descriptive and relevant ALT text for images so visually-impaired users with screen readers can understand what the images convey. You can also add readable subtitles to video content, and design pages that appear and operate in predictable ways.

Use the 3-30-3 rule

You have a total of three seconds to get your audience’s attention. Great, you’ve done that. Now if they stay on your site for 30 seconds or more, they’re officially engaged by what you have to say. If they stick around for three minutes, they are more likely to become a loyal customer and maybe even share your content with others.

This is the 3-30-3 rule. When embarking on any website development project, keep this mind and try to meet the needs of your users at each of these stages.

Map the customer journey

Mapping the entire omnichannel journey is a must. Brands have to think beyond the traditional marketing funnel where customers went from the ‘Awareness’ stage to the ‘Consideration’ stage, then to the ‘Conversion’ stage.

The new funnel is a little more chaotic, with people dipping in and out, and consuming multiple pieces of content before they connect. Try to map the entire journey, all the way from first engagements to purchase, post-purchase, product use, reviews and advocacy to repurchase.

Curate the experience

While lots of content is great, quantity doesn’t reign over quality. So it’s important to audit your blogs and articles, and review your landing pages periodically.

A lot of poorly generated content can actually be repurposed – this is a fantastic technique for making your content go further, and ensuring it has a purpose and provides value to your audience.

In 2022, customers expect a personalised and curated experience too. They want content that is relevant to them, so consider smart content load as a way to boosting engagement.

Design for digital wellbeing

Finally, the most crucial thing to remember for 2022 and beyond is the shift in consumption. We’re now living in a world of content fatigue and digital overload. People think more about self-care than ever before, which is why we’ve seen an uplift in wellness apps.

The same applies to the web, with website trends such as mindful design gaining popularity. This can be defined by clean and simple sites with plenty of white space, a considered approach to text and imagery, analogous colours that are easy on the eye, customisable features, and the smart use of call-to-actions (but not too many).

Want to find out more about how an experienced web design agency could transform your site through smart, mobile-enabled UX web design?

At Identify Digital, we are passionate about gaining measurable results by levelling up website UX.

We’ve been offering our website design services to Wakefield, Leeds and the surrounding areas for over a decade. If you need web design in Yorkshire, get in touch!
To chat to a website design agency that prioritises UX web design and understands the latest web design trends, call 01924 911333 or fill in our online enquiry form.