I recently wrote about UX and UI in an article UX and UI are not just ciphers. Discover what lies behind them. In this article, you learned what UX and UI shortcuts mean and how they work. However, applying these basics in practice can be more difficult. Today, we will discuss UX and UI on specific examples from practice. It may sound strange at first glance, but we can learn a lot about UX and UI thanks to the websites of travel agencies or bookers. These are great resources for expanding your UX design knowledge.
When choosing a suitable destination, hotel and overall planning of your trip, it will be important to observe how you work with the website. Is orientation on such a website logical for you? Aren’t you nervous about it and don’t want to leave the site? All of your reactions are hallmarks of the effectiveness of UX design.
In this article, you will learn 7 lessons about creating a better user experience or, if you want, a better “user experience”.
But first, let’s briefly review what we learned from the previous article. In short, the UI talks about how easily you can find your way around the website, how quickly you can find what you need, and how satisfied you are with the overall operation of the website. UI is a set of various visual elements such as menus, icons, buttons…
Imagine soup being the content of your site. The UI is the spoon you eat the soup, and the UX is whether you liked the food or not. That’s how it works.
UX includes everything that affects the user experience. Whether positive or negative. Positive UX is key in deciding whether a customer stays on or leaves your website.
Take a look at specific examples of good UX and don’t be afraid to be inspired by them.
Table of Contents
1. Enchant the customer at the beginning
The first impression is very important. If the new user’s first steps lead to a homepage, what happens next has two possible scenarios. Either your homepage doesn’t interest the user and leaves, or he pays more attention to your site. You undoubtedly want to achieve option number 2. How? It is necessary to offer the user a homepage with attractive content and form.
As a good example, I will mention booking.com . The site knows exactly what the user wants. Look at it from a greater distance. He will answer the basic question. What does the customer want on such a site? The answer is clear. He wants to see the options you offer easily and as quickly as possible. The yellow boxes on the left provide a clear answer to this question. The pictures on the right are the perfect inspiration. The perfect combination of design and function. I give 8 UX points out of 10.
2. Clear and understandable navigation
If you want users to stay on your site longer, create easy-to-understand menus and intuitive navigation for them on the site.
An example of excellent navigation is the TimeOut website, a guide to cultural life in cities around the world. A reason? Perfectly clear menu, options in which you will not get lost and maximum intuitive navigation on the page. Every element on the site embodies a clean and very well-designed UX design. I got TOP 20, clear categories, interesting and not cliché tips for visiting… Simply a completely different level. I give 9 out of 10 UX points.
3. Quality pictures
Low quality photos or photos from the photo bank that you have already seen on at least 10 other websites I do not highly recommend. Use images that evoke emotion in users. I like the way TripAdvisor went about it.
For example, they publish photos from restaurants on their website, which are sent to them by the customers themselves. These photos are really interesting, very nice and especially unique. They are often better than professional photos taken by a photographer who pays for the restaurant. Of course, I don’t want to say that professional photos are about nothing. On the other hand, it doesn’t have to be bad to try something else. TripAdvisor bet on a good card. In this case, I give 7 UX points out of 10.
4. Revealed identity of commenters
Stop anonymous comment! Allow users to create their own identity on your site. See how the website mentioned above goes, TripAdvisor . It uses the power of personal stories and experiences of users who sign their review. The advantage is that it is also possible to display all comments or reviews from one user. So you feel that the feedback is from a real person, not from an anonymous one, or even from some fake fictional account. 7 UX points out of 10.
5. Follow the KISS password – keep it simple, stupid
If you haven’t heard of the KISS method yet, it means “keep everything simple”. KISS says the system works better if you don’t complicate it unnecessarily. Therefore, focus mainly on relevant information and follow the password, less is sometimes more. This principle is perfectly reflected by the Lonely Planet website.
You have the most important topics right in front of your eyes in the form of very attractive previews. In addition, the thumbnails also serve as navigation on the page. The site is responsive, of course, with thumbnails that look like application icons on your mobile device. Great! I give 9 UX points out of 10.
6. Real stories
True stories increase the chance that users will identify more with your site and feel part of it. The story that really happened is more interesting than some fictional texts without a point. Users don’t want to read over and over again with recurring clichés. Definitely think about posting personal stories, testimonials, various blog posts directly from your customers and users. Your site will be much more valuable.
Get inspired by GoBackpacking.com . Apart from him, the stories of real people are also shared by the already mentioned TripAdvisor. I give 8 UX points out of 10.
7. Related products
In addition to the specific option selected, show the user other similar options. If you are not 100% sure of the first one, offer him several alternatives. Get inspired by HotelTravel.com , which further divided these alternatives according to four criteria. According to the best service rating, best room rating, location and overall value. For me 8 UX points out of 10.
What do you say to these UX tips? A long series of articles could be written about UX and UI. It is a very interesting and also challenging topic. I definitely don’t consider myself an UX and UI expert. Nevertheless, I believe that these practical examples have inspired you and that you will learn a little more about UX again. And if not, maybe you have chosen at least one of the many beautiful places that the mentioned sites offer 🙂
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