1. Strategy
While designing a website, users are the most important for us. Before the process starts, we get to know their needs.
- Personas
- A persona is representative model of a target group. A well-defined and distinctive persona is created to remind us at each stage of the design process, for whom we create the website.
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Anne
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Julia
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John
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Mark
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Tom
Anne
Search engine
I am looking for a hotel in a good location and with the possibility of cancelling the reservation with no extra charges.
Skills and knowledge
A cautious mother. She plans holiday well in advance, so she chooses offers with the possibility of free cancellation. She has recently discovered the advantages of online booking.
Goal
To book a hotel room for the whole family for a long weekend in May.
Julia
Device interface
Handling the parking meter takes me so long that I could be fined twice!
Skills and knowledge
Perpetually late businesswoman. Having no time to read the parking meter, she captures only the most important information. She is scared of complex electronic devices.
Goal
To pay a two-hour parking fee in the city center and print out a parking ticket.
John
E-commerce
I do not like wasting time for consideration. I want to make a purchase and get out of the store as quickly as possible.
Skills and knowledge
Bargain hunter. Always looking for the lowest prices and reducing the cost of shipping. He appreciates the convenience of quick on-line shopping.
Goal
To buy the cheapest laptop in the shop with personal pickup option.
Mark
Banking system
I hate to make a transfer with my bank. Unfortunately, I have to pay my suppliers.
Skills and knowledge
Conventional in approach. Low cost is the only reason why he transfers money using on-line banking system. International money transfer is too expensive for him to make in a bank branch.
Goal
To make a transfer in foreign currency into the Chinese supplier’s account.
Tom
Web application
I need an application for creating invoices easily and automatically.
Skills and knowledge
Bureaucracy opponent. He hates paper documents and solves all issues online. Free time is the most important value for him and he devotes it to his passion for sailing.
Goal
To create an invoice for the customer using the web-based application for invoicing.
- User path
- The steps that user takes to achieve the desired goal - to buy a product, to find information, or to order service. Defining paths before the design process allows you to focus on the key stages on the path to conversion.
Analysis of the business context
Analysis of business objectives
Business workshops with our customer are crucial for clarifying website’s business objectives. They allow us to opt for the best solutions in the design process which will help accomplish objectives and optimize profit.
Benchmark
A thorough analysis of competitive service websites can identify the strengths and weaknesses of our client’s website. This indicates which areas you need to focus on in particular in order to gain the advantage over competitors and use their weaknesses.
User needs analysis
Before creating the website, we get to know not only business objectives, but users’ needs as well. We learn what is the most important to users, what helps them and what makes it difficult for them to perform certain tasks.
2. Interaction design
Well-designed interaction determines whether users will return to your website.
Information architecture
Well-designed information architecture is necessary to allow users to quickly and intuitively find the desired information. It saves their time, facilitates achieving their aims and provides them with a feeling that the website has met their expectations.
Good information architecture:
- site navigation is easy to understand and can be found easily by the users,
- information is clearly divided, and users have no doubt which category to choose.
Mockups and prototypes
Mockups allow you to visualize the initial ideas for your website. You can test different solutions and systems interfaces avoiding unnecessary costs. A prototype, which is advanced and clickable version of a mockup, reflects the vision of the final product.
Why use mockups and prototypes:
- high flexibility in the implementation of changes in the project,
- savings in the implementation of amendments,
- a possibility of carrying out usability tests before website launch.
Design
The way your website looks is one of the key factors affecting its usability. We make sure that the websites we design not only have a modern look, but are also clear and legible. Good integration of the various elements of the website highlights the most important information and facilitates navigation.
Features of good design:
- goes hand in hand with usability,
- helps to expose the content,
- contains as few elements as possible,
- is consistent and perfect in every detail.
3. Research
The analysis of quantitative data is an inseparable supplement of the information obtained in usability tests. With this combination you not only know how users interact with your site, but also why.
Statistics
The analysis of website’s statistics provides a lot of valuable information to supplement usability tests. Tools like Google Analytics allow us to track how users reach your site and how they use it.
The statistics analysis shows:
- traffic sources,
- what keywords lead users to your website,
- how much time they spend on which site,
- which group of users has the highest conversion,
- which stage makes you lose most of your potential customers.
Usability tests
Testing the website with users is the key to improving its usability and to make it user-friendly. Usability test is the best way to observe exactly how users use the site and what is difficult for them.
What will you gain by implementing the test results?
- More registered users,
- conversion rate improvement,
- more transactions on the website,
- saving time and money on implementing changes,
- increase in users’ satisfaction.
Eye tracking
Gives the information about the areas of user focus and the sight path, shows the areas and graphics of the website which attract user’s attention and which remain unnoticed. This allows to plan the most effective layout.
Eye tracking makes it easier to choose:
- the most effective ad,
- the best landing page,
- optimal arrangement of content on the site,
- the most eye-catching call-to-action.
4. Conversion optimization
Conversion rate optimization is the process which can bring profits to both: your business and website’s users. Users will be able to more easily accomplish their tasks, and you will achieve more profit.
What is the conversion optimization?
The main goal of the process is to persuade the largest possible number of visitors on the site to achieve the objective that allows you to generate a profit. The conversion rate shows how many visitors of your site are encouraged to make a purchase, download a program or click on a specific link. The first step on the way to optimize conversion is to improve usability of the most important areas of the website. Then we improve communication by enhancing persuasiveness – users cannot have any doubts where to click and what action to take.
What will you gain
by conversion optimization?
- With the same number of users, you obtain a higher transactions rate,
- without additional investments in advertising, you get more sales,
- your advertising campaigns are intensified and more effective.
