9 Common UI Design Mistakes that could kill your online business

The world seems to have realized the value of being on the World Wide Web. Small & large enterprises alike are developing web based applications to not just escort themselves into the conscience of their target group; but, to also escalate their sales. While the efforts seem to be multifaceted, the problem is with the conversions that these efforts are securing. Either the users aren’t there or the conversions are low. In either of these cases, your real enemy might just happen to be your application’s UI design.

There are common mistakes that designers tend to commit which could considerably hamper the applications’ user interface & eye tracking space. You can, in this blog post, come across some of these common mistakes and what exactly can you do to allow your online business perform at its zenith.

1. Improve Your Headline, Escalate Your Bottom Line

How commonly do you come across web applications which either make use of very poor headlines or do not care to use them at all? Given that we are in this business and deal with websites & web applications, day in and day out, we can tell you how most of the entities make use of miserable headlines. There are certain things that we suggest:

Write your headlines in a way that they instantly catch the attention of your users.
Ensure that the headline does not run into many words; instead, it should be crisp and targeted.
Don’t use words that can confuse. Retain absolute lucidity so as to make the headline successfully connect with people of all backgrounds and skills.

Make it a habit to have great headlines. Hence, this tip shouldn’t just be confined to your main page but should also be extended to the other pages of the application.

2. Slow loading websites

People have, over a period of time, become increasingly impatient. They do not have the time to wait; and are hence, looking for swift solutions. Therefore, if your web app takes ages to load, you are effectively losing some serious business. Researches have been conducted; and, all of them hint towards the fact that the more time that your landing page takes to load, the fewer are the chances of your visitors will endure the same. It is, thus, imperative that you pay serious attention to the speed of your application; and, make efforts towards optimizing the same.

3. Not knowing your users

Regardless of the kind of business that you are in, lack of knowledge about your customers would always come to harm your business prospects. You need to conduct research, study your customers and find out what would suit them most ideally. In terms of your applications, here are a few things that we would wish to suggest:

You should research about those elements & stimuli that enhance conversion. Such elements should be generously spread across the web app to build on the opportunities further.

Evaluating users’ analyzing patterns would be of help too. Most people tend to scan through the screen from the left to the right. Moreover, it is the top and the centre of the screen that they pay more heed to (from left to right); and, the rest depends upon their level of interest. In other words, this pattern is identical to the letter ‘F’. Hence, it would be essential that you keep the most important aspects of your offerings on the left and top section of the screen.

4. Difficult to find related content

Did you find it difficult to derive the word above? For those who couldn’t find out, it said ‘CLUTTER’. The same could happen to your users when they do not find what they are looking for. This situation arises because of the cluttered manner in which the navigation has been designed. Here are things that are a crime when it comes to an application’s navigation:

Navigation in the wrong place. Think of what happens when your users are searching somewhere else while the navigation is at a completely different location. Place your navigation where your users expect it to be placed.
There are times when the options could be way too generic which could make it difficult for your users to figure out where to go.
There are also times when there are way too many options and that too hampers the user interface of the web app.
Finally, the other thing that should be avoided is lack of clarity with the options in the navigation.

5. Confined To Theory, and not Thinking More Practically

There are so many designers that we come across who are hell bent on pursuing the 3 clicks’ formula. This formula prescribes that no page in the application should take more than 3 clicks to reach. While it does give a good indication of the kind of simplicity that should be available, you should also try and be practical at times. Not all ideas and concepts would allow you to uncompromisingly follow the 3 clicks’ formula. Therefore, your objective should be to make the application simple to use and must execute all other actions on the basis of the same.

6. Long Pages

If you do not know already, users are becomingly increasingly wary of reading long pages. Your concept might be brilliant and your ideas might be well drafted; but, the crux of the matter is that the longer your page, the shorter would be the users’ extent of patience with you. Here are things we would suggest:

Say what you wish to without wandering around. Come straight to the point.
Make your language clear.
Ensure that the content is readable by working on the typography of the same.

7. Speak With Your Customers

What we sometimes tend to not understand is why most business owners shy away from their customers.
We are living in the world of communication and it is essential to always keep your customers in the loop.
There are a few things we think should be regularly done:

Ask your customers for their feedback. That would give them a sense of belonging and offer you valuable insights.
If they had a comment or had shared a feedback, let them know when it has been implemented.
Your applications should be equally interactive too. There are times when applications take longer to
load, they simply do not say anything. Why not just tell your customers about how it is taking a little longer
and pursue them to stay along? You should speak to your UI designer about this.
In short, what we mean to say is that your organization should be transparent.

8. Confusing error messages

We are dealing with Information Technology; and at times, even the top players in the industry get it wrong. Applications might not load or the actions might not complete or much more. What you should strive to do is convey it clearly to your users. In other words, your Error Messages should go beyond simply saying that ‘Something is Wrong’. They should take the pains to explain them what is wrong, why did it happen and how and when it could be fixed.

9. Asking For the Same Information twice

Could you imagine how would an individual feel when s/he is required to fill the same information, that s/he shared earlier? You know the answer already. What you should, hence, ensure is that once the information has been taken, it should be stored in the right manner so as to not ask for the same thing again & again.

There would be many other things that might be going wrong with applications’ UI design. What we have strived to put together is a small list of errors we found being committed most commonly.