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Top 10 Hacks To Create Effective Exit Popups

Exit Popups

Most people don’t like popups. They feel popups are spammy and deplete the user experience. However, times have changed and exit popups are no longer the annoying spammy ads. Today, if you move the cursor to the top right or left corner of your screen, with an intent to leave the page, the website senses that you are moving away from the page and displays a last-minute popup using Javascript. These popup ads are called exit-intent popups.

These might belong to the not-so-popular popup ad family but are the most powerful and effective digital marketing tool in today’s time. And, we are not glorifying exit popups for no reason. Studies show that you can recover more than 50 percent of your abandoning visitors by implementing an exit-intent popup. It helps in reducing cart abandonment, increasing downloads, getting email signups, and a lot more.

Considering the importance and effectiveness of exit popups, here’s a list of exit popup hacks to boost engagement, sales, and subscribers.

1. Offer A Discount

Who doesn’t like discounts? The moment you offer a discount to your visitors, the majority of them will stop and at least consider your offer. The discount can be offered in many ways. A lot of websites offer a discount coupon in return of email id, signing up for newsletters, or subscribing to their email campaigns. Others may choose to simply offer a discount code that users can use upon purchasing from the website. The bottom line is that users love discounts, and thus it’s a great way to retain them

2. Personalize Your Message

Personalization creates a powerful impact. Be it email campaigns, or generic messages. It always works. Capture the name of your visitors even before you attempt to make a sale and when they are about to abandon your web page, grab their attention by exit popups with their name on it. Personal messaging will create a positive impact and users will feel more connected to your website.

3. Offer Content Upgrade

Another great way of reducing abandoning customers is by offering them an upgraded version of the content that they were reading. A more in-depth version of a particular blog post. So for instance, if your blog post is a ‘how-to’ tutorial, your visitors may want to read it in full but may leave as the content is too long to be read in one go. As they go to close the browser, present them with a free download of a PDF version of the post. Most likely they will download it for later use and will subscribe to your newsletters as well.

4. Provide Them Options

The real problem with unsuccessful popups is that they don’t really offer what the users want. This happens because the business a lot of businesses have many different buyer personas and each one of them will respond differently to a particular offering. The solution to this problem is to offer them multiple choices and allowing them to choose the one that they want. Once they select an option, an opt-in form can be used to capture the lead.

5. Add Pictures To The Offer

Images create a greater impact and make a big difference to any online campaign. A good quality offer image along with other essential information will entice the users and will increase the chances of acceptance. 

6. Optimize The Exit Popups

The user is ready to leave the page and a delay of even one second in displaying the exit popups can be the game-changer. Therefore, it’s essential to optimize the popup message and design, so that it pops up instantly. Remove heavy images and graphics, don’t use special effects, and cut down on the content.

7. Overcome Objections

One of the major roadblocks to a purchase is also one of the best exit popup hacks, especially for eCommerce products and checkout pages. A lot of times the customer is on the verge of purchasing your product but is stopped by one small objection. 

One of the biggest objections that shoppers have is the Buyer’s Remorse. Do they get doubts in their mind like what if this is not the right product for me? What if I have to return it back? Offer money-back offers, 30-day free trials, and easy returns to the customers, in exit popups, so that they can purchase with confidence.

8. Provide A Simple Reminder

Sometimes just a reminder can make a difference. When customers are abandoning your website, they must be reminded of the products left in their carts. The reminder creates a strong and irresistible desire to close the purchase. Use solid copy to create more impact. Wait! are you sure you don’t want to buy. Wait, you still have some items in your cart. Don’t leave without your items. These are some examples that you can use.

9. Offer Free Shipping

It is a fun fact that shipping cost is one of the primary reasons for customers abandoning their shopping carts. Therefore, using free shipping exit popups is a great way to retain customers. Discount coupons or direct discounts on shipping along with the link to the product they wanted to buy. 

10. Create A Sense Of Urgency

The scarcity of something makes it more desirable. If customers are informed that there are only a few units of their favorite products are left, they won’t want to miss it. Hurry up!! Only two left in stock, or Hurry up! you get it at this price only today, is something that you can use in your exit popups copy.

Few tips to Reduce the Bounce Rate of your site. Read Here

The above-mentioned hacks will surely help you in retaining your customers and increasing conversions. If you want to know more about how to create exit popup campaigns, you can talk to our team now.

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Brand & Identity Design Technology Web Design

When And How To Redesign Your Website?

Redesign Your Website

Design trends change at a fast pace, and you need to keep yourself abreast of the changing trends. A timely analysis of your website design will help you in taking the call if you need to redesign your website or not. If your design looks straight out of the ’90s, with functionality from the stone age, its time to redesign.

But the big question is – how to get started and from where? Therefore, we created a website redesign checklist to help you through the redesigning process.

First things first, put your website under a design microscope and analyze if it’s time for a change. When was the last time you changed your web design? With the internet evolving all the time, it’s challenging to keep your website modern without updating it regularly. If you can’t easily remember the last time your website had a makeover, it’s time to take a look at our website redesign checklist.

Is your website mobile-friendly?

Mobile-friendly websites mean offering a consistent experience for visitors across all devices and screen resolutions; whether they access your site via desktops, tablets, or mobile devices.

Everyone has a mobile these days, even the kids. Mobile searches are higher than ever. A study revealed that in 2018, 52 percent of website traffic came from mobile phones. It means that more visitors come to your website via a mobile device, rather than on a desktop. If your site isn’t mobile-friendly, you’re missing out on a substantial amount of leads and revenue.

Not to forget, in November 2016, Google rolled out its mobile-first index, which changed the Google ranking system altogether. Google now primarily looks at the mobile version of a website for indexing and ranking. 

Read More About Mobile Indexing Here

Is your website not driving revenue?

The core objective of a business is to generate revenue. Your website should be a lead-driving, and revenue-increasing machine. If that’s not happening, you likely need a website redesign. Well, one may argue that low revenue can be because of many reasons, but lack of website traffic and leads is a significant cause. And, even if your website design isn’t the main cause of your low leads and traffic, it won’t hurt upgrading the design.

Has Your business changed?

Your website should be an accurate representation of your business. If you have changed your business or modified some part of it, then redesigning is a good option. If you offer new products, or you’ve changed locations, or changed your branding, your website should reflect that.

Read More About Startup Business Branding Here

Now, if you decide to redesign your website, you need to follow the below-mentioned process:

1. List down what’s wrong with your site

It is the foundation of the redesigning process. You’ll want to make a list of everything that you feel is wrong with the current version of your website. The list should be comprehensive, covering everything from the design to the verbiage, and everything else. This step will not only help you in uncovering all the design shortcomings, but it can also help you discover other site performance issues. 

For example, you may find that your page upload speed is sluggish. This may not be a design issue, but it’s a problem nonetheless, which could repel visitors from your website.

2. Create a plan

Once you have made a list of all the aesthetic design issues, you need to come up with a game plan. Brainstorm some aesthetic elements that you’d like to implement instead of the present ones. Like, if you have listed that the color of your text doesn’t stand out against the background, write a suggestion against it of how you might want to fix it.

Or maybe you’ve decided that your navigation bar is overcrowded with too many components. You could make a note suggesting streamlining the navigation.

3. Take services of a web design agency

Not everyone is proficient in web designing, or has web designers on board. If you have experience with web designing, nothing like it; however, if you don’t have the resources and knowledge, it’s best to take the professional services of a reputable design agency. 

Not only will they create a stunning website for you, but they can elevate the user experience of your website to the next level. Not only they will do a great job, but they will also do it much more quickly than a fairly new and inexperienced team.

When you’re looking for a website agency to redesign your website, find one that has been in the business for a decent amount of time. Review their portfolio and list of clients to get an idea about their work. A couple of meetings can set the right expectations, and will help the design house to offer a custom quotation to you, based on the requirements.

4. Communicate your brand, goals, and taste to the design team

If you don’t communicate your brand, your thinking and what you wish to achieve, you will never reach your dream design. Sit down and talk to your website designer about the lists you’ve made and let them know how you’d like to go ahead with the changes to better fit your style.

Web designers have tons of ideas floating in their head; keep an open mind and explore all possible options, tailored for you. After all, they are experts. Ensure that you share your current style guides with them. This will help them to implement your existing color scheme, fonts, and styles in the new design.

5. Provide feedback to the designer

Your website designer will likely start with a wireframe or a watered-down version of your website. This is the best time to be open with them about what you like and what you don’t like about their design. It will help them to come up with a perfect design in the least number of iterations.

6. Conduct user testing

After users have had a chance to use your website, it’s time to do some user testing. This can help you understand user behavior on your site so that you can determine what users’ perception of your website. 

Conduct click analysis to understand which buttons are getting the maximum number of clicks, and which are the ones hardly getting any traction. The color or verbiage on the button can be the problem. User testing can help you determine the small details that can make or break your design in the eyes of your audience.

7. Ready, set and go

After the user testing is completed, you’re all set to fly high with your revamped design. Continue the analytics for the initial phase to determine the success of your redesigning exercises. Minor adjustments can be made based on these observations.

Need help redesigning your website? Talk to us.

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Brand & Identity Design UX Web Design

Web Designing While Accounting Human Errors

Web Designing
Web Designing

We often hear the phrase ‘To err is human’, and it can’t be truer in every aspect of our lives. We all make mistakes. Users on your websites are no different. Sure, you can’t stop them from making mistakes, but, can you follow some aspects of web designing while designing your website in a way that it leaves a scope of making mistakes?

Even the most careful and diligent users are bound to make mistakes at some point in time; others will make more mistakes. Therefore, it is critical to consider this fact while designing your website. The errors in web designing can be as simple as mistyping a URL, providing incorrect information in a sign-up form, adding info in wrong fields, etc. The mistakes could even be as disastrous as accidentally sending thousands of dollars to the wrong person via PayPal. So, here are a few tips that you can follow to account for human error while designing your websites. 

1. Provide Straightforward Instructions

A lot of times, we assume that the users are by default aware of the most basic instructions. Thus, we don’t feel it necessary to provide these basic instructions to them. Moreover, people often see basic directions as a bit snooty. It’s human to assume you know everything you need to know for a simple-seeming task. This causes errors.

Don’t assume they know what you mean. An imperative when delivering clear instructions is not to assume the recipient knows what you mean. This can be for anything from commonly used acronyms to simple navigation instructions.  Mixed messages, assumptions and multiple options mean that the message received might differ from what we actually meant.

2. Give Clear Warnings During

Just like the instructions, users must get a clear understanding of the consequences of actions taken on the website. And, sometimes they need to be informed and explained the implications, that too in detail. Still, there would be users who would keep ignoring your warnings, but there’s not much you can do for them in any case.

There’s also a second web designing approach which you can proceed with. A majority of people will leave your site when they face a warning message which they don’t fully understand. Else, they may look for help to understand the warning, which again may lead them to bounce off. You’ll have to decide whether you would rather deal with potential inaction from some customers, or more errors. Both approaches have their pros and cons.

3. Always Confirm Actions While

You may think that all users are completely sure of what they are doing on the website, or they may get annoyed with questions asking them to confirm their actions. A confirmation dialog may seem like an irritating and useless extra step; however, the truth of the matter is a quick “Are you sure you want to do that?” message can be invaluable. The user may be taking action for the first time, or the tenth time, it’s irrespective. A confirmation will only increase chances that the user takes the correct, intended action.

4. Validate Forms

Form validation may not be a full-proof solution, but a potent tool, and a great way to gently guide the user in the right direction. While proper form design can help keep users from simply putting the wrong text in the wrong form, form validation is excellent for double-checking information and catching typos and forgotten fields.

Improper validation of form data is one of the leading causes of security vulnerabilities. It exposes your website to attacks such as header injections, cross-site scripting, and SQL injections. It is important to note that client-side validation is beneficial, but it is not enough. If you’re going to implement client-side validation, it would be good to have some of the server-side too, just to be safe.

5. Use Appropriate Form Labels

In our last article, we listed out some essential tips for selecting the right button labels. The labels on the forms are equally important and can lead users to commit an error, if not used properly. There are tonnes of websites on the Internet with so many vaguely-labeled forms. Worse are the forms that use industry jargons on a client-facing website. In some of the sites, the labels and input fields are even misaligned. That’s just a strict NO-NO!

6. Improve Usability Through Color and Contrast

The colors and contrast are often used on a website most simplistically. People only go as far as using red and its shades to portray bad, and green and its shades to show good. But that’s not enough. It doesn’t necessarily help differently-abled users. A website should be usable by everyone, so various disabilities should be kept in mind. Disabilities can include but are not limited to, the inability to use a mouse or see the screen.

When someone has low visual acuity, specific color palettes on websites may make it difficult for that person to see and understand the website content fully. You must find a way to add contrast to your elements, in such a way, that they’re clearly and easily distinguished from each other. Pay special attention to this if two options use similar text, but do radically different things.

7. Provide ‘Undo’ Option Where Possible

We all know how handy the ‘Ctrl+Z’ option comes in every day while performing various tasks. The ability to undo an action is such a boon to everyone. We wish we had an undo button for our lives. Coming back to reality though, if you’re building a web app, you might seriously consider implementing some sort of “Undo” function for just about every action with permanent consequences.

You cannot ensure error-free browsing on your website; neither can you take a generic call on the abilities of your users. But, considering human errors while web designing, will increase the chances of good user experience and fewer errors. Speak to our experts to discuss more on it.

Categories
Blog Brand & Identity SEO Technology UX

5 Tips To Select The Right Button Labels

Button Labels
Button Labels

Designing a website is not just about making it look visually appealing; there’s a lot more to it. One of the most critical aspects of developing a successful website is to give due importance to the copy and button labels. What your buttons say is as vital as they look. No matter how pretty and attractive your buttons look, if you choose incorrect words to describe them, it may all go wrong.

Incorrect button labels can confuse the users, making it hard for them to take the desired actions. It also reduces the speed at which the actions are performed. If you wish to simplify the process of taking actions on your app, you need to choose the right words on your button labels. So how do you do that? Here are some pro tips to get your words right.

1. Use Action Verbs Instead Of Simple Words

The one thing that you want your buttons to do is encouraging users to take actions. Thus, button labels should be inspiring, and action words are the best for the same. An action verb on a button makes users aware of the action which will be performed upon clicking on it. There’s no need for additional text along with an action verb to guide the user.

Let’s take an example of generic “yes/no” button labels, which are often used on confirmation screens. Users have to read the dialogue before they can take action. They can’t take action without reading the message, and there’s every possibility that they press the wrong button. If the button label is replaced by an action verb like ‘save’ instead of ‘yes’, the user clearly gets the action message without any supporting information. It saves time and allows them to make quick, correct actions.

2. Use Clear Verbiage in Button Labels

Each action verb you use has a specific connotation. If your verbiage is unclear or isn’t precise, you may confuse users about the real action attached to the button. For example, the words ‘delete’ and ‘remove’ are very close in their meanings, but different in their intentions. ‘Delete’ implies the item will be erased completely from the system or the memory. On the other hand, ‘remove’ means that the button will separate the item from a particular group. Using these words in the wrong context can make the users press the button to initiate an action they don’t want.

Another example could be of a playlist of songs, using ‘delete’ instead of ‘remove’ is incorrect. The ‘delete’ label makes the users think that the song will be erased completely, from the system memory as well, whereas that’s not the case. The song will be removed from a particular group of songs. That’s why ‘remove’ is the more apt and correct label.

Read More About Designing The CTA Buttons: Tips To Design Buttons on a Site

3. Language Must Be Task-specific

Button labels must be clear, precise and specific. A vague and generic button label causes uncertainty and users feel unsure of the actions that they are about to take. They don’t have a clear idea about what the button will do, because the words used on the label are not specific. Using a task-specific language ensures that the users are aware of the results of their actions.

For example, the word “submit” and the word “publish” may seem to perform the same action. However, ‘submit’ is a commonly used, generic, technical term. But if you wish to make the button more specific, you should use a word about the actual result of the action.

Like ‘publish’ is a specific button label with regards to online publishing. ‘Submit’ can also work very well here, but ‘publish’ informs the user explicitly that the item will not only be submitted but would be broadcasted too. This button label is more precise and gives users certainty to act.

4. Use Active Imperative Form

You should aim to use as fewer words on a button label as you can. More words make users read more, which slows down the action process. Use of imperative form in an active voice minimizes the number of words, and the button label becomes more natural to scan.

The active imperative form turns verb phrases into commands. The subject and unnecessary articles can be dropped off using the active imperative form, to get a concise button label. All you need to include on your button label is a verb with an adverb or direct object.

Users trust and understand commands on button labels. It gives them certainty and clarity about the intended action, which aids their decision-making. Let’s take an example of “click here for more details” in a button label. The label is too wordy, and it’s also redundant for the user. Instead, use verbs that are unique, describe the action and provoke users to click. ‘Read details’ is a suitable replacement for the label mentioned above. 

5. Button Labels Should Be In Sentence-case

The capitalization style of your button label expresses your tone to users. It’s more about how you’re saying it, rather than what you’re saying. The tone of your message and interaction with users creates an emotional reaction in users. This reaction will either repel them or motivate them to engage with you actively.

The perks of a sentence-style capitalization are many. It conveys a friendly tone, comforts the users, and invites them to press the button. Most of the reading done by humans is in sentence case. They are familiar with it, so when they read it on your buttons, they feel like someone is really speaking to them, in a natural voice. 

Title case breaks the natural reading flow and distracts users from the underlying message. Additionally, unnecessary capitalization is considered rude in some cultures, hence giving you more reasons to avoid it. 

The call to action buttons is imperative for the success of your website. Words on your button labels play a crucial role in determining the effectiveness of the CTAs. If you choose the wrong words on your button labels, the call to action won’t matter. Want to get more action on your buttons? Talk to our design champs now!

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Blog Design UX Virtual Reality Web Design

Understanding The Psychology Of Shapes To Design Better

Psychology Of Shapes
Psychology Of Shapes

Perception plays a critical role in the success of any visual component. How people perceive a thing, makes a lot of difference. Many factors are influencing human perception, and one of the most critical factors in psychology. It is paramount for designers to understand users, and apply psychological principles in design for creating a successful design. in this article, we will understand how the ‘psychology of shapes’ help designers to be more creative and create a fantastic user experience.

Understanding The Psychology of Shapes

It is possible to perceive and analyze every visual element in terms of shape. If you wish to design a house icon, the instant thought is a rectangle with a triangle on the top. That’s the most basic way of how it is perceived. Figures and shapes have a significant impact on our awareness and conduct. ‘Psychology of shapes’ is the science studying the influence of shapes on people.

‘Psychology of shape’ suggests that every shape has a meaning attached to it, which influences our mind and reactions differently. There are many theories based on psychological tests which define the personality or mental state through shapes. A person’s liking towards a particular shape or figure can reveal their personality and character traits. Similarly, quick response to shapes can tell what’s on the mind.

Research and tests conducted over the years have helped professionals to establish meanings of each shape and how it can influence human perception.

Meaning of Shapes

Shapes usually refer to geometric figures like squares, circles, rectangles, etc.

Squares and Rectangles

These two shapes are the most widely used shapes. We see them numerous times a day. Majority of the common things that we use every day, like our smartphones, walls, furniture, books, monitors, etc. are square or rectangular in shape. The straight lines and 90° angles of these two shapes offer a sense of reliability and security. People strongly associate squares and rectangles with buildings, as they bring a sense of trust and authority.

Common meanings: discipline strength courage security reliability

Circles, Ovals, and Ellipses

These shapes best portray the sense of eternity as they have no beginning or end. Majority of the cosmic objects, including the sun, the moon, and the earth, relate to a circle. Similarly, the ellipse is similar to the whole universe. That’s why round shapes provide the feeling of magic, mystery, and secrecy. Unlike other shapes, circles don’t have angles, so it makes them softer and milder.

Common meanings: eternity female universe magic mystery.

Triangles

Triangle is a dynamic, energetic, active and powerful shape which that associates with motion and direction. The placement of lines automatically moves the eyes to the top of a triangle or in the direction of its placement. Although, triangles can have different meanings basis its placement and position. An upright triangle brings the feelings of stability and balance, while the reversed one evokes feelings of risk, instability, and uncertainty.

Common meanings: excitement risk danger balance stability.

Spirals

These shapes exist in nature, like in shells and some flowers. Spirals often co-relate with the circle of life and depict a journey or growth. In some cultures, spirals represent knowledge or information. In today’s world, spirals depict creativity and a fresh mind.

Common meanings: growth creativity calmness intelligence.

Abstract shapes

The simplified versions of natural shapes and complex ideas are abstract shapes. As abstract shapes are generally stylized, they are difficult to recognize, and only small details give a hint to what it is. They mostly have more than one meaning – direct and figurative. Designers use abstract shapes to design logos and icons. These shapes quickly and powerfully convey the message, without text.

Common meanings: the duality of meaning uniqueness elaborate.

Natural shapes

Everything created by mother nature has a unique shape. Leaves, flowers, animals, trees, etc. become the source of inspiration for artists and designers. Natural shapes have an apparent meaning for plants and animals which they symbolize. There’s a feeling of refreshment and unity attached with the natural shapes. In addition, different animals and plants have their own personalities and features. A rose is a flower associated with love and passion, while a lion is a symbol of pride and bravery.

Common meanings: originality organic balance refreshment.

Shapes are quintessential elements in all kinds of designs. To make a sophisticated, intuitive and pleasing design, experts need to consider the meaning of shapes and the impact which they have on users’ mind. Discuss more with our team of expert designers to get a better understanding.

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Blog Brand & Identity SEO Web Design

5 Annoying Things To Avoid In A Web Design

Web Design

Competition over the Web Design internet is fierce. Today, there are a large number of individuals and businesses who spend money and time on digital marketing and SEO to rank higher on Google searches. It has become tough to differentiate from rivals and get users to visit a particular website over others.

Since acquiring new visitors is very difficult, providing a delightful user experience gains importance and is pivotal to retain each hard-earned customer. If a website offers an unpleasant experience to its users, forget about winning repeat visits, they might never come back on the website. Here are some of the most common things in a web design which leaves users in frustration and thus must always be avoided.

Slow Website Speed

With the boom in technology, everything has become super quick. Everyone has a smartphone these days, and access to the internet is just a tap away. Even half-baked questions or half-remembered trivia get instant answers from Google. People can contact each other, sitting halfway across the globe in a matter of seconds. Today, the speed and responsiveness of our hyper-connected world have spoiled us all. Therefore, when we click on a search result, and the page keeps loading even for only three to four seconds, it is equivalent to eternity for users.

Remember, you’re not the only one providing an answer to a query or serving what a user is looking for. If your page doesn’t load within a blink of an eye, they will click on other best available options. Get rid of all the unwanted elements which are dragging down the speed of your website. Ensuring a good page load speed is critical to create new visitors and retain them.

Too Many Popups

It’s a shared experience, wherein we click on a link in our Google search results, and we are directed to a webpage which is full of popups. So much as so that we are not even able to read the actual content available on the page. Moreover, they keep popping up, even after you close them.

Combined with a browser alert that “this website would like to send you notifications”, the overall effect is one of being barraged with irrelevant information. It ultimately kills the actual content you were trying to reach.

Some advocate the fact that popups significantly improve conversion rate, while others get put-off by their potential of pestering the users. No matter which side we stand, one thing is for sure that popups are badly planned, throwing information and content which is not relevant for users. Therefore it is better to stay away from them.

Not Mobile-friendly

According to Statistic, 52.2 percent of internet traffic was generated through mobile phones in 2018. That’s a considerable ratio, and thus it’s pivotal that the website is responsive and mobile friendly. We are in 2019, yet we come across many mobile sites where items aren’t aligned properly, overlapping, strangely formatted or subject to some additional oversight from the designer. It creates a negative impression on users. They might feel that your company doesn’t take the time to go over little details.

Coupled with the recent change in Google’s algorithm to prioritize mobile-first indexing, there is now no reason at all to ignore the mobile experience of your website. A low-quality mobile site can negatively affect your SEO performance as well as the experience of your users, so it’s essential to get it right.

Animation Overdose

We like animations. Yes, they do look good and enhance the aesthetic value of a website. A few smooth transitions, transforms, appearances, and well-deployed animation can infuse vital life into an otherwise static and dry layout.

However, animation should be used sparingly, as and when required. Overdoing it can distract the audience. The key role of animations is to draw user attention to key content and call-to-action buttons. Users should not feel confused to read the actual text.

Animated introductory screens, too, are great attention-grabbers when users first reach on to your website, but avoid making them sit through the same animation every time they want to return to the homepage. Their beautiful presentation shouldn’t dictate the function of website elements.

Users shouldn’t be waiting for an element to appear or to become interactive. Using a lot of moving parts or content that flashes can pose problems for users. Some users may have an attention deficit disorder, making it very difficult for them to concentrate on the content.

Video Autoplay

Videos are an essential aspect of your online marketing efforts. They are a good source of explaining your products, brand message and other aspects, better than text can. Designers are often tempted to put the video on autoplay when they place them on the website. There are ways to do it tastefully, but it’s so often misused and creates a negative user experience.

Many sites place a video next to the body text. Usually this is entirely irrelevant to the content of the page. Even if you close it before navigating to another page, it quickly reappears. That’s really annoying.

Even worse, many sites preface these videos with automated advertisements which, given that the videos themselves are generally advertisements in one form or another. Some web users also hate auto-play as it can ruin their user experience and would rather prefer reading the information on the page without a distraction. It is more polite and effective to let the video be turned off until the audience chooses to play it.

To wrap up

Everything which we have mentioned above is basically issues of a bad UX design. It is important to consider every element and its effect on the overall user experience. If something hinders the user in finding what they’re looking for or detract them from the actual content of the page, it should be avoided. Speak to our design experts to know more about it.

Categories
Blog Design Technology Web Design

Tips To Choose A Website Builder for Your Next Project

Website Builder

Every business needs a compelling website these days. We come across loads of websites on the internet, some of which we find very attractive, some not so much. A lot of these websites are developed using website builders, which are great assets and expedite the process of designing and developing a website. A website builder is an effective tool to design a corporate website, blog, landing page, an eCommerce portal and a lot more.

A good website builder is easy to understand for even novice web designers. It typically provides templates and features that are based on web design best practices. But, what should you look for in a website builder to zero down on the best one for you? In this article, we will discuss exactly on that. Irrespective of the size of your business, this article will help you choose the best website builder platform for your website.

Set Your Budget

First and foremost, examine and ascertain your affordability. There is a website builder for every pocket. Start by considering the other costs involved in building your professional website. While deciding on the budget, consider the other costs involved as well, like domain registration and hosting. The images and copy for your website will also require some investment.

A lot of website builders offer a free plan, but that has its own limitations. Mostly the services cost somewhere between $5 to $40 a month, for plans that offer features required by businesses. If your budget is limited, you can save money by looking for plans that bundle different website services you need.

Prioritize Your Needs

Every business and website will have different needs. Based on these needs, a suitable website builder can be selected. Before you can decide on the best website builder platform, you need some idea of what you want your website to do and be like. Consider the level of experience you have in designing. Most websites builders are made for people that don’t have much experience with design or website coding. Still, some of them are easier to understand and get used to.

If you’re a newbie and would be starting from scratch, then look for a builder that offers website theme templates and drag-and-drop design options. If you want a lot of options and flexibility in designing your website, then go for a website builder which offers plenty of templates and further flexible editing options.

For instance, if you’re developing an eCommerce website, think if your website will include videos? A photo gallery? A blog? A map that shows where your store is located? Make sure your website builder supports the types of content formats you plan to include.

Also, Make sure the website builder you pick provides responsive website templates or other options to make your website mobile friendly.

Look For Ease Of Use

You don’t want to scratch your head figuring out how to use your website builder. Make sure the builder you select is one which can be easily interpreted. The key thing is ease of use for your comfort and at your skill level.

If you have a background in coding and want customization, you may use slightly advanced tools like the most popular builder – WordPress; you can also buy customizable templates. The templates also vary in ease of use, so choose wisely.

To be fair, almost all independent website builder platforms are easy enough to use. However, the features provided by the builder creates a huge difference. Always go for a feature-rich website builder as it adds to the ease of use.

Consider After Sales Service And Support

A quality website builder will have a solid support and troubleshooting team in place. The team would promptly answer your queries and troubleshoot if anything goes wrong.

Generally, customer service levels vary, based on the pricing plan you choose, but is an important consideration before choosing a website builder.

The support is offered at various levels, email support, priority support via email, chat support, or phone.

Check Out The SEO Features

No matter how good your website is, it’s of no use if people are not able to find you on the web. Once you’re done building your website, you want people to easily find you. Your website should not get lost in the deep sea of countless websites over the web.

For that, you need to implement SEO best practices along with the design of your website. A good website builder should include SEO features that simplify on-site optimization. You must be able to update all the SEO meta elements, on each page, without any hassles, so as to provide your sitemap to the search engines.

On-site optimization is just one part of SEO, but surely a significant one. An SEO feature-rich website builder will help you in successfully implementing your SEO strategy into the design right from the very start.

In nutshell, the best website builder for you is the one which is easy to use, offers plenty of features, meets your specific needs, has a strong support team, and is easy on your pocket. Sounds too much of information? Don’t worry, leave your design requirements to us. Discuss with our design gurus and get your dream website designed cost-effectively.

Categories
Brand & Identity Design UX Web Design

Design Arrest: A New Way To Design Your Dreams

Design Arrest

To grow an in-house design team or get the services from a professional design agency is a heated topic of discussion. While there are still people who believe that it’s best to have an in-house team, the majority of experts from the industry strongly believe that a professional design agency is the best option and drives the business growth.

With changing times, the design needs, trends and philosophies have also witnessed a makeover or revamp. With these changes, the process to cater to design needs also needs to upgrade, in order to provide 360-degree design solutions in the most viable manner.

Design Arrest is one such creative job-stop that revolutionizes the process of designing graphics. It is a creative agency that aims to transform your ideas and thoughts into captivating designs. Here are a few differentiating factors of Design Arrest which make it stand out from other creative agencies.

Personal Graphic Designer

The biggest challenge while dealing with creative agencies is to find a single point-of-contact. Often the person working on your request is different from your point-of-contact. Moreover, multiple people work on your project which makes it difficult to strike consistency in the design language. It’s a tiresome and time-consuming task to again and again convey your thought behind designs, brand vision and requirements to different people, every time when you make a fresh request. At Design Arrest, you don’t need to sweat it out. A personal, dedicated Graphic Designer is assigned to you, who will be available round the clock to fulfil unlimited design requests.

Design Your Dreams

 

Flat Rate

Generally, the cost of every design request is calculated basis the type of request, required efforts, time required and nature of the request. This leads to variable costing and often shakes the planned budget for designing. Design Arrest understands the importance of budget-forecasting and values your money. They charge a flat fee, $300 per month, for all your design requirements. There are no hidden charges, taxes, or service charges at any given point-in-time. They believe in clarity, trustworthiness, and developing mutually benefitting, long-term relationships.

Flat Rate

Unlimited Requests / Revisions

Here comes the best part. There are absolutely no bars on the number of requests you raise or the number of times you request revisions. Until you are fully satisfied with their work, the team will not rest. The objective here is to completely satisfy the design needs. Putting a cap on the number of requests will require clients to hand pick the requests, normally the most critical and significant would be passed on, however, a lot of essential requests may not come through only because of the restriction on the number of requests. But, with unlimited requests and revisions, all your design requirements are bound to be fulfilled.

Daily Output

The design process is not a one day job. Some projects last for weeks or months, and some may even be a continuous task for years to come. It becomes difficult for project managers to track the progress and status of the design requests, especially when there’s a provision of shooting unlimited requests. The team at Design Arrest allows you to raise requests every business day and get them served with desired output on a daily basis. This makes your job easy to track the progress and analyze how the work is going on.

No Commitment, No Contract

Unlike many creative agencies, Design Arrest doesn’t bind you in any kind of contract. In case you find any reason to end its services, you’re free to discontinue from that moment itself. You are not at all bind by any regulations or conditions. You are billed on a monthly basis, get the services on a monthly basis and can stop any time you want. Everything that is created by Design Arrest for you is completely editable and belongs to you. They claim no ownership even after you discontinue its design services. Also, they do not disclose or share any information related to your project or business with anyone else.

One-Stop Design Hub

Design Arrest simply designs everything. Be it websites, banners, downloadable, brochures, or anything on web or print media, they design it for you. No matter how diverse or intricate your design needs are, you are sure going to get the solution, with its widespread services ranging across logo design, business collaterals & literature, promotional merchandises, mobile apps, web pages, e-stores, social media creative, presentations and infographics.

Design Arrest certainly stands out in terms of delivering high-quality design solutions at a reasonable price with feasible payment options, and is backed by result-oriented, trend-driven, highly enthusiastic creative brains who are striving to create a difference. You can check out their work here.

Categories
Brand & Identity Design UX Web Design

UX and UI: Connected, But Completely Different

UX and UI

User Experience, or more commonly known as UX is not a new term for the world of graphics and designing. It has been around for as long as the modern day revamping of the design techniques, ideas, tools and philosophy has evolved; so is the case with User interface or UI. They both do compliment each other and often go hand-in-hand, however, a lot of us think that they are the same thing, which is not true. User interface is, let’s say, a part of user experience. Not clear yet? Let’s clear the smoke and try to understand what are the basic differences between UX and UI designs. Let’s go!

User Experience

It refers to a person’s interactions with a product, application, website, or operating system. Which means, creating a UX design involves defining the way a product operates and how it meets a user’s needs. Some of the obvious benchmarks are that a UX should be clear, comfortable and user-friendly. Moreover, a great UX is cautious and elaborate; you will most probably won’t even notice it while browsing through a website.

A good UX aims at simplifying the user journey. It makes the website navigation simple; simple enough that even a layman finds it a walk in the park. If a user finds it difficult to perform some of the most basic functions on a website, like to sign up, change their password, or get to their shopping cart, then there’s a clear problem with the UX. An effective UX smoothly guides a user through a website or an application.

A UX designer is responsible for all aspects of a user’s interaction, which means a UX designer is not just responsible for the technology behind a product, but they’re responsible for how a user interacts with a company, both online and offline, including customer service and other aspects.

User Interface

While User Experience is the accumulation of tasks specifically focused on the optimization of a product for enjoyable and effective use, User Interface Design is its complement; the look and feel, the presentation and interactivity of a product. User interface (UI) is anything a user may interact with to use a digital product or service. This includes everything from screens and touchscreens, keyboards, sounds, and even lights.

A UI designer’s responsibilities are more cosmetic than a UX designer’s. A UI designer is mostly responsible for the presentation of a product. That said, it’s not that a UI designer randomly picks some pictures and logos and use them blindly.

A UI Designer takes care of the Interface design, prototyping design, interaction design, user testing and optimal design. Towards the end of development, a UI designer takes control over the app’s appearance, including on-screen forms, images, buttons, links and icons. Without a user interface designer’s intervention, a design would not appear beautiful and appealing.

Key Differences

UX enhances the usability, UI enriches the visual appeal

The core objective of UX design is to make the product more useful for users. UX designers are responsible for ensuring that the company delivers a product or service that meets the needs of the customer and allows them to seamlessly achieve their desired outcome. On the other hand, UI designers are more inclined towards creating a visually appealing and aesthetically pleasing website design for users. Additionally, UI design must help users navigate through the website by designing buttons in different sizes, to show priority. UI designers take care of minute visual details to make the site look attractive.

UX Design is first, followed by UI

Normally, UX design and research is the first thing that designers dive into when deciding whether to build a product or application. They start with a competitive analysis and market research to come up with insights which improve site functionality. UI design comes much later; once the prototype has gone through several iterations and is almost finalized, all the wireframes are in place, then the UI designer steps in. Here is where the creative spirit of designers is put to test. They work on the visual design and micro-interactions.

UX pertains to products, services and interfaces, but UI only pertains to interfaces

 

The scope of UX is much broader than UI. UX design is garnering a lot of attention and is becoming more popular day-by-day. It’s no longer restricted to the companies with a web presence, but many others that develop products or provide services are identifying the importance of researching the market, users and validating them before they build. The scope of UI is however restricted only to user interfaces. That said, it doesn’t mean that UI is limited to graphical user interfaces of computers, tablets and mobile devices. A lot of other products also need a touch of UI designing these days, like watches, washing machines, car dashboards, vending machines etc.

UX has a social component, UI has an artistic component

UX is more about people; it has a social component as it deals with market research, analysis, identifying a customer’s pain points and how the product will solve these problems. User personas, journey maps and product user scenarios are accounted through UX research like contextual interviews, focus groups and prototyping, involving people. UI design has an artistic component as it relates to the design and interfaces with the product. It is about the aesthetic value and visuals. It affects what the end-user sees, hears, and feels.

Concluding notes

It is evident that UX and UI are completely two different things and focus on different aspects. But, they both complement each other and go hand-in-hand. It is almost impossible to bail out UI from UX and UX from UI. In a nutshell, UX design helps users accomplish meaningful tasks across platforms and services, while UI design makes compelling and aesthetically pleasing interfaces that connect with humans.

Categories
Blog Design Technology UX

Golden Rules of Modern Day Navigation

navigation

Users access websites to get access to various kinds of information. Whether they want to learn more about an organization, purchase an item, donate to a cause, or access a resource, they are dependent on the site navigation to find out what they’re looking for. However, navigation on websites is seldom as smooth that it should be in an ideal condition. It somehow manages to lead the user to the information that they’re looking for, and that too after some struggle. That’s why it becomes important for designers to follow some best practices which allow them to create more effective, clearer navigation experiences. Navigation is more important than search on a website. If the words that the users are looking for matches the words in the links, it is more likely that they will click on that link. So what are the rules for designing great navigation? Let’s check it out.

Plan Out for Consistency

Navigational inconsistencies are sometimes a result of content that doesn’t fit properly into various sections of the site, and that’s why it’s listed on its own. Other times, people may need to quickly access something that sits way deep within the website, so the designers add quick links to the navigation. However, there are other solutions that avoid making inconsistent additions to navigation. Subpages and landing pages are one example. But, consistency should be maintained here; either all navigational elements should display their subpage links or none of them.

All primary navigation items should link to landing pages, or at least all should be section headers for secondary navigation links. If only some primary navigation items are links, people will try to click on non-links, they will be confused and get frustrated. The visual design should also clearly indicate whether the primary navigation items are links or are only headers.

Effectively Use Breadcrumbs

Another important aid for navigation is Breadcrumbs that help orient people within a website. This kind of orientation is especially important if people are directed to deeper pages on the site from external sources. But breadcrumbs must accurate to be effective; they can’t miss levels, or misrepresent the hierarchy of pages. For small websites with only two levels, breadcrumbs aren’t necessary, but when they are required, they need to be consistent.

Interactions Must be Clearly Identifiable

When a site visitor is confused about which items are interactive, or what interactions to expect, it creates a problem. Therefore, thoughtfully designing interactions to be clear and understandable is the best way to go about it. Visual changes clarify what interactions to expect on a site. For example, swapping an expand icon for a collapse icon indicates that something has changed, and how to reverse the change. When the icon doesn’t update, people may miss the result.

Differentiate Icon Links

Sometimes icons can replace text links. Including a label with an icon will reduce ambiguity. According to a study, users are roughly 37% faster at finding items within a list on a web page when visual indicators vary both in color and icon compared to text alone. Differentiate icons that are links from icons that are purely informational or categorical. Varying the color of the icons, in addition to the icon design itself will help people to more easily and quickly process that the icons serve different purposes.

Opt for Flat Navigation

In order to create a great navigation, the Information Architecture (IA) and hierarchy of the website must support it. As the sitemap is developed, go for flat navigation, where the user can access the deepest nested page in the site within a few clicks. Menus need to be short enough to scan, but long enough to be clear. Ideally, the fewer levels people need to click through, the quicker and least confusing it should be for them to access what they want. Most often, there are three or four levels of hierarchy for most websites. This keeps things accessible while making sure the site navigation isn’t too broad.

Design for Responsive Compatibility

Great navigation translates easily to mobile and tablet. Design a navigation that works across all devices, or consider two similar navigations that don’t require people to adjust to a different mental model when moving from desktop to mobile. Primary navigation often displays the secondary links on hover; however, it doesn’t always work for mobile. Utilizing a hover interaction that can’t be used on mobile introduces inconsistency between the two devices.

People will not know instinctively how to access something on mobile that they used a menu hover to access on a desktop. If you need to provide two interactions in association with one link, consider having two distinct places to click associated with that link. While it may seem like extra effort to design and develop separate designs for the devices.

Ease of navigation adds to the user experience of visitors. Discuss more with our design experts and get answers to your design needs.