Broadly speaking, consumers find the online experience disappointing – embarrassingly so, according to Andy Budd, a founding partner and MD of UK-based user experience agency Clearleft. In fact, we only take the treatment we receive online as we do because we have come to expect so little, says Budd, who’ll be a speaker at the Tech4Africa conference being held in Johannesburg, 12-13 August 2010.
Just think about the time and money most companies spend on crafting the user experience of a retailer or a hotel and match that with the time and money being spent on crafting the online user experience (UX). It doesn’t quite add up, does it?
Websites often continue to be driven by technological capability rather than by a design solution, and this needs to change, Budd believes, as more and more consumers make more and more of their purchasing decisions online.
If consumers actually enjoyed using a website, they might actually come back more often – that would be money well spent! Improved user experience design also offers companies a source of opportunity in terms of differentiating themselves from their competitors and in how they approach and build customer relationships. It can turn redefine also-rans into cool, user-centric brands.
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