As most brand touch points have shifted from being primarily offline to online, mastering digital user interface (UI) and user experience (UX) is increasingly important.
UX is centered on a customer’s usability of your technology. It’s the practice of designing with your user in mind and producing the information, effects, and results that meet their needs and goals. This can mean creating a website they’ll want to return to, or a smartphone app so easy to use that they’ll book a hotel room without abandoning the cart.
Branding is becoming intertwined with UX, and some marketers even believe that branding now synonymous with UX.
When potential customers interact with your business digitally, they need to still feel your brand identity as much as they would when interacting with you offline.
Here are seven more things you need to know about digital branding and UX:
- Branding agencies need to hire UX designers, and CMOs need to manage digital UX/UI alongside branding.
- Think about what your site behavior communicates about your brand. Is it clean and easy to navigate? Is it clunky and annoying?
- If you haven’t yet, evaluate your UI/UX compared to your competitors, and consider having a focus group to see how potential customers experience it from their perspective.
- Interactive designers should make a point to understand the business goals of each department to see how the business really views the customer.
- Make sure any new touch points you create, like a smartphone app, maintain the same brand identity (verbal and visual) as the traditional touch points.
- Your verbal and visual messaging needs to be simple and clear, but completely consistent with your brand identity.
- Factor social media into the equation; it’s now a part of your online brand. Respond swiftly to criticism and interact regularly to help your digital reputation.
Always keep in mind that the user experience you provide is a direct reflection of your brand and your values. If a user has a positive experience with your user interface, they will have a better impression of your brand. If the user experience is unpleasant or difficult, that’s also a direct reflection of your brand.