Last Updated: October 30, 2019

4 User Experience Myths That Trap Marketers

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User experience (UX) refers to the overall experience someone has on a website or application, particularly in relation to how easy, straightforward, and enjoyable it is to use. As the catalyst for the overall feeling someone associates with your brand, a good user experience and good brand identity go hand in hand.

User experience is vital to the way someone experiences your brand. You can have all the strong, concise, conversion-focused copy you want, but without good UX, few will ever reach you. Good UX can be costly sometimes, but the benefits it allows you to reap can make a significant difference in your brand’s overall image.

As Jaguar Land Rover CEO Dr. Ralf Speth once said:

“If you think that good design is expensive, you should look at the cost of bad design.”

Today, we’re going to be looking at four of the top UX myths that often trap marketers and what the truth behind them actually is.

UX Myth #1: The Designer & the User Think the Same

Your UX designer is surely very knowledgeable and talented. Still, they may not fall into your target market, and even if they do, they’re already so familiar with your website that it can be difficult for them to approach a UX project from an outside perspective.

And regardless of their knowledge and talent, they don’t necessarily know – without research – what will work best for your brand’s target users. Putting yourself in your user’s shoes is a key element of good design.

There are many ways you can help ensure your design will meet users’ needs:

  • Conduct usability tests where users are assigned key tasks, like navigating to specific pages, without specific instructions on how to do so, and analyze their experience.
  • Run focus groups where users reveal provide qualitative insight on their feelings, thoughts, and attitudes about your website or app.
  • Implement a tool that allows you to track users’ experience with your website through heat maps that detect where users click, scroll, look, etc.

This is not an exhaustive list. How else have you measured how your users interact with your website?

UX Myth #2: UX Is All About Aesthetics

Aesthetics make up one facet of a user’s experience with your website or app. But it only scratches the surface of UX.

In addition to providing users a delightful and meaningful experience with your brand, good UX will also be concerned with how the website or app can most optimally work. Just like with anything else, form and function go hand in hand with user experience, and both are critical to the user’s overall satisfaction with your website or app.

UX isn’t all about aesthetics, and it’s also not all about usability – you don’t have good UX without both.

“At this point in experience design’s evolution, satisfaction ought to be the norm, and delight ought to be the goal.” – Stephen Anderson, author of Seductive Interactive Design

UX should provide delightful solutions to users’ pain points. It should make the user’s experience clear, simple, and enjoyable through a balance of both pleasing aesthetics and ease of use.

UX Myth #3: Mobile Doesn’t Need to Align With Other Channels

This is becoming less of a myth now that most marketers understand the importance of a coherent omnichannel experience, but it’s worth reiterating that users expect a seamless experience across all of their devices. And mobile is one of the most important, with 89% of media being viewed through mobile apps.

With most consumers discovering, researching, and purchasing on multiple device types, ensuring that your brand’s user experience is both consistent and functional on mobile in addition to desktop (and even tablet) will be crucial to securing those conversions.

In fact, a multichannel marketing strategy can increase conversions up to 49%. Here are some other shocking stats about the importance of a seamless multichannel experience:

  1. The average consumer has 4.3 internet-connected devices
  2. 90% of consumers switch between screens to complete tasks
  3. 73% of consumers use multiple channels when interacting with one retailer
  4. Brands with multichannel marketing strategies have an 89% retention rate

UX Myth #4: White Space Is Bad

Just because white space is sometimes called “negative space” doesn’t mean it’s a negative thing! It should be considered an essential element of UX design. White space makes it easier for users to read a page because they aren’t bombarded with information or graphics.

It also makes pages look less cluttered, which can increase the sense of sophistication, expertise, and authority users associate with your brand.

White space can and should be used as a tool just like any other element on the page to shape and optimize the user’s experience with your brand.

“If everything yells for your viewer’s attention, nothing is heard.” – Aarron Walter, author of Design for Emotion

Wrapping Up

We just covered four major myths that marketers often hold around UX:

  1. The designer and the user think the same. While your designer probably has a pretty good idea of what users want to see, knowing exactly what your audience likes will be key to good UX!
  2. UX is all about aesthetics. My fellow marketers, it’s about both form and function!
  3. Mobile doesn’t need to align with other channels. It’s all about creating a seamless experience across mobile, desktop, and tablet. That means UX, too!
  4. White space is bad. Most people prefer a clean look over clutter! White space is also a great way to communicate sophistication.

If you want to learn more about user experience and making your website appeal look great, check out some of our additional resources below!

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