Common Website Design & User Experience Myths

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Myth 1: “We’re too small to budget in UX.”

“When brands hear ‘user experience’ or ‘UX,’ they tend to think this means something high-tech and expensive,” explains MODintelechy Creative Director, Joanna Brown. “In reality, UX is part of the design process and centers around the holistic experience a customer has with a brand. It takes a lot of know how to pull together all the moving parts that make up the end-user’s interactions with the company, but the result should really feel like common sense.”

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Myth 2: “We don’t need a website, because we don’t sell online.”

Too many SMBs still think websites are only necessary for eCommerce. A website should be an excellent resource for your customers, regardless of whether you ever build a virtual shop or not. Most companies make the mistake of thinking it’s one or the other—all online, or all in-person. But scaling a business during the digital age takes more than one strategy, and an online presence is always going to be one essential piece of the puzzle.

A great website helps build your brand’s reputation and increases the confidence of your prospects. People today frequently search online before even visiting a brick-and-mortar location. A great website will only help enhance in-person sales and help you rank higher in local search results.

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Myth 3: “My daughter/friend/cousin is creative and can just do the web design.”

Companies tend to turn to people they know to help with some of the work because “it’s cheaper.” However, if the daughter/friend/cousin isn’t experienced in web design and user experience, then the design is going to suffer. Standing something up online for the sake of “checking the box” is a common mistake made by smaller companies, because a poor experience can hurt your brand and churn customers faster. Customers today want consistent, quality experiences across all channels.

In the long run, it isn’t actually cheaper if the website doesn’t provide any return on investment (ROI). Poor design can hurt your brand’s reputation. A great web design team is going to help you make your money back with sustainable growth.

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Myth 4: “Everything needs to ‘pop’ more.”

It’s a myth that pushing multiple options will help increase engagement. Hierarchy of design and singularly focused CTAs (calls to action) are more likely to get results. You don’t want visitors to feel overstimulated or distracted. Quality UX doesn’t mean grabbing the attention of users by any means necessary, it’s about gently guiding users to pay attention to the right thing at the right time.

Designers know how to build a website that leads the audience towards the point of conversion. “Early in the buyer’s journey, the right conversion point might be signing up to join the email list or downloading a guide,” says Joanna. “Good design will walk the visitors where they need to go, rather than trying to push them there.”

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Myth 5: “Build it, and they will come.”

“There is a view that ‘content is content’ or if something gets put out there, eventually people will find it,” explains Joanna. “That’s just not the case. There is a LOT of content out there. If you aren’t targeting multiple audiences, they are going to find other brands that are. Web design and UX specifically take into account what is most likely to attract and convert people who are interested in what you offer as a brand.”

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Myth 6: “UI and UX are the same thing.”

User interface (UI) and user experience (UX) are sometimes mistakenly considered interchangeable. It’s kind of like calling a banana and a banana split the same thing. The banana split does include a banana, but that is only one part of it. UX does include user interface, but that is only one part of it. UX is an umbrella term that includes things like:

• Branding
• Design
• Useability
• Customer service
• Content and copy
• Site Functionality
• Post-purchase support

While UI is the surface of the experience, UX considers everything about how the user interacts with that experience.

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Myth 7: “Our website is up and running; we don’t need to do anything else.”

This one largely goes unsaid—if you put time and effort into a website, you don’t need to do anything else for a while. This thought that you can “build it and leave it” couldn’t be further from the truth. A website is kind of like your brand baby—it needs constant love and attention. If you walk away from the website, information becomes outdated and your customer’s evolving needs stop being met. An agile and modern brand will consistently update the website with relevant content and user-centric improvements.