☝️ No Web Design Without UX!

It may be hard to process, but these days, it doesn’t matter if you have a beautiful website with original content if the ones who visit it don’t understand how to navigate through it.

Actually, if we go a little philosophic about the era we are living, many business owners had to migrate most of their business activities to an online context to keep them safe. The problem? It had to be done in such a rush that the websites didn’t catch the eye of the visitor.
Today we will talk about the importance of the UX/UI design, and how it could change the entire game for your business.

Web Design vs. Website Generators

Creating a website from scratch can literally be done in less than five minutes. But will that website attract the people you are actually interested in?
With great SEO work, sure! But will those people who visit your site stay there enough time? Will they be able to find what they were looking for fast? And most importantly, will they come back?

When we say “there’s no web design without UX/UI” we refer exactly to this issue. Website makers like Wix, Wordpress, Weebly, Webflow and Jimdo are a great choice for people looking forward to building a site in a short time, like blogs.
However, the main problem with those website builders is that they just look cool but you can hardly touch the code. In fact, you have almost no chance of messing with the structure beyond its appearance.

The good part, and probably the biggest reason why those builders are so famous, is that they are very cheap and have an intuitive platform that will guide you through the building process.

Then again, if you can afford a little extra, or simply wish to make things 100% right, the best option is a web designer. They will not be as cheap as a website builder, but you will be hiring a professional who will be entirely dedicated to make your site shine, and at the same time, to be as smooth, attractive, and useful to your visitors as you always imagined.

Not to mention that web builders don’t really have strong security measures, or at least as strong and personalized as a web designer would create.

Will a Web Designer create the UX/UI too?

Yes, a web designer will think of the look and feel of your site, meaning, he or she will make it look appealing to your audience and will code their way up to the most appealing and functional web you could aspire to.
Here is where the user experience and the user interface meet. Let’s explain shortly the difference between these two areas.

UX refers to how the visitor feels while navigating your site, mobile app, or software. The goal of a web designer who focuses on UX is to build a site that fulfills as many needs of your visitors as possible.
To do so, they have to provide positive experiences, but also one that defines the customer’s journey to generate customer’s fidelity.
And here is where we can talk about the user interface. You can think of it as the tiny parts of your web that make the user’s journey easier. This means everything from video, pictures, buttons sliders, and any item that is meant to interact with the visitor.

UX design makes the visitor feel the web navigation is easy, intuitive, and efficient. While the UI design makes it look beyond “pretty”, it makes a visual connection between your site, the visitor, and the product or service you are offering.
As you can imagine, none of these things can automatically be understood by a web builder. But web designers know a lot of it, and that’s why is so important to trust them your site.

The Web Designer’s Process

So there you are, in from of your computer looking for a web designer. You found one you actually like, get in touch, and agree on working together. What’s next? Depending on whether the website already exists or not, the web designer has to face a problem and deliver a solution.

Independently of the issue (having a site or not), the designer will take some time to understand your business and website (if any). Then he or she is supposed to understand as deeply as possible your buyer persona, that way the site will be incredibly appealing to them, and the purchase action will be easier to achieve.

Remote working may be perceived as a trend, and many employers are scared of taking this big step because they have issues controlling their employees, but if we see the bigger picture, huge enterprises like Google an Apple have being doing it for years, and they haven’t done anything but grow exponentially.

To begin to do this, the web designer has to follow these processes:

• User persona (a sample of the audience you’re interested in)
• User interviews
• Functionality map
• Wireframes
• Prototyping
• Usability test

They are not restricted to these methods, but they are a common pattern before starting to work on your project. And no, web builders do not take these matters seriously nor are capable to do an extensive research on how the visitors are interacting with your site.

These steps are not a linear process either. Sometimes it’s necessary to go back to redefining your user persona.

Final Thoughts

We started this post saying that there’s no web design without UX/UI, we lied a little. It is actually possible, but it’s a web design that will not grand you the results expected, nor it will be worth your time and money.

We are not against web builders, as we said, they do are helpful when you are in a hurry. But professional businesses and entrepreneurs need to show the world what they are capable of, and a Wix site will not take you there at all.

The times are changing really fast, and the era of the UX/UI is strongly gaining strength. Not only because it’s what your clients want, but because it is functional.
Sooner than you think, almost every business, company, and factory in the world will have a solid internet presence, it is up to you if you wish to be among the strong competitors or among the ones that settle for a simple WordPress pre-made template.