No "leverage synergies". No "disruptive paradigm shifts". Just straightforward answers to the questions small business owners actually ask — usually at 11pm on a Sunday.
It stands for User Experience, which is just a fancy, slightly pretentious way of saying "how someone feels when they’re using your site". If they feel confused, they leave. If they feel smart, they stay.
The goal here isn't to turn you into a professional designer or a corporate consultant.
You don't need a degree to stop annoying your customers. Whether you’re DIY-ing your site on a Tuesday night or briefing a designer you’re paying actual money for, these 10 laws will keep you from making the mistakes I did.
Grab a tea or coffee. Let’s do this.
Let's start with a summary, because who has time to read a full blog post these days. That being said... if you click on the card for each law, it will take you to its section to show you visual examples for each; what works, what doesn't work and how to get it right.
Users spend most of their time on other sites, so they prefer your site to work like the ones they already know.
The time it takes to make a decision increases with the number and complexity of choices.
The average person can only keep about 7 items in their working memory at once.
Things that are close together are perceived as being related.
The amount of mental effort it takes to use your site should be as low as possible.
The time to acquire a target is a function of the distance to and size of the target.
When multiple similar objects are present, the one that differs from the rest is most likely to be remembered.
People remember the first and last items in a list better than the middle ones.
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People perceive "pretty" things as being easier to use.
If you’ve made it this far, congratulations! You officially know more about website design than 90% of your competitors.
You don't need to nail all 10 of these today.
Honestly, if you just fix your "thumb-sized" buttons (Fitts's Law) and stop trying to be "creative" with your menu (Jakob's Law), you’re already winning.
Your website is a tool, not an art project. Its job is to make your life easier and your customers' lives better.
> Don't get in their way.
>Keep it simple, keep it familiar, and for the love of all that is holy, make the buttons big enough to click.
Now go finish that tea or coffee and go fix one thing. You’ve got this.
Reading about UX design and SEO is one thing. Having it sorted while you focus on running your business is another. That's what we're here for.
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