5 Examples of Great UX Design

To create a product or service that your users are going to fall in love with, great user experience (UX) design is vital. And, more than helping you create something that users will love, it is a differentiator. It can help you get ahead of the competition in what is an extremely crowded marketplace.

UX design is about considering the needs of the people who will be using your product. Whether it is a website or an app, users should be central to what you are creating. After all, only by taking the time to understand them and the problems they’re facing are you able to create something that truly makes a difference.

However, knowing that you need great UX design is one thing, knowing what that actually looks like in practice is another. That’s why we’ve put together five examples of great UX design, by companies that clearly understand humans, to inspire your next project.

1. Google Search Engine

There is no denying that Google is the world’s biggest search engine, receiving over 90% of the market share each year for over a decade now. So, it stands to reason that the tech giant must be doing something right.

Now, Google invests a huge amount in technology, using machine translation, artificial intelligence and more to improve user experience, and there is no doubt a pretty hefty marketing spend too. However, what really makes a difference is the company’s core understanding of its users. The priority has always been a simple interface and fast-loading results.

If you’ve used Google Search Engine, which no doubt you have, you probably achieved your goal pretty quickly. It’s as simple as typing in what you’re looking for and hitting the enter key. You don’t need a tutorial or any guidance. It’s easy, simple and fast. And, all that Google has done over the last 20 years to improve it is to make it simpler, removing unnecessary links. This is the basics of a great UX; it stands the test of time and is simple and enjoyable to use.

2. Zoom Video Conferencing

Zoom has become a staple in many people’s lives over the last year as we’ve all had to adjust to working from home and being stuck indoors a lot more than usual. Whether for work or for catching up with friends and family, Zoom has quickly become a go-to virtual meeting platform. But why do you think this company zoomed ahead of all the others? You’ve got it; it comes down to UX design.

Technology can seem daunting to many, especially when it comes to using new services and applications. Zoom clearly understands this and simplifies the process right away. On the homepage, all you find are four simple options. So, you can choose whether to start a meeting straight away, schedule a meeting, join someone else’s meeting or share your screen. And, once you choose an option, the app guides you to a new window where you can do exactly what you’ve just selected.

Zoom is a perfect example of a company that hasn’t pulled out fancy features and functionality to dazzle its users. It’s not about bells and whistles; it’s about getting the job done. The app delivers the key tasks that users will want, displays them simply and makes it easy for even the most non tech-savvy amongst us to get started.

3. LinkedIn Professional Networking

When it comes to networking, there are lots of things to consider. You might want to search for jobs, hire employees or connect with likeminded people. But, whilst you’re doing any of that, you want to present yourself in the best possible light. Creating a profile and putting your professional self out there can be a daunting prospect. However, LinkedIn has focused its UX on this, creating an onboarding experience that helps everyone get the most out of the platform.

When you create an account, you aren’t left to your own devices. The platform continually suggests things you can do to improve your profile appearance and your ability to use the product. And, it does it in a way that makes those steps feel both necessary and enjoyable. The language used is simple and straight to the point. You’ve met with suggestions such as ‘complete these steps to get the most out of LinkedIn’. And honesty compels a reaction from users; you want to be efficient, you want to achieve your networking goals, so you do as suggested.

At the end of the onboarding experience, you have a decent looking profile and knowledge of what you can achieve with the product.

4. Facebook

Facebook is a colossal social networking platform with  over 2.7 billion active monthly users. So, you’d think it would be a huge challenge to make sure that every single one of them received an amazing user experience. But, that’s exactly what Facebook does.

When you sign in to the app, whether on desktop or mobile, you receive personalised content based on your interests and recent activity. And that makes Facebook become like your own virtual socialising space. But, at the same time, it offers more than social media. Whether it’s brief information about what the weather is doing where you are today or the ability to mark yourself as safe in relation to an incident near you, every feature adds value.

Facebook understands how to use features, not to overload or impress their users, but to offer them something that actually adds value to their day.

5. Apple Web Store

Another tech giant, Apple is big on user experience. It is core to design across all of the company’s products, but also when it comes to buying them. If you head to the Apple web store, you’ll find a site that is easy to navigate and use.

The top navigation bar offers simple categories and subcategories with easy-to-recognise images. But, the language is also focused on user experience, which is no mean feat when it comes to selling high-tech equipment. To help you understand what you’re looking at, product information is served in a logical sequence. You’re first given a quick glance, then a value proposition and then as you scroll down the information gets increasingly technical. But, by delivering a value proposition early on, you can understand how a product will improve your life, rather than how it works. Also, the site makes it easy to compare products by features. With side-by-side comparisons, so you can quickly gain an understanding of their specs and how they differ.

How to Incorporate Great UX Design

UX is fundamental to your business if you want to create better products that engage with users, provide valuable features and keep them coming back for more. Fortunately, by looking at some of the great examples out there, you can learn a lot about how to incorporate UX design into your business solutions.

In summary, here are some of the lessons we can learn from these examples:

• Keep things simple – make sure there isn’t a steep learning curve for your application and that all pages are fast loading.

• Focus on common tasks – create a hierarchy with the top-level choices surfaced as early as possible in the user experience.

• Guide users – while you want your app to be intuitive, integrating checklists and guiding users as to what to do next can help them achieve more.

• Use features to add value – there is little point in adding features just for the sake of it, but used wisely they can enable you to deliver above and beyond on user expectations.

• Keep it smooth – your users will come with preconceptions as to how things will work, deliver on these and ensure the experience is smooth and enjoyable.