The importance of optimising your website for mobile will ... A small version of a complex three column desktop site won
The greenlight
magazine
D E C E M B E R 2016 The Predictions Edition
2017 PREDICTIONS
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FOUR USER EXPERIENCE AND CONVERSION RATE OPTIMISATION TRENDS FOR 2017
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UX & CRO
SARAH PETERSEN UX & CRO MANAGER
Conversational UX has been the UX buzzword of 2016, and is expected to grow massively in 2017- with some even calling it ‘The Future of the Web’.
1. RESPONSIVE DESIGN AND MOBILE - FIRST
2. HAPTIC FEEDBACK
The importance of optimising your website for
While we’re on the topic of mobile, let’s take a
mobile will (hopefully) not be a new concept to
look at a newer addition to the art of optimising
most. Yet, there are a surprising amount of sites out
performance for conversions: haptic feedback.
there which still aren’t optimised for mobile. Haptic feedback has been around for a few A small version of a complex three column desktop
years, and refers to the tactile feedback given
site won’t just scare away users – chances are, most
when pressing areas of the site or app on your
of them won’t even make it there in the first place
smartphone’s screen. UX designers and conversion
following Google’s update in April last year that
optimisers are beginning to incorporate this feature
favours usability (and punishes sites that aren’t
where possible to enhance user experience and
mobile-friendly).
site performance by using a series of tactile cues to guide users to a desired action (such as a ‘buy
For some brands, a responsive site will do, but if
now’ button) – a technique referred to by some as
most of your users are now accessing your site via
hapnotic feedback (as, arguably, it’s a form of subtle
their mobile devices, you should definitely consider
hypnosis).
going mobile-first: designing your mobile site and
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then adjusting it for desktop. The reality is that
The practice is still relatively new, but as more UX
leaving your mobile site as an afterthought could
designers and conversion optimisers begin to see
have a significant, and negative, impact on your
the potential, we may very well see this trend grow
bottom line.
in the New Year.
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UX & CRO
3. PERSONALISATION
4. CONVERSATIONAL UX
Good UX and CRO is impossible unless you’re
Conversational UX takes personalisation a step
anticipating and meeting users’ needs and
further by reinventing the way you communicate
expectations. Personalising your site or app for
with your audience by removing navigation
individual users ensures that they’re always met
and adapting the interaction to the user’s prior
with the content most relevant to them at the right
behaviour. This is done via a chatbot which will
time.
anticipate what the user is likely to be interested in and which then guides them to the end conversion
Users already expect personalised content, yet
through a series of questions. While most of
many brands still aren’t fully embracing the concept.
us humans still don’t quite trust AI (artificial
A growing number of tools and technologies will
intelligence), we’re still likely to see the rise of bots
become available to help make personalisation
in 2017 – whether they’ll ever completely replace
easier, which will hopefully encourage more brands
website interactions as we know them is yet to be
to join the personalisation movement and start
seen.
offering users the content they so desperately want.
IT’S TIME TO EMBRACE CHANGE So, there you have it: my humble contribution to the pool of UX and CRO predictions for the year to come. While there’s nothing much new under the sun, there are certainly some exciting advances taking place across the board. As mobile continues to gain momentum, so does the need for responsive sites and a mobile-first approach to UX design as users are becoming increasingly critical and expect personalised content whenever possible1. The time has come for brands to catch up and really embrace this personalised approach to how they communicate with their users – perhaps by enlisting chatbots to support that effort! And if bots aren’t quite for you and your brand, the use of haptic feedback for an enhanced user experience and improved conversion rate is certainly one to explore further in 2017.
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http://www.greenlightdigital.com/blog/posts/all-the-latest-news-about-the-mobile-first-index/
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