Stop Creating Pages - Start Creating UXFlow

It is often easier for a designer to get right into the design phase of a website than to pay enough attention to user experience that no doubt deserves this attention. Very often we think primarily about page design and information structuring, while paying attention to UXFlow (user experience script, from English userexperience– user experience and flow - flow; a script that reflects the expected user behavior in various systems interface), which will be provided by our design. It is time to make these scenarios a priority in our design process . Designing UXFlow, with clear objectives, will provide a positive and valuable user experience for the business we are working on. In this article, we will show you that if you spend more time on user experience scenarios, both your business and your customers will get better results. Next, we take a deeper look at the scenarios for a regular advertising website (and customer acquisition channels), and also provide tips on how to optimize them in order to get a complete picture of consumer experience.

Think about the user first

Work on a new design project for the site begins with the transfer of the original task, describing the features of the brand, setting high-level goals for the project, as well as describing the artistic and functional requirements. Unfortunately, all documents usually reflect only the technical characteristics of the project, and there is not a word about how the site will perform the user's numerous tasks. Although this is what leads to successful interaction.
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Two examples of common e-commerce and subscription scenarios

If you start working by carefully considering the goals of users and businesses, you will be able to outline several different areas in which you need to work in order to make installations on both sides. The intentions of users can vary from finding some fact to exchanging a product, from learning a new skill to buying a gift for someone (knowledge of the psychology of users will help to figure this out). Business objectives may include obtaining:
first place in rating, approval, subscriber, buyer, download, or phone call. Defining the goals of the business and each user is the first step in creating UXFlow “streams” that meet all these requirements.

Display UXFlow in conversion channels

Not all site visitors can be considered equivalent. Users learn about you from different sources, they have a different level of knowledge and enthusiasm and different goals. You are the designer of UXFlow, and it is you who associate these user experience scenarios with conversion funnels that provide value to both the user and the business.

You should give priority to scenarios and concentrate your efforts on those that will affect the majority of users, and will be most beneficial. UXFlow scenarios will allow you to plan the experience depending on the source of traffic or the type of visitors, while focusing on them will be able to set the tone for your user experience, strengthen the trust of visitors and get approval on the way to final sales.

Typical UXFlow Examples

Some typical UXFlow examples are:

Paid advertising
The user navigates to the site by a banner or ad from GoogleAdWord.
Social media
The user follows the message of a friend in a social network
Email
The user proceeds by mailing the newsletter or by the invitation sent to him.
Organic search
The user follows the external link that was received as a result of the search.
By clicking on the news
The user follows the links in the news or blog posts.

Each of these visitors has their own needs, expectations and level of knowledge, and they must be treated accordingly.

Learning funnels: a deeper look at attracting customers



E-commerce sites tend to have many different sales funnels.

Let's evaluate the critical UXFlow scripts of many websites related to paid online customer acquisition - and consider them in parts. For this example, we will take the transition scenario from a new user to a subscriber and, eventually, to a buyer.
Consider a company that uses advertising to attract new customers.

Advertising

Illustrative display advertising begins with a banner. The banner design aims at one important goal: to get the right person to click on it. Here are a few key questions that need to be answered when designing advertisements that reflect what lies on the surface of your UXFlow:

• What type of users am I targeting?
• Are they actively looking for a solution to their problem or are they just browsing the page?
• What problems are they trying to solve?
• How to keep the user's attention in the best way?
• How am I related to the user?
• What message will the user find?
• Are there any painful problems that my product or my website can solve?
• How to formulate this decision clearly and quickly?
• What kind of compelling call-to-action buttons will make our potential user click?

Your advertising should consider these basic motives and hook users so that they want to click. Preliminary research and practice testing will help optimize the experience. Using this model, ReTargeter increased the number of visitors who click on their advertising banner by 4 times. In their blog posts are laid out, describing in detail how they achieved such success.

Home page

The moment when a visitor enters the main page can be considered a point of reference for UXFlow. As these users navigate through a non-informative resource (such as a banner, as opposed to a detailed blog post), you need to design UXFlow to fill in the information gaps, providing the user with the data they need to assimilate.

In our example, we hope that users will become subscribers; but, depending on the business, this transition may involve creating an account, downloading material, or buying something. Whatever the goal of conversion for business, the main thing is to give the user a reason to continue to follow the script, to go down the funnel.

Use the following methods to guide the user down the funnel:

• Convince the user with clearly articulated key advantages, based on easily digestible evidence.
• Simplify content and design to focus on clear call-to-action buttons (in this example, a call to subscribe to a newsletter).
• Get rid of the contradictions at each stage. Request a minimum of information, as well as reduce the number of fields, extra buttons and minimize the time to load the page.
• Come up with tempting "traps" and offers that can be seen only after registration.

The KISSmetrics “Anatomy of a Perfect Landing Page” article details the design, user interface and text elements that will help you meet the needs of your users and increase conversion.

Combining UXFlow to complete the user experience development cycle

The funnel can be represented as something consisting of the following steps: Click on advertising - Go to a web page - Register by email. But on the design and integration of scenarios that are working to promote the ultimate goals of the business, you should think more seriously. In our example, we have successfully acquired a subscriber by email through an advertising campaign banner, but the real business goal is to create income through new purchases (users).

Considering a mailing list subscription script and online purchase script as two separate conversion funnels is a common mistake. In fact, these experiences are connected, and if we consider them as the combined flows of UXFlow, we can create a more holistic interaction - something that will lead your business to optimal results.

In our example, this series consists of a customer attraction funnel and a customer relationship management plan (CRM).



Integral funnels create a holistic user experience development cycle.

When developing this UXFlow, you must consider which levers are most effective when converting a subscriber into a buyer. Many of the previously described principles here also apply, but now you have more points of contact with the user, which will help to influence him.

In this UXFlow, you should take into account all the elements of your CRM strategy and the scenario of purchasing products on your site, including:

• Feedback to the subscriber by email.
• Pages that a subscriber gets when he returns to the site.
• Scenarios for switching from content pages (for example, from blog pages) to checkout.

Here are a few key findings from the subscriber to customer scenario:

• Tell a “visual” story with which the subscriber can identify himself and want to become part of it.
• Make sure your letters reinforce this story and give the user confirmation that he has signed up for good reason.
• Use compelling call-to-action buttons and think through simple, obvious transitions to checkout from inside pages with content. They will fix for the user his role in the story you created.
• Make the checkout process as simple as possible, and build trust all the way to help the customer become part of your project.

By looking at how the two UXFlow scenarios interact, you can create a continuous experience that instills confidence and strengthens the user's connection with the website, which will lead to a conversion to the final purchase. It is also important that this UXFlow constantly increases customer satisfaction, because the combined funnels make the user experience more consistent and satisfy the needs of visitors, eliminating additional confusion and ambiguity.

Make UXFlow scripting work for you

If you are planning to create a new site or want to optimize an existing user experience, designing UXFlow scripts will prevent you from creating separate pages and links between them, and instead help you focus on meeting user needs. Paying maximum attention to the UXFlow scenarios, and concentrating on those of them that are of utmost importance for most visitors and for your business, you can have a huge impact on your business in the future.

As for UXFlow, go back to the first stage of the conversion, and create the design for the final stage, which can be a few steps further. This approach is important for any type of online commerce, in which the first conversion is just an introduction to the main event - revenue. By combining these additional funnels, you will create a more holistic user experience that will bring better results for both the user and your business.

So the next time you are asked to develop a new design, go back a step and ask yourself and your team what UXFlow scripts you are trying to create using your website, and let this understanding control the entire design process.