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May 17, 2022
UX can be an effective brand differentiator, providing a compelling reason why a user would choose to engage with you and your products over others. Make sure you set yourself apart from the crowd by delivering an outstanding user experience to your customers.
Micro-interactions are the elements of your West Palm Beach web design that enable users to accomplish a single task or inform them that the task has been successfully completed.
They aim to delight users by making the tiniest interactions into memorable and fun moments. They also make these interactions feel natural and intuitive, simplifying how people engage with your app or website.
Overall, micro-interactions humanize a user’s experience with your brand. They effectively communicate your brand identity while establishing a connection with the user.
As a result, customers feel a positive association with your brand.
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Micro-interactions contribute to the overall look and feel of your web design in West Palm Beach. They convey your brand identity and beliefs, so the more they interact with your site, the more they can recognize you in an instant.
Micro-interactions create an enjoyable and functional experience because they:
Micro-interactions are comprised of four parts:
Triggers
Triggers are events that begin a micro-interaction. They can be broken down into two groups: manual triggers and system triggers. Manual triggers are user-initiated. They occur when a user intentionally interacts with a website or app.
Examples of this are:
System-generated triggers, on the other hand, are automatic, only occurring when certain conditions are met. An example of this is when you hear an alert whenever you input the wrong password.
Rules
Rules are parameters that determine what happens when a user executes a certain task. Micro-interactions follow these tasks and respond accordingly. For example, on Tinder, whenever a user swipes right, it means they're interested in that person and the system matches them together.
As users continually interact with your app or website, they soon get used to these rules. This can make the rules feel intuitive and comfortable.
Feedback
Feedback is when the system verifies a user’s action through visual, auditory, or haptic cues. This encourages users to proceed in engaging with your website or app. An example of feedback is a progress bar of a download to inform you that the system is working on it.
Loop or Modes
Loop or modes determine if a micro-interaction should repeat or change, depending on the way things function or operate. For example, changing your mobile setting into night mode. Another example is how eCommerce websites change "Buy Now" to "Buy Another" to get users to buy more. It's a way to get users to re-engage with you.
Not everything a user does on your website or app requires a micro-interaction. If you use them all the time, they can be annoying and disrupt the user experience.
That’s why it’s important to know when and where to use them so you can elevate the overall experience you provide users.
Here are some tips on how to use them effectively on your site or app:
Micro-interactions can help you communicate to users that your system is on standby and needs further input to accomplish the task they want to do. This enables you to prompt users to continue interacting with your site or app. Standby mode is especially important for new users, who may not understand when they’ve provided enough input.
Modern users don’t have the patience to wait around unless you effectively communicate that the system is making progress on a task. By showing users a liner or circular progress indicators, you’re keeping users from abandoning your product while they’re waiting for something to occur.
It’s common for people to click things by accident. Because of this, you need to provide a way for people to undo errors and continue doing the task they want to do. You can use micro-interactions to communicate that they made an error and that they have the option to undo it.
Nobody wants to go back to square one after making a small error. To avoid rework, use micro-interactions to let users know their errors and what they can do to correct them. For example, in the account creation process, it's important that you indicate what the password should be composed of to meet all field requirements. If you don't tell users this, they'll never know and will end up getting frustrated.
Your micro-interactions should mirror your brand. If your brand is professional and reliable, then you wouldn’t want to use comical figures in your micro-interactions. Something more sophisticated and serious would be suitable.
To successfully incorporate micro-interactions into your web design in West Palm Beach and use it to strengthen the user experience, there are a couple of best practices you should follow:
Micro-interactions are supposed to make the user journey delightful. But, if you use them too often, they can distract users and might even annoy them in the process. Use them thoughtfully to elevate the user experience.
Some micro-interactions are common and expected. For instance, you won’t have to think too hard about adding a scrollbar. However, if you’re adding less typical micro-interactions, it’s worth considering both:
A good user experience allows users to control various elements, including:
If you have these on your site, make sure to add micro-interactions, like animations or audio, to make these small moments more meaningful.
This volume control micro-interaction by Nick Buturishvili is a great example.
Your website should have an area where users have some form of access to you. This can be the comment section on your blog posts or a form they can fill out to message and reach out to you.
Make sure you add micro-interactions to make these engagements more memorable.
Examples of these are:
Every process needs some form of confirmation to urge users to proceed to the next step or to let them know that they've done their task.
If they can’t tell whether they were able to add a product to their cart or share a blog post on social media, they might get confused.
If your website takes more than two seconds to load, consider implementing a loader animation to make the waiting process more engaging. This also helps reduce your bounce rate because it informs users that your page is loading.
Do you have special promos or announcements? Get them to click on your notification by animating it!
Check out this example from dribble.
Since mobile devices offer limited space compared to desktops, it's best to use a hamburger menu to tuck a ton of options away from a user's screen. Keeping their screens clean allows them to focus on what's important. Plus, a hamburger menu allows your visitors to move back and forth between pages without getting lost on your site.
Searching for products on your site doesn't have to be boring. Surprise users by using animation that predicts possible searches.
Inform users if the information they typed in is wrong and be specific about the error. This is very crucial, especially if they're trying to log in to their account.
It’s also important that they can view the data they input onto your site, especially when they’re filling out their contact information or credit card info. This helps build trust and creates a feeling that your site is reliable.
Create a fun and engaging conversion experience by animating your call-to-action button.
These small visual cues or animations help draw the attention of users and encourage them to take action.
At Digital Resource, our web design team in West Palm Beach will work with you to create a functional and aesthetically pleasing website that helps you achieve both marketing and business goals.
Contact us today to spice up your site and take your business to greater heights!
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