Branding and user experience (UX) design are often considered two different sides of marketing. However, this is far from the truth.
Building a superior user experience is integral to establishing a stellar brand experience.
Traditional elements of branding like logo design and color are essential, but in today’s world, they are just the start of building a complete brand identity.
With a wealth of options to choose from in the market, brands need to differentiate themselves from the competition and delight their customers with something that will leave a memorable impression.
This is where UX design comes in. UX design is centered on user satisfaction. As it relates to branding, UX design is the process of creating customer happiness and loyalty through user-focused platforms.
By optimizing a website’s usability, accessibility, and efficiency, UX design creates a seamless user experience.
The Relationship Between Brand Experience and UX Design Explained
In the mind of the consumer, an excellent user experience directly relates to the perception of the brand. Thus, to build an excellent brand experience, a brand must offer a positive user experience, both online and off.
In essence, how consumers perceive a brand will determine the actions they take or don’t take. So, for business owners, there is nothing more important than creating a superior user experience.
By integrating UX design tactics into online branding, businesses will strengthen trust with their audience and, in turn, build a positive brand experience.
5 Strategies to Improve Brand Experience Through UX Design
Implementing these 5 strategies is a sure way to enhance brand experience with UX design.
1. Know Your Audience
Firstly, user research is everything. How can you make something your audience will enjoy if you don’t know who they are?
One of the primary reasons why businesses fail to build a compelling brand experience is that they don’t take the time to understand who they are marketing to. Knowing who will buy a product or service will provide insight into how to serve them best.
That’s why user testing is critical. Gathering genuine feedback about your website or digital product can mean the difference between developing an experience consumers want to interact with and losing customers for good.
Consumers are constantly shaping their perception of a brand based on every interaction they have. So, designing for the brand audience will result in a memorable user and brand experience.
2. Focus on Usability Over Appearance
A beautifully designed, aesthetically pleasing website is a powerful tool for winning the hearts and minds of consumers. After all, first impressions matter.
But many designers and brand managers fail to understand that website usability is just as important if not more important than how the website looks.
Because design-heavy sites can lead to two problems: high-speed loading times and poor usability.
If a web page takes too long to load, users will quickly leave the page, which leads to high bounce rates. On the other hand, poor usability can lead to user frustration if they find a website too complex to navigate.
Avoid these risks by keeping the website design simple and easy to use. A fresh, clean layout combined with usability is a recipe for success in the user experience.
3. Be Consistent in Visuals and Personality
Brand consistency is key to building familiarity with an audience. When it comes to creating a positive brand experience online, the details matter. That’s why consistency across visuals and personality is crucial to building brand trust and recognition.
Visual consistency refers to traditional branding elements like logos, color, and fonts. Personality consistency points to the characteristics and specific attributes of a brand.
A great UX design will make the user feel emotions tied to the brand identity. For example, a website could be designed to make users feel unique and welcome. This feeling is what defines the brand’s personality.
There are several ways to do this; design, color palette, and tone of voice. If a brand’s identity is fresh, playful, and innovative, then its website copy should match. Even the most minor details will enhance the user experience and shape a consistent brand experience for the consumer.
4. Write Quality UX Content
A UX designer’s job doesn’t end with the website layout. UX writing is up there on the list of essential items needed to create a positive, consistent brand experience.
With compelling copywriting, you can connect with the user and shape their perception of the brand. Great website content writing will tell a story. Be authentic with your audience and true to the brand identity.
Website content is one of the best places to draw users into the brand, products, or services. Excellent UX writing will use language that is direct, simple, and user-oriented. A little bit of humor or cheekiness is welcome too.
Remember, users won’t be engaged by a website that is hard to read or uses complex language. How a brand sounds and communicates with the audience is just as important as how it looks when it comes to crafting a memorable brand experience.
5. Make Your Website Mobile-Friendly
The majority of all web traffic comes from mobile devices. As a result, website users are 5x more likely to leave a page if a site is not optimized for mobile.
Without a mobile-optimized website, brands are essentially turning away thousands of potential customers. Not to mention hurting their SEO.
When optimizing a website for mobile, make sure users can interact with it with a single touch. Keep images to scale, have icons visible, and make the content easily scrollable.
Mobile-friendly websites are user-friendly websites. And users friendly websites make for an excellent brand experience.
Now It’s Your Turn!
In conclusion, there’s no doubt that user experience and brand experience are closely intertwined. As a brand manager or UX designer, you can use thousands of techniques to enhance your online experience for the user.
Moreover, by researching your audience focusing on usability and brand consistency through visuals and tone of voice, you can create an excellent user experience that will no doubt enhance brand experience.
About the author
Alyssa Prizzon is a creative copywriter and experienced content marketer. With over 4+ years in digital marketing. Alyssa is an expert at crafting compelling copy that’s equal parts strategy and voice. Her passion lies in developing action-oriented content that helps brands and organizations grow.
