6 Advanced Design Tips for Improved UX & Engagement
Great website design goes beyond creating an aesthetically pleasing layout.
To have a website that boosts conversions, you have to focus on capturing and retaining user attention.
It’s about using strategic visual elements, intentional copy, and user experience (UX) elements that effortlessly guide users through your site and help drive desired actions.
This is the secret sauce that sets high-converting websites apart from the rest.
If you’re ready to captivate website visitors and nudge them to conversion, keep reading.
In this article, we’re taking a look at six advanced design techniques you can use to take your website to the next level.
We’re also sharing three examples of real brands with UX-friendly websites (along with bonus design tips) to help inspire you.
Let’s get started.
1. Focus on intuitive navigation and image relevance
Intuitive navigation, clear CTAs, and relevant product imagery are essential elements in a well-designed UX interface.
Use a balance of white space and negative space to create an intuitive look and feel.
While white space and negative space both involve the absence of content, white space focuses on the overall empty areas of a design, while negative space specifically pertains to the empty space around or between objects.
Get inspired by YUPLAY. When you visit its product page for its Fortnite Catwoman’s Grappling Claw Pickaxe, the design effortlessly balances the two, blending visual appeal with user-centric functionality:
It also showcases products its audience is most interested in, along with relevant images, descriptions, and calls to action. This optimal design enhances the user experience, making it easy for visitors to choose the right products and head to check out.
2. Feature product and service options front and center to encourage conversions
Providing users with product and service options right upfront is paramount for a seamless browsing and buying experience.
Take LeatherCult, for instance, a renowned brand specializing in leather clothing. It segmented the hero section of its homepage by product types to help visitors quickly navigate to the items they’re looking for:
This practice simplifies the shopper’s experience and encourages higher engagement and conversion rates. Showcasing offers front and center is also a great practice to encourage more conversions during special occasions and holiday promotions.
3. Enhance UX design with an accessibility checker
Accessibility checkers are changing design processes by helping brands build websites and applications that meet diverse user needs. They’re critical tools to use to make sure your website upholds accessibility standards and legal requirements.
Accessibility checkers help facilitate smooth, intuitive, and engaging designs by detecting and rectifying potential barriers.
An accessibility checker can:
Identify accessibility issues
Accessibility checkers scan websites and applications to identify accessibility barriers. These issues might include missing alternative text for images, insufficient color contrast, or a lack of keyboard navigation.
Offer recommendations
Along with identifying issues, accessibility checkers recommend how to fix accessibility problems. They offer actionable suggestions, making it easier for developers to implement the necessary changes.
Promote compliance
Accessibility checkers help websites comply with international accessibility standards like WCAG. Meeting compliance measures means staying out of legal trouble and not alienating important users in your target audience.
By automating the accessibility testing process, these tools help developers save significant time and effort they’d spend on manual testing. This helps them focus more on custom and complex aspects of user experience design.
4. Guide users with voiceovers
While visually stunning designs are essential, don’t overlook the power of audio to enhance the user experience.
A professionally crafted voiceover can provide invaluable context, guide user interactions, and contribute to the overall aesthetic of a design. Consider incorporating voiceovers in explainer videos, interactive web tutorials, and product demos on your website.
5. Use AWS S3 Backup to provide a consistent experience across platforms and devices
In our multi-device world, users often switch between platforms.
Designing with this in mind is vital.
Consider using an AWS S3 Backup solution to make sure your graphic elements, especially large multimedia files, are safely stored and can be quickly retrieved across different platforms.
This promotes faster load times and a consistent experience regardless of the device or platform the user is on.
6. Create FAQ pages for top-of-funnel visitors
Conduct thorough user research to understand your target audience’s needs, behaviors, and preferences.
Pay close attention to top-of-funnel (ToFu) visitors who need more information about your products and services to build trust and connection with your brand.
What pain points are they struggling with? How did they find you? What are they looking for?
And most importantly…
What are their frequently asked questions (FAQs)?
Use this information to create dedicated FAQ pages to help ToFu visitors quickly find answers to their top questions.
A great example of this is VRAI and its lab-grown diamond rings page. Since it’s ToFu, visitors often have questions about what lab diamonds are and how they’re made, so it created dedicated FAQ pages to clear the air.
Each page thoroughly answers user questions in easy-to-read sub-sections, coupled with beautiful images.
Its “What is a lab-grown diamond” FAQ page breaks down what lab diamonds are, where they come from, and how they compare to regular diamonds. The page also covers additional relevant questions users may have.
It also features calls to action in intuitive sections to nudge the visitor to sign up for its email list, learn more about lab diamonds, or make a purchase.
Take this tip up a notch by integrating interactive guided selling experiences on your FAQ pages.
Do this to:
- Uncover more detailed information and preferences about your ideal customer
- Collect contact information, such as phone numbers, names, and email addresses
- Send prospects automated lead-nurturing emails with personalized offers
- Discover user locations and language preferences
Get inspired with Pumpkin’s FAQ page about whether or not pet insurance is worth it:
At the top of the page, it features a “Create My Plan” CTA to encourage users to take its interactive quiz.
The quiz helps Pumpkin gather more information from its users so it can tailor its content marketing strategy, offers, and lead nurturing approach.
The data it gathers also helps Pumpkin present highly-tailored pet insurance plans visitors have a hard time saying no to:
It also goes further by allowing users who’ve bounced without converting to pick up where they left off.
In this case, the guided selling CTA automatically changes from “Create My Plan” to “Resume Quote”:
To sum up: FAQ pages can help you nurture ToFu leads, keep users on the page, and build trust with your ideal audience. Take them to the next level with interactive quizzes and experiences.
Examples of Websites Featuring Advanced Design and Customized UX
Craving more UX website inspiration? Take a look at the following examples and bonus tips:
Clean Origin
The following UX design elements play a pivotal role in helping Clean Origin nurture an audience interested in lab-created diamond jewelry:
User-friendly interface
Clean Origin’s site has a clean and user-friendly interface. Its navigation feels intuitive, and the design has clear headings and an organized layout.
Visitors can seamlessly browse products, make selections, and complete purchases with minimal friction.
High-quality images
Clean Origin uses high-resolution images, magnification features, and 360-degree views to showcase its lab-grown diamonds and diamond custom engagement rings.
Detailed imagery provides a heightened virtual experience and fosters engagement by helping users carefully inspect diamond options.
Product customization options
Customers can personalize their diamond rings by metal, setting, and detailed characteristics. This customization feature enhances engagement by helping users create pieces that resonate with their unique style preferences.
Hims & Hers
The following UX design elements help Hims & Hers provide security and tailored solutions to an audience interested in mental health and wellness products:
Personalized content
Hims & Hers leverages advanced algorithms to personalize content for users. It offers tailored product recommendations based on individual health concerns, preferences, and medical history. This enhances user engagement by addressing specific needs.
Strategic color palette
Hims & Hers’ color palette, consisting of gray and pastel colors, is chosen deliberately to convey a sense of reliability and trustworthiness, particularly in the context of promoting mental health medicine.
Gray is often associated with professionalism and reliability. This helps evoke feelings of trust and security.
Pastel colors, such as soft blues and greens, are said to evoke feelings of calmness and tranquility. These hues help create a soothing and supportive environment for visitors seeking mental health solutions.
Guided selling strategies
Hims & Hers also uses interactive quizzes to help visitors find tailored products for their unique health needs. After the visitor finishes the questionnaire, they need to provide their email address to receive personalized results.
After investing time to discover products that could help them, visitors often provide their contact details to receive their results.
If they don’t make a purchase, Hims & Hers continues to reach out to them with tailored, segmented emails that speak to the prospect’s core needs.
Tailor Brands
The following UX design elements help Tailor Brands effortlessly convert an audience interested in becoming business owners:
User-friendly AI tools
Tailor Brands is known for its user-friendly AI-powered design tools. Visitors can effortlessly create logos, business cards, and other branding assets, making the process engaging and accessible to individuals of all design skill levels.
Advanced customizations and branding services
The website offers a wide range of customization options for logos, business branding materials, and even services to assist in setting up an LLC. Users can experiment with colors, fonts, and layouts, empowering them to create a unique brand identity and establish a legal business structure.
Real-time previews and feedback
Tailor Brands provides real-time previews of branding materials and LLC setup options, allowing users to see how their designs will appear and how their businesses will be structured. This feature encourages experimentation and engagement as users refine their brand assets and business profiles.
Educational resources
The website incorporates informative content on branding, design principles, and legal aspects such as LLC formation. These resources educate visitors, promoting user engagement and helping them make informed branding and business decisions.
Wrap up
Never underestimate the impact of taking the time to enhance your website’s user experience and engagement.
Don’t just follow another hip design trend or hire a graphic designer without stopping to carefully consider the entire experience you’re offering your customers.
By implementing the UX design principles and tips we covered today, you can hold your audience’s attention and effortlessly guide them toward the right products and services.
TL;DR: Apply the design ideas we covered in this article to build a website that delivers an exceptional user experience.
Here’s to your success!
PS: Craving more website design and development resources? Check out our free guides here