FAQ: UX & Design

Question 1

What is a usability test?

Accepted Answer

A usability test is a study of the usability of services and websites for the end user. It serves both to estimate the project's business value and to determine what should be improved to lift its conversion rate. To run the test, a volunteer is needed who plays the end user and performs tasks on the site — e.g. finds a specific product in the store, adds it to the cart, and completes the transaction. Their path through the service interface is recorded, and the spots that turn out not to be intuitive or that cause any difficulty are noted as needing improvement.

Question 2

What is dark mode?

Accepted Answer

Dark mode is the inversion of the traditional color scheme on a website or app: a white (light) background turns black (dark) and black (dark) letters become white (light). Offering the end user a service in dark mode increases their satisfaction — using the site or app becomes less tiring on the eyes, and on top of that the items shown look more appealing, encouraging purchases.

Question 3

Why does UX matter in an online store?

Accepted Answer

A poorly designed user experience can produce a situation where a potential customer abandons the purchase because they cannot find the information they need (about the product or the return process), or because they are frustrated by an overly complex and unintuitive checkout. The most common mistakes that lower a store's conversion rate are: a slow-loading site, a layout that's not adapted to mobile, overly long forms, unclear and hard-to-find information about payment and shipping methods. Remember that acquiring traffic costs — either directly, in the form of spending on Google or Facebook ads, or indirectly, through your team's effort to prepare e.g. social media posts. There's no point investing resources in driving traffic to a non-functional site where users cannot complete a purchase smoothly. No matter how visually striking your e-commerce is: if the user cannot complete a purchase quickly and without friction, they will leave your store and buy elsewhere. That's why it's so important to nail the UX before designing the interface (UI).

Ecommerce, Magento 2 and AI concepts explained

What is a usability test?

What is dark mode?

Why does UX matter in an online store?