How to make your customers feel good about your website

Design, such as that of your website, influences fast thinking or the brain’s automatic, intuitive processing.

“Effective design can create quick, positive impressions that guide user behaviour, making it easier to persuade through first impressions,” says Kahneman.

It’s not unusual for website clients of Graphic Detail to go on their gut feel, e.g. ‘I like it’ or ‘I don’t like it’. However, it’s not about how we feel but about how the website makes your customers feel.

We could tell you all about how visual design and structure impact the user experience with navigation, user engagement, and the overall experience. We could tell you all about how elements like colour psychology, typography (for clarity), and layout (for useability and engagement) influence how users feel about and use a site, but just as important is why your website design directly impacts the user experience.

• Cluttered design causes frustration.
• Overwhelming visuals cause anxiety from sensory overload.
• Design flaws, spelling mistakes, poor typography and poor visual images create the impression that your business is careless and unworthy of trust.
• Irritation can result, especially when the design doesn’t serve its intended purpose, e.g. unclear navigation.
• Mental fatigue is also a reaction caused by dense or overly complex designs.

These problems occur because the brain is hardwired to seek patterns and predictability for comfort and security. When a design has inconsistent layouts or random visual elements, the lack of structure can cause discomfort—unpredictability makes it hard to anticipate what will happen next.

People don’t like that.

They usually cannot identify why, which leads to all kinds of ‘I had a bad feeling…’ or ‘there was something about it I didn’t like’ and ‘it made me feel uneasy’.

Colour

Colour can practically impact the user's mood, thereby shaping user behaviour. For example, a contrasting colour for call-to-action (CTA) buttons can make them stand out.

Typography

Typography directly impacts readability and how users interpret content. Choices in font style, size, and spacing are important for clarity and to help users quickly absorb information on different devices.

Layout

Layout is an essential part of user navigation because it helps users process information by presenting content in a logical flow to reduce cognitive effort.

Consistency

When colour, typography, and layout remain uniform (consistent), users find it easier to navigate and engage and are less likely to get frustrated.

Studies by Nielsen Norman Group’s Research on Usability and User Experience show that design usability influences user trust and decision-making.

Now you know why.