Introduction

In today's world, it's practically impossible to wake up in the morning without being inundated and even manipulated by user experience (UX) and user interface (UI) design. So how does UX/UI impact our lives and why is it the most important piece of any successful brand's puzzle?

What is UX/UI?

User experience (UX) refers to a user's full experience from first contact to final interaction with a brand, platform, product or campaign. Whether an out-of-home placement, display banner, website or a print ad, UX focuses on the ability to predict the audience's needs and engage them in a meaningful and relevant way that provides both the client and user with maximum satisfaction. UX utilizes data and research to anticipate user preference in an effort to build a strong foundation with our clients, their brands and the markets they serve.

UI design refers to the visual touchpoints that allow users to interact with brands, platforms, products and campaigns. It takes the foundational experience and amplifies its effectiveness through color, typography, buttons, animations, imagery and more. UI design provides branding and graphic development that connects our clients to their respective audiences in unique and compelling ways.

Together, a properly executed UX/UI design creates a final product that is beautiful, effective, intuitive and accessible to all.

The Importance of UX/UI

User experience is one of the essential pillars of every brand's presence. The primary goal of any brand is to increase its sales and increase the growth of the business.

When properly executed, UX/UI design plays an essential role in achieving this goal by:

• Increasing user engagement
• Retaining users
• Improving functionality
• Increasing revenue
• Creating a strong bond and lasting impressing between a brand and its audience

With endless options for any given product or service, it is more important than ever to make an excellent first impression. On average, users decide in the first 2.6 seconds whether or not they will invest in any brand.

For example, one of our clients has a moderately niche audience and has limited ability to engage with new audiences. As their competitors work to monopolize the streaming market, AGM stepped in to analyze their engagement and come up with a plan to reach new audiences through a series of graphics, copy updates, videos and placing them in carefully planned placements to ensure the most bang for our client's buck. Following these seemingly-abstract UX/UI optimizations, this client's creative campaigns saw a 41% increase in sign-ups and .05% increase in CTR.

Simply put, a brand could provide the best product, solution or marketing campaign, but without a great UX, a sleek UI and intuitive marketing and content, it is unlikely that the brand will survive against its competitors.

The Facts

UX/UI has many implications - good and bad. Here are some of the reasons it is essential to invest in top tier UX/UI design:

• 94% of a user's first impressions are design-related. (Uxeria)

• It's 6x more expensive to gain a new customer than to keep the current one. (Uxeria)

• The average ROI on UX investments is 9,900%. (Forbes)

• Improving customer experience can raise KPIs by over 80%. (Intechnic)

• A well done UI can increase conversion rates by up to 200%. (Intechnic)

• 70% of online businesses fail because of a bad UX. (Uxeria)

Is UX or UI more important?

UX/UI is about understanding, foolproofing and properly communicating a brand, product, service or campaign to the 'lowest common denominator'.

The 'lowest common denominator' refers to a person who may not be knowledgeable or initially familiar with the brand or platform and; therefore, is more hesitant to make an instantaneous decision about moving down the purchase funnel.

So, is UX or UI more important to sealing the deal?

Although there is a significant difference between UI and UX, the two components go hand-in-hand when it comes to on-going performance optimization.

UI and UX complement each other - without one or the other, your brand will inevitably sway towards one of the following scenarios:

• An aesthetically beautiful platform or campaign that is difficult to navigate, use and/or understand
• An easy to navigate, use and understand platform or campaign with such poor aesthetic that the audience instantly loses trust in the brand

We believe both UI and UX serve equally important roles in a brand's success. Want to fine tune yours and drive even more brand affinity and engagement? Get in touch.