Much of today’s website development focuses on optimization and how to meet the numerical goals that indicate website success. Providing great usability is essential for achieving these goals; however, usability does not stand alone. When web design appeals to the user on a more emotional level, improved performance is even easier to attain.
Emotionally Connecting with Users
The most functional website may still fail to perform if users do not connect with the message the site is attempting to portray. Information and easy interfaces are a critical part of website development; however, what can really grab the user’s attention and hold it is emotional connectivity. Helping the user feel welcome on the site and offering function that comes naturally to them is one way to connect on a more emotional level.
Giving each website some character so that it is viewed as more than just pages of information and products but rather as a useful tool to help users accomplish their objectives is another way to do this. Websites that have their own character and can generate a positive emotion in the user tend to achieve goals more easily.
Finding the Emotion in A Web Design
There is a reason why emojis are so popular. They portray emotion in the form of a tiny icon. Even though emojis may not be suitable for use in many website designs, there is a lot to learn from the example of the emoji. Taking the effect that emotion plays in an online setting account, designers must find where in the product or purpose of the site that emotion is hiding and bring it out.
In what way does the product or service appeal to the user? What can the product or service do for the user to promote a positive emotion and how can this be portrayed in web design? Before making emotion visible in the design, it is important to uncover where the emotion lies in the purpose of the entire site.
Emotion Accomplishes Website Goals Easier
When users relate with a product and the website where it is presented, all website elements get a boost in productivity. The goal of effective website development and design is by catering to the needs and wants of the user in the simplest way. A website that connects emotionally with the user attracts their attention, produces higher levels of engagement, and improves levels of optimization and other performance metrics. A site that connects emotionally also sees an increase in conversions by generating trust and a sense of authority among users.
The main idea with this is that there is much more to a web design than simply products, information, and a menu to get from pages to the checkout. When website development considers how people are more responsive to emotions and then incorporates this into site design, engagement goes up along with site performance. Web design that uncovers the character of a product or company experiences higher levels of interest from target audiences who emotionally connect with the products and companies that can most help them. In this sense, it is essential that designers find the hidden emotion in their projects and integrate it into site usability to capture the attention of those audiences!
