“Man is an animal endowed with reason” that is how Aristotle described the human being more than 2000 years ago. Over time, science has been able to scientifically explain the main source of this reasoning ability: a much more developed brain than any other species. In fact, some website design strategies are based on the latest findings on the human brain and how it works.

That’s why it’s interesting to look at different website design strategies that take into account the unique characteristics of each part of the brain.

CREATE A WEBSITE BASED ON THE FRONTAL LOBE

The frontal lobe is associated with “executive functions” such as motivation, planning, attention, and short-term memory. He considers the options and the consequences of the actions.

1. ORGANIZE CONTENT TO MARK THE SPIRIT

When organizing the different elements that will be presented on a web page, put the most important things at the beginning and the end. The reason for this strategy is that the attention and retention of readers are much lower in the middle part of a text. As visitors browse the page, the first and last items are more likely to stay in the short-term memory. So you have a much better chance of arousing curiosity or creating a positive memory with an effective primer than with a central paragraph, no matter how interesting.

Also, do not include too many items simultaneously. Short-term memory can only contain seven elements at a time. If your navigation menus include more than seven links, divide them into smaller groups.

2. TAKE ADVANTAGE OF BRAIN AVERSION FOR LOSSES

Humans are not effective cost/benefit calculators. We tend to overestimate losses and undervalue earnings. In other words, the losses are more painful than the gains are pleasant. This loss aversion can be useful to web designers and writers. To take advantage of this characteristic of human reasoning, you should:

• Highlight the negative impacts of not using your product or service.
• Group the costs together and list the benefits separately.
• Focus on immediate gains.
• Create urgency with limited time offers.
• If the product is rare, say so.

3. ENJOY THE GROUP EFFECT OF HUMANS

People tend to do like other people. So by giving evidence that others have chosen you, choosing your business seems logical. The goal is to give the impression that any decision that does not involve your business is outside the acceptable standard.

So that’s a good reason to give weight to your arguments by maximizing the group effect:

• Customer testimonials or customer reviews
• Social media widgets showing your number of subscribers
• Approval of relevant influencers
• Media logos where your company was mentioned
• Trusted Seals, including Memberships, Security Certificates, and Awards

DESIGN CONTENT ADAPTED TO THE TEMPORAL LOBE

With the frontal lobe, the temporal lobe plays a key role in understanding language. This is where language and meaning are treated.

4. CHOOSE THE RIGHT WORDS

The navigation buttons and the page writing style should be easy for visitors to understand. Use a common vocabulary that readers will understand easily. Avoid long sentences. Do not use jargon. Long sentences and whimsical words force the temporal lobe to work harder and discourage many internet users.

Accessible writing for “less educated” users works well for everyone. It’s not about lowering the quality level, it’s about using simple expressions that everyone can understand. Using a high level of language can make you look smart, but it can create a sense of incompetence in the reader. What you really want is to inspire actions. Unfortunately, a surfer who doubts himself is unlikely to act. In this sense, be accessible in your writing.

STIMULATE THE OCCIPITAL LOBE THANKS TO THE DESIGN

This region is the visual processor of the brain. It manages the perception of space, color, and movement.

5. BET ON THE RIGHT COLORS

In the 1930s, German scientist Hedwig von Restorff discovered that when given a list of ten items, people remember more about items that are of a different color than others. This is because the occipital lobe is sensitive to visual differences.

Experiments have shown that colors are not just ordinary those that people remember, they are the ones they click: 60% more!

Choose an action color for all your links, buttons, and rollover effects. Opt for a color distinct from the palette used throughout the design. Do not use this action color anywhere other than in interactive elements.

THE TONSILLAR COMPLEX AND EMOTIONS INSPIRED BY A WEBSITE

Tonsils play a key role in the formation and storage of emotional memories.

6. CHOOSE EVOCATIVE TITLES

Titles are not only the first thing seen on a page, but they are also viewed more than anything else. These can quickly arouse emotions. Research shows that titles that inspire strong emotions are much more shared than others by Internet users. Moreover, the three types of emotions that share the most on the Web are anxiety, anger, and inspiration.

That’s why you should try to write titles that trigger very positive (or very negative) emotions, especially for blog posts.

CONCLUSION

The creation of websites and web marketing are relatively new and sometimes unpredictable science. Like all sciences, they involve from time to time a trial and error strategy. Try these techniques in your website design and measure their results. You may find that some tips work better than others, but be aware that any technique that considers brain anatomy is likely to pay off!

However, to save time, you can rely on the team web design My Little Big Web. The professionals who compose it know how to exploit the instinctive reflexes of the Net surfers in order to make benefit their customers. Do not hesitate to contact us now.

The web design trends are changing. Some time ago it was sought to draw attention with extremely eye-catching designs, even if they meant a high load time. Nowadays websites with a simple and simple interface design are in vogue, both for offering a better user experience and because having a shorter loading time improves their SEO positioning.

Let’s see some examples of trends for 20018 and 2019:

Responsive design

It is not a novelty, but the needs of the search engines do it of obligatory use.

The number of users surfing the network through mobile devices increases exponentially, so it is vital that a website can be viewed completely correctly from these devices. That’s what the responsive design gets.

Flat design as interface design

This design seeks to eliminate all three-dimensional effects, focusing on reproducing flat elements. In addition to simplifying the effects, it does the same with fonts and colors, which achieves a simple, simple and minimalist final design.

This type of design offers a huge advantage when it comes to redesigning a mobile web page with the responsive design that we mentioned earlier since flat images work more easily than three-dimensional ones.

Hero

A few years ago the most common was to find images in slide format, that is, to include several images in the form of a sequential presentation. This consumes a lot of resources and requires more time to be visualized, so the current trend is to include images with full width. This is known as Hero and get, with a single glance, capture the attention of users

It is very striking to integrate on the covers of websites.

Parallax

This effect consists of offering the user the feeling that, when he scrolls, the background moves at a speed different from the content.

It offers a very interesting feeling of depth, showing parts of the background that would otherwise not be seen. It is a technique that, despite being very useful, should be used with care, since it can overload too much and distract the user’s attention from the contents.

Cinemagraphs

It is achieved as a combination of video and image. The result is that most of the image is static, but there is some element inside it that has movement. The most visual example is a waterfall in which water moves while everything else remains static or an image of a person who remains static, but blinks or winks.

It is a very simple, visual resource that consumes few resources, is easy to create and attracts a lot of attention from the user. The user will be surprised when faced with an apparently normal image, but suddenly begins to move. Its main qualities are similar to those of the video but it is something much simpler.

Typography

As the trend is so simple and simple designs, the typography will be used to give a touch of originality to a web page. It is increasingly common to use non-standard and handmade typefaces to offer their own style. This is so thanks to the great variety of typographies without cost that exist and the personality that brings everything “made by hand”.

In short, web design trends for this 2018 are focused on improving the design of user experience. The aim is for the user to find everything they are looking for in a simple way, and not to eclipse the content with the design.

You want to increase your conversion rate, move your business to the next level through your online store. Here are 5 user experience tips that should interest you.

# 1 – Make a good first impression

It’s well known, we never have a second chance on the first one we make to someone. The same goes for your online store: the first page displayed should appear quickly and be attractive (in terms of content and visuals). Since your visitor is already on your website, the challenge is not to attract him to your site but to encourage him to learn more and extend his visit. This seduction exercise happens mainly above the waterline, with a clear indication to your client that he must scroller to find out more.

2 # – Inform and not distract

Attention to information overload: giving information to your customers is good, give more than it takes night at your online store. Simple design and clear content are among the most effective conversion elements. To say that “people do not read” is a little reductive. What is true is that users scan the content diagonally, and stop in a more in-depth look at the content that seems relevant to them: deliver the information in the right place, with little text and words chosen based on your product / service and the goals of your customers.

3 # – Look familiar, to please and reassure

Do you know the bias of familiarity? You know, these automatisms that make you read from left to right, or that you know that underlined words are a link to another content, or that 3 horizontal bars placed in a header are a menu. Well this is the bias of familiarity, also called “effect of simple exposure”: it is a cognitive bias that reinforces the possibility of finding something positive that seems familiar, habitual. The repetition of graphic codes, a certain vocabulary and the respect of UX’s basic rules allow you to save your customers time, to evoke a pleasant and reassuring feeling, leaving them to focus on their potential purchases.

# 4 – Can buy without struggle

This sounds obvious and yet: Online store numbers do not offer an easy shopping experience. When you are in a physical store, you are not asked to cross an obstacle course or run a marathon to pay at the cash desk. This kind of situation should not happen when you buy online. To summarize quickly the best practices to allow a user to finalize his order: think mobile, clearly display the contents of the basket, the final sum to pay and the means (s) of payment. The rest must be secondary and simplified to the maximum. If you can, allow your customers to shop as a guest, this opportunity is often appreciated to save time and energy for the buyer.

# 5 – The customer experience (CX), the cherry on the sunday

Whether UX or CX the heart of these disciplines is the experience of individuals. The difference lies in the context in which individuals are situated when they experience this experience. In the case of user experience (UX) we are working to make the use of a product / service / interface simple, effective and useful.

In the case of the customer experience (CX) we focus on the interaction experienced between an individual and the brand of which he is a customer: thus on the experience lived each time the individual is in contact with the brand (on the internet, by phone, in a shop, etc.). I’m sure you know where I’m going with this CX story: whether it’s before you buy it, or when it’s finalized, your customer is likely to be in touch with your brand for a while. reason X or Y (call for customer service, receipt of a package, etc.). It is therefore important for you to make this experience enjoyable in order to build loyalty and eventually convert it into an ambassador of choice for your brand.

Conclusion

Optimizing an online store effectively is sometimes based on parameters that can significantly increase the conversion rate of your site. Simplicity, efficiency and uniqueness are the solid foundations of this success and should never be placed at the back of your business strategy.

In 2016, we surpassed what is known as the “mobile moment”, a time when mobile searches exceeded those of computer searches.

For all that, do you have to favor mobile over the old computer when designing and launching a website?

Not really, because they are different and complementary experiences. Indeed, many studies show that if the mobile is more popular, users will favor the comfort of the desktop to perform certain actions. The choice of a device, therefore, depends more on the intent sought by the user, which will influence its behavior on the site.

Understanding, tracking and differentiating between traffic, conversions, interactions, and engagement on the phone and desktop separately will enable you to build both a mobile and a desktop strategy to create the best experience for each of them.

Here is a list of points that show how the user adopts a different behavior in mobile and on computer.

Time and type of device

Determining when your target audience is the most active and therefore likely to convert will help you better plan your actions. A joint study by the Financial Times and Microsoft shows that the use of mobile peaks between 6 am and 9 am and the evening from 18h to 23h. Want to post new content, send an e-newsletter, push an offer? This is the perfect time when you want to reach mobile users.

During the day, desktop computers represent the majority of connections (between 9 am and 6 pm). These users spend three times more time on the site that mobile users and visit more pages.

Different actions depending on the device used

We have analyzed the interactions of several sites of our customers depending on whether the user is on mobile and desktop and here is what we remember. Mobile users will tend to look for quicker, utilitarian actions: a customer service call button, find a store near you, and more.

While more “complex” tasks arrive in the top 10 actions performed in the desktop: fill out a warranty form, connect to the history of his account.

This is the point: Users who want to get advanced information or perform tedious online tasks will prefer the convenience of a computer while the mobile user will use his device with a specific intent.

In mobile: research focused on immediate answers

Mobile users use interrogative queries more frequently than desktop users: when who, what, how etc. More users will also be asking for assistance (online chat, calling a call center, making a reservation by phone).

The location also makes a big difference. Many studies show that queries contain location information such as city, state, postal code, and so on. Mostly come from mobile users.

E-commerce: a better conversion rate on desktop

While the use of mobile is increasing, the computer is still the preferred way to make purchases. The reality is that the phone and tablet are more used to learn about products but the user prefers to turn to the desktop to complete his transaction. The reason: the purchase is done in a more relaxed environment, and again it favors the comfort of a larger screen. The good news: on the desktop, the number of products in the basket is much higher than in mobile.

As for mobile purchases, they are most often reserved for small amounts and leisure such as gift cards, tickets for events etc.

Capture the user’s attention: a bigger challenge in mobile

Less time spent on the site, higher bounce rate in mobile than on the computer. Nevertheless, for 9 people out of 10, all devices combined, the content is important. However, the mobile user has a lower degree of attention than desktop users. It tends to scan the information rather than actually read it. This is why we must provide visual elements (highlighted numbers, video, less information overload etc.) to hang it.

These different elements show us that consumer expectations change according to the device used. Finally, what is important to understand is that the choice of one device over another is based on the context of use. Your user is in the street and looking for a store address: he is on his smartphone and you know he needs an answer quickly and for a short time. Your user wants to pay the bill online, so he or she is likely to have it conveniently at his desk with his documents at hand, and you can offer him a more complete and detailed experience.

At Elitech Systems, we strive to support our customers in understanding and analyzing their audience by the device and then adapting your strategy to meet their needs, and to enable you to provide the right answers on good devices.