How to Understand It’s Time for UX/UI Modernization
Having an intuitive and easy-to-use interface is a formula to success of an application or software that a company uses or presents as its product. When a business has a system that employees have been using for years or a platform created for clients that hasn’t been updated for long enough, it may be the time for modernization. Different parts of your system may need an update, because both technologies and user’s interests alter over time. The issue also applies to the UI/UX of your application. As per WebFX research, 94% percent of first impressions of a brand’s website relate to its design.
In this ever-changing world, you may not be sure if you should already upgrade your UI/UX or if you have some more time. To wait for another brand new technology, for example, that could be implemented into your company’s software. It can be a difficult dilemma to deal with. Therefore, today, we will try to help you understand if your system requires UX/UI modernization by answering vital questions.
Question 1. Why Does System May Need UI/UX Modernization?
This is the first question that you may ask yourself and want to discuss with your employees or get feedback from your clients. It doesn’t matter if your application is used by your staff for internal business processes or if this is a product developed for certain customers. Any end-user may get tired of the same old UI/UX design that they have seen for years.
By comparing the design you implemented to your application with the current UI/UX development services and trends, you can make a preliminary conclusion about whether your software will comply with the best UX/UI practices. From the point of view of compliance with user experience standards, the application should be:
- Useful
It means that users must be able to solve their problems and needs with the help of the system;
- Usable
Making your application usable and convenient to use for the end-users involves the implementation of intuitive features and easy-to-use interface;
- Desirable
Users should emotionally like the system, which means that it should be pleasant to look at;
- Findable
It should be possible to efficiently find the necessary information and features in your software;
- Accessible
If your app can be used by the users with disabilities, their needs should also be considered;
- Credible
Users should trust the system and know that their personal information is safe and secured;
- Valuable
Your system must bring value and unique experience to the client.
The most significant markers that your UX/UI design is not good enough can be obtained by monitoring user actions and their workflows. Do they perform their tasks in the most optimal and simple way? Or, is there a deviation between how they do it and how you planned they would do it?
In other words, you need to simplify the user’s journey as much as you can, which is why it is important to understand if it’s simple enough at the moment.
Read Also Top List of Signs that Your Legacy Software Needs Modernization
Question 2. When Is the Time to Update UI/UX?
Without further ado, it is vital to know that most industry experts suggest updating your UI and UX design every 3 to 5 years. Of course, not every business has resources to do the application modernization and change its design as often as it’s recommended. But, there are times when you have no choice, because it can impact your company in a bad way. Therefore, let’s look at some of the factors that you may notice while thinking if it is efficient to perform user interface modernization.
1. Obsolete Design
Every year, we see a lot of trends occurring in different industries, including the design sphere. That is why, in about 3 to 5 years, you may notice that the user interface of your system seems to be not so charming as it was long ago. Your software may be overloaded with unreadable fonts, small pixelated images, and distracting background. As a result, it may not leave a good impression on the users.
2. Obscure Navigation
Through the years of your software existence, its functionality may alter due to the need of implementing additional features that improve the overall process. Therefore, the UI may eventually have too many layers, which may be difficult to navigate through. The interface may include unnecessary blocks, categories, sections, etc. that can be easily minimized to reduce actions and clicks required from a user.
3. Incorrect Work of Application
Working with code for many years can be tiresome, especially when you don’t have enough documentation and your team modifies by losing former employees and being filled up with new people. Time passes, and it can become more obvious that some parts of the code are not working as intended with its other parts.
4. Decreased Metrics
If you noticed that your application is not as popular among customers as it used to be and the traffic, performance stats, or sales are not increasing, maybe it’s time to develop more modern UX design. Of course, the reason can be in seasonality, however, if you see how dismal the future of your product may be, it is the time to change something. Otherwise, you may start to lose to your competitors and fall behind.
Read Also Key Factors to Consider When Migrating to a New UI/UX
We also answered the other questions (What Are the Benefits of UI/UX Modernization? and Which Actions Can Be Done?), which you can check in our detailed article: https://xbsoftware.com/blog/how-to-understand-its-time-for-ux-ui-modernization/
