You just launched your product after months of hard work and sleepless nights. It’s time for clients to start rolling in. You’ve waited so long for this. You can't wait to start reaping the fruits of your labor.
However, events aren't exactly going as planned. Instead of clients rolling in, they’re bouncing out. Each day, your website’s bounce rate keeps increasing. Your beautiful dream is slowly becoming a nightmare.
You go back to the drawing board to find out what could be wrong. You went through all the checkboxes for product success and they’re all ticked. Well, all, except the one for web design.
You suddenly realize your website is not what you put together to have an ‘online presence’. Instead, it’s a vital tool for product success. And studies back this claim – 94% of website first impressions are design-related.
But a welcoming and captivating website doesn't just happen. You must be intentional about it. That’s where a solid strategy comes in. Strategic web design helps you win the hearts of your website visitors in those crucial first seconds, giving your product a fair chance at success.
How do you now make this happen? What is product success and what role does a web design strategy play? How do you create a working web design strategy? In this article, we’ll uncover the answers to these burning questions and more.
What is product success
A wise man once said we should begin with the end in mind. As we embark on this journey of creating a strategic web design, we must first clarify what product success means.
There have been many definitions of product success. Some say it’s when the product provides the intended value to customers. Others say it’s when the product has an impact on the market. I say it's when the user is pleased and business goals are met.
4 factors that determine product success
To further understand product success, let's see four factors contributing to it.
1. User adoption
A product is made with the user in mind. Therefore, its success is closely tied to user adoption. You know your product is successful when customers embrace and use it. A high adoption rate indicates that your product is user-friendly, valuable, and in line with customer preferences.
2. Customer satisfaction
Your product cannot be considered successful if it has not satisfied the customer. So, even if you have a large adoption rate and customers are not satisfied over time, your product is not a success. It means you’ve not met their expectations.
3. Market fit
Market fit occurs when a product has met the needs and expectations of its target market. When your product satisfies a burning desire of your target market and meets the demands of your customers, then it is successful.
4. Income generation
When your product ticks the boxes of user adoption, customer satisfaction and market fit, the result is revenue generation. Your product is successful when you begin to do the numbers you’ve always dreamed of.
3 tips for achieving product success
A successful product doesn't fall on anyone’s lap. Ask famous founders and they’ll tell you the amount of strategizing and backbreaking work that went into their product success. The question you should ask yourself is if you’re willing to put in the work. Here are four tested ways to achieve product success.
1. Understand your target audience
No one makes a product in isolation. It’s made for an audience. So, it only makes sense to understand that audience thoroughly before creating a product. You know how you’ll feel if your date orders for you without asking what you’d like to eat. That’s exactly how your target audience feels when you launch an unsuitable product.
Not to sound harsh, but a product that’s not suited to your target audience’s needs has already failed before it’s launched. To understand your target audience, you must do comprehensive market research and user analysis.
2. Use product roadmap tools like Zeda
Product roadmap tools like Zeda are essential for product success. Imagine a treasure map that guides a team through the exciting journey of product development. That’s precisely what a product roadmap is – a shared guide that contains the vision, direction, priorities and progress of a product as it evolves over time.
A product roadmap is a collaborative compass that keeps every team member on the same page, ensuring everyone is marching towards success together. Embracing tools that will help you achieve these goals is vital for making your product successful.
3. Develop an efficient web design strategy
Web design that attracts and converts requires strategy. Having a strategy before designing your website is one of the best favors you can do for your business. An efficient web design strategy is what separates a mediocre website from an exceptional one.
7 tips for a solid web design strategy
We’re past the days of manna; nothing is falling from heaven. If you’re building a solid foundation for the success of your product, you need to put in the work by developing a tight web design strategy. Use these seven proven tips and you’ll be good.
1. Have clearly defined goals and objectives
A good slogan to keep in mind here is: define before you design. Define your goals and objectives clearly before you design your website. Is your goal to boost sales, enhance your brand recognition or improve user engagement? Your answer will determine how you approach your design.
2. Do market and competitor research
Before designing your website, check out what obtains in the market and what your competitors are doing. Get insights on user preferences, industry trends and best practices. With this research, you’ll be able to identify gaps and opportunities that will help you design a website that stands out.
3. Establish your unique value proposition and key messages
Having done your market and competitor research, come up with a unique value proposition that will make you stand out in the marketplace. Define these key messages and determine how you will communicate them through your website. Don't forget to ensure these elements resonate with your target audience.
4. Prioritize user experience
Putting your user at the center of your website design is non-negotiable. They’re the ones you plan to sell to, so they must be your top priority. Be sure to make your navigation intuitive, promote seamless interaction and have clear calls-to-action (CTAs) for a smooth user experience.
5. Invest in visual design
A visually appealing interface is the first attraction for your website; invest in it. Pay close attention to color, layout, typography, imagery and use of white space. Ensure your interfaces resonate with users and align with your brand. Finally, don't concentrate too much on aesthetics that you forget usability – create a balance.
6. Optimize your website for performance
A beautifully designed website that’s not optimized will not deliver the desired results. Thankfully, you can apply many optimization techniques to enhance your website's performance and improve user experience. They include the following:
- Boost page load speed
- Compress images
- Minimize code
- Reduce redirects
- Implement caching mechanisms
- Optimize mobile responsiveness
- Monitor website performance
7. Integrate SEO best practices
In this age, anything you put on the web must be SEO-compliant. If you want your website to be found by your target audience, you must improve your business’s SEO through your web design strategy. This will help you improve your site’s visibility and build organic traffic. SEO best practices include:
- Conducting keyword research
- Optimizing meta tags
- Creating high-quality, relevant content
- Using descriptive URLs
- Optimizing website structure and navigation
- Building quality backlinks
- Having a mobile-friendly design
3 impacts of strategic web design on product success
So, what happens when you develop an efficient web design strategy? What are your benefits when you put in all this work? Here are three impacts of strategic web design on product success.
1. Improved user experience
When you prioritize the user when developing a web design strategy, you focus on creating a seamless and intuitive user experience. This results in better usability, clear navigation and engaging interactions, all of which boost user experience.
2. Competitive brand
A well-planned web design stands out among its peers. It highlights your unique selling points, differentiators and brand personality. Through thoughtful design choices, you create a memorable and distinctive user experience that sets your product apart.
3. Increased conversion rates
Putting strategic design elements in place significantly boosts your conversion rates. With a solid design strategy, you eliminate friction points in the user journey. As a reward, you get higher conversion rates and improved product success.
Unleash the power of a strategic web design for product success
Making your product successful doesn't happen by magic. It is the result of strategy, hard work and consistency. To achieve product success, you must first define what it means to you and take the right steps. One such step is developing an efficient web design strategy. With this strategy, you can go to sleep knowing the success of your product is assured.
A web design strategy is a guiding force that aligns your business goals with user needs, paving the way for exceptional user experiences. When you unleash this power of strategic web design, you create a strong foundation for your product to thrive.