While you only need 22 clicks to open an account as a new customer at one bank, the competitor requires 39 clicks. Does that make a difference to the experience and user-friendliness? Definitely.

If you wanted to trade cryptocurrencies via the Bison app during the first big crypto hype in 2020, the only verification available to you when opening an account was identity verification via a live video chat. According to an article in Spiegel magazine in December 2020, the service was in such high demand that identification requests were delayed even months later. Even months later, I, the author of these lines, was unable to implement video identification.

The crypto service Bitcoin.de also offered PostIdent in addition to VideoIdent. Tough luck Bison app, I as a customer went to the competitor.

Both examples from the financial sector show peculiarities on the customer journey and in the user experience that have a significant influence on whether or not I, as the target customer, exhibit the desired behavior.

What does user experience (UX) mean?

The user experience is the experience of your users before, during and after using your services and products. In the online sector, this includes

• the design of your website/app (user interface)
• the structure, the navigation concept and the content structure of your website/app (information architecture)
• the interactions between website/app and user
• the user-friendliness of the website/app (ease of use through fast website speed, mobile optimization, intuitive user guidance, etc.)
• but also the points of contact with your brand in social channels, rating platforms, etc.

Broken down to one question, user experience could be measured in the answer to: "How quickly does the customer understand the meaning, concept and content of a website/app without having to think about it?"

A high user experience prevents frustration and promotes a positive experience towards desired behavior. It is therefore a clear competitive advantage in the battle for customers.

In a conceptual distinction, the user interface refers to the visual elements and interaction possibilities of the user and usability to the effectiveness of user behavior , while the user experience is about fulfilling needs and the user experience and begins before the actual use and can continue to have an effect beyond that. User experience always includes usability as part of the user's interaction with your product. Improvements in the user interface and/or usability therefore always have a positive influence on the user experience.

The following explanations in this and many other help articles on user experience apply in most cases to the app as well as the website. For the sake of simplicity, the app is not mentioned in addition. Many of the points mentioned also relate directly to usability and can be seen as an effective contribution to improving the user experience.

Why is a high user experience important for websites and apps?

Why is a high user experience so important for you as a provider of websites or online services? Because ...

• a product (here, for example, the website) should meet or exceed customer expectations
• it puts the customer and their needs at the center
• it makes it easier to trigger positive emotions in the customer
• it makes it easier to accept the product and increases loyalty
• it has become one of the most important ranking factors for Google since May 2021

A poor user experience is only noticed when positive features that make up a good user experience are missing. Frustration is triggered in the customer and negative emotions set in.

To ensure a good user experience, your product must know and understand the target group, their goals and needs , their problems and habits. Users take little time and therefore only scan a website and want to get to where they expect to be intuitively and quickly.

It is important for UX designers to also understand and take into account the technical circumstances. Let's take a chair designer as an example. The designer cannot create a chair if he does not also know the laws of physics and take them into account in his design process and design. The same applies to the UX designer, who should know the basics and possibilities as well as the technical limitations of the following background: Frontend, backend and mobile environments such as Android and iOS.

For you as a marketing employee, the most important thing is to know ...

1. what importance UX has for the classification of your website by Google
2. which measurement tools are available to you for determining a high (technical) UX and
3. which factors and elements promote a high user experience.

This knowledge will help you to define the standards for the design and development of a website in collaboration with UX designers and developers and to check the implementation. In addition, this in-depth know-how allows you to have a conversation or negotiate with agencies and service providers on a more equal footing, for example when it comes to relaunching a website.