What is the "Wow Factor" in Web Design? - Hallam Internet

So what is the 'wow factor'? ... Wow is generally used when you have a vague idea of what you want, but you'll only know exactly what it is when ... twitter linkedin2 facebook youtube instagram search star viewallservices Istheresuchthingasthe'wowfactor'indesignorisitpuremyth?Let'stakealookatsomepracticalexamplesofdesigntoshedlightonthe'wowfactor'andwhatitmeans. Theword‘wow’iscloakedinambiguitybecauseitcanrefertosomethingbeingverybad,orverygood.Thetermhasturneddesignerscross-eyedfordecadesbutitcanapplytoanyindustryatanylevel.  Tofindoutifthetermisvalid,weneedtoexaminethemainpurposeofdesign.Isadesignjobdoneifitmakesyousay“wow” oristheresomuchmoretoit?     Sowhatisthe‘wowfactor’? Wowisgenerallyusedwhenyouhaveavagueideaofwhatyouwant,butyou’llonlyknowexactlywhatitiswhenyouseeit.It’salsopurelysubjective. Thatmakesitverydifficultforadesigner,asitcreatesaninfiniteplayingfield.Togivethedesignerafightingchanceofmeetingabrief,considerprovidingthemwithyourvisionof‘thewowfactor’throughvisualreferencesandexamples. Yourvisionshouldalignwithyourusers’expectations.  Themainreasonthistermhasbeenburieddeepintothebigbookofwebdesignmythologyisbecauseitisn’tatraditionalmediaformarketing.TVadvertising,directmailandthegoodolddaysoftraditionalmarketinghadtofightforyourattention.Ithadtodisruptyou.Websitesdon’tworkinthatway.Peoplechoosetogotoawebsitesoyoudon’tneedtograbtheirattentionbyshoutingintheirfacelikeaburlysergeantmajor.Youneedtokeeptheirattentionandthiscanbeachievedbyofferingeasystepstofindwhatthey’relookingfor. Theroleofdesignisnotnecessarilytowowpeoplebuttogivethemagratifyingandmeaningfulexperiencethattheywillremember.     Haveyoueverbeen‘wowed’byawebsite? Whenwasthelasttimeyouusedawebsiteandsaid“wow”?Doyousay“wow”everytimeyouopenGoogle?Or“wow”whenyouuseMoneySupermarket–well,possibly,iftheinsurancepremiumsareextortionate.  Let’stakeasitelikeArgosasanexample. “WowIlovethisnavigation”,saidnouser,ever.Alongwith“Wow!Thesebuttonsarebreathtaking”or“Wow!ThatTrolleyiconissimplydivine”.Although“Wow!50%offgardenmowers”wouldbeafairlyplausibleexclamationbyanydadinBritain.Commentslike“wow,thesegardenmowersarepresentedexquisitelyandIlikethatswoosheffect”areunlikely.They’llprobablyonlyeverbemadebydesigners,notyourregularArgoscustomer. It’sthecontentthatmakesthewowfactor–notthewayawebsiteisdesigned.Thecontentcanbecrafted,thelanguagecanbepersuasiveandtheimagerycanblowyoursocksoff. DotheseleadingB2Bwebsites,inyouropinion,have‘thewowfactor’? SiteslikeSalesforceareprimedforeasynavigationacrossacresofpagesandforconvertingtherighttypeofleads.Thereisnothingoverlyuniqueaboutthevisualdesignofthewebsitebutthecontentispackedfullofnourishmentforuserstodiveinto.Theylettheinnovationoftheirproductdoallthe‘wowing’.   Ormaybeadesignlikethiswillbestrepresentyourbusinessandinjectsome‘wowfactor’. Thisiswhatsomeclientsthinkmakesadesign‘pop’.Thereisonesavinggraceforwebsiteslike LingsCars–thiswebsitegainedsomuchmediatractiononaccountofitsgarishapproach,thatithasbecomeaUKleaderinnewcarsales.Itwasnoaccident.Itwaspurposefullydesignedthiswaytoprovokeareaction.Thisisaveryindividualisticapproach,however,withouttheall-importanttrustsignals,wouldyoubuyacarfromLing?Thisiswherethecontentcomestotherescueonceagain.       GreatDesignIsInvisible…andSoIsthe‘WowFactor’ Haveyouevernoticedthatawebsitestartstofeelmorelikeawebsitewhenitbecomesdifficultandfrustratingtouse. Digitaldesignersstrivefortheseamlessuserexperiencethatcaptivatestheuserandmakesthemfeellikethewebsiteorapptheyareusingisanextensionofthemselves.Toachieveanexperiencelikethatdeservesa‘wowfactor’ butitremainshiddentotheeyeandtheconsciousmind.    Designingaholisticuserexperience. Airbnbhasbeencreditedwithrevolutionisingmodernuserexperience,andyet,youwouldbarelynoticeit. Emotionalconnection Lookatallthesmiley,happypeople.EmotioniscontagiousandtheproductdesignersatAirbnbhavelatchedontothefactthatlookingatphotosofhappypeoplepassesthisemotionontotheuser,makingthemfeelcomfortableandateasewiththewebsite.Thelanguagetheyuseisempoweringandrewarding. Machinelearning Withoutdivingtoofarintothetechnicalcomplexity,Airbnbusemachinelearningtopersonalisesearchresultsforguestsandtailorhostpreferenceswhichpromotethosemostlikelytoacceptyourrequest.Theyuseapredictivepricingmodeltohelpthehostspricetheirroomsbasedontravelpatterns.ThesophisticationofthistechnologyhasgivenAirbnbanenormouscompetitiveadvantageinthehotelindustryanditgivestheusersaflawlessexperience.Thatdeservesa“wow”Ithinkforsheerbrillianceindesignandengineeringandyet,youwouldneverknowaboutit.YoucanlearnmoreaboutAirbnb’smachinelearninghere. Thelittledetails FocusingonthedetailofeachelementandeachsmallstepmadebytheuserisAirbnb’sstrongpoint.Theyhaveremovedthepainpointsfromnarrowingresultsbyprice.Afaintgraphoffersaguideofhowmanylistingsfeaturewithineachpricepoint.Theyincludesocialprooftocreateasenseoftrustandurgencywhenrequestingtobook.Theyuseadynamichomepagethatshowsoneversionwhenyoufirstvisitthesiteandanother,withallyourpreferenceslisted,onceyoureturn.     Putyourusersattheheartofeverydecision Thenexttimeyourlipsarepursedandtheinnerbeastisbrewingtoexclaim“itneedsmoreofthewowfactor!”pauseamomenttoconsideryourusers. Itgoeswithoutsaying,everyonethathasahandincreatingyournewwebsiteshouldfeelproudofthefinalproduct.However,thatshouldn’tbeattheexpenseofyourtargetusersexperience. AtHallam,wecreatepersonasthatpersonifyyourkeytargetaudiencegroups.Itgivesussomeonetotalkdirectlytoandhelpssteerourdecisionmaking.Usingpersonascanremovepersonalegoandfocusonwhatwillgiveyourusersthebestexperience. Herearesomeexamples,courtesyofMailchimp.   Overcomplicatingadesigninanattemptto‘wow’ Prototypicaldesignplaysonexpectation.It’showyourbraingroupseverythingyouinteractwithandturnitintoabasicmentalimage. RememberFamilyFortunes?Itworksonthissamepremise.“Weasked100peopletonameacolourassociatedwithababyboy?”.“Blue?”Oursurveysaid***topanswer***.” Designshouldinitiallybaseitselfonpopularpreconceivedideasofwhatsomethingrepresents.Sowhenyouveerawayfromthemostpopularstandardsandinstinctivementalimagesofwheresomethingshouldappearonawebsite,orhowitshouldfunction,youforceusersintousingmorebrainpowertoprocesshowtouseit–whichcanleadtofrustration,usererroranddrop-offs. Thisiswhywebsitesfollowsimilarpatternsandwhydesignersworkwithintheseconfines.     Let’srecap Contentisstillkinguntilfurthernotice. ‘Thewowfactor’isachievedthroughthequalityofyourproductorserviceoffering–notthewaythewebsiteisdesigned.Investinyourimageryandfocusoncreatingpersuasivelanguagetogetthemost‘wow’fromyourwebsite. Useyourbrandingtoadd‘thewow’. Brandingandvisualidentitysupports‘thewowfactor’andshouldprimarilybeusedtogiveyoursiteapersonality.Ifyouridentityhasthe‘wowfactor’,it’slikelyyou’rewebsitewillfollowsuit.Whenbriefingyourproject,focusonapersonalitythatbestrepresentsyourbusinessandattractstherightkindofuser–gooddesignersareskilledenoughtopresentthisthroughlook,feelandtone. Focusonexperiencemorethanaesthetics. Themainroleofdigitaldesignistoprovideapleasurableandmemorableexperience.Itshouldbeholisticandhelptheusersforgettheyareusingawebsite.Creatingpain-freeuserjourneysinthewireframingprocesswillsetyourwebsiteupforaseamlessuserexperience. Designforyourusers. Putyourusersorpersonasattheheartofeverythingwhenreviewingdesignandtrytoremovepersonalopinion.Thatishowdesignersworktoremovepersonalegofromtheequationandconsiderthewiderbaseofusers. Keepitsimple. Overcomplicatingdesign,tryingtobecompletelydifferent,orchangingthewheelinanattemptto‘wow’candrasticallynarrowyouruserbaseandreduceconversions.Websitesthattrulywowusingamixofinnovativedesignandtechnologywilloftenforgofunctionality,usabilityandpurposeinfavourofcreatingatalkingpoint.Simpleandusabledesignwillfocustheuseronthecontentthatyoursiteoffers.   Nowthatyou’vereadthispost,you’llhopefullybesickenedattheverymentionofwow,havingseenitover100times.Rememberthatdesigndelvesfardeeperthanaestheticsandadesignerconsiderseveryaspectofawebsiteingreatdepth. Enjoythisarticle? Subscribeforweeklyinsights Youmayalsolike TeamHallam PuttingtheActioninyourCalltoAction Whatisthe‘WowFactor’inWebDesign? Share × Sharethis LinkURLCopied Let’sthrivetogether Getintouchtotakethefirststep. Contactus Haveyoujustlearnedsomethingnew? Thenjointhe80,000peoplewhoreadourexpertarticleseverymonth. Firstname*Lastname*Emailaddress* CAPTCHANameThisfieldisforvalidationpurposesandshouldbeleftunchanged. 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