What Is UX/UI Design? Explained for UK Business Owners

Are you aware that a majority of people would not revisit a site after a negative experience? Nearly 9 out of 10 users quit and never return. Such behavior is a huge issue for UK businesses, as it can equate to losing both sales and customers. The website experience is relevant for any kind of business, whether you run an online shop in Manchester, have a startup in London, or provide a local service in Edinburgh. The right experience will attract and retain customers, while the wrong one will drive them away.

Perhaps you have encountered the terms "UX" and "UI" before, but they might still confuse you. What is the reason for the widespread discussion about them these days? And why should they be significant to your business? UX (user experience) is the measure of the simplicity and pleasantness of using a website or an app, while UI (user interface) is the visual aspect. The two, therefore, have an impact on people's emotions when they are in touch with your brand online.

By reading this guide, you'll get to know the real meaning of UX and UI, understand their role in the modern digital world, and figure out whether your website or app is in need of a makeover. Besides that, we'll consider the examples of UK businesses and introduce topics such as accessibility.

This guide can be of use to you if you are coming up with a new website, planning to release an app, or simply want to know the reason behind the better performance of your competitor's site. You will learn how design affects your business and how to enhance the digital experience for your customers.

UX/UI Design: Breaking Down the Basics

User Interface or UI design focuses on the appearance of a website or an app and how easy it is to click, read, and move from one place to another. It is basically everything that you see and interact with on the screen.

UI has the following elements:

Buttons: Say, the Add to Basket button, menu icons, or checkout buttons.
Fonts and text: So that the words are easy to read and correspond to your brand's style.
Colors: To set the atmosphere, show the character, and guide the people's attention.
Layout and spacing: Organising everything clearly so that the page is simple and not messy.
Icons and images: Small visuals that help people to understand the information quickly without a lot of text.

A comparison of John Lewis and ASOS is a simple way to understand the difference:

John Lewis: Adopts a serene design with pastel colors, simple fonts, and a lot of space. It gives the feeling of being reliable, timeless, and professional.
ASOS: Characterized by the use of bold fonts, big photos, and a more lively layout. It gives the feeling of being up-to-date, fast-paced, and targeted at young shoppers.

What is UX (User Experience) Design?

When UI is what people see, then UX is what people feel. UX refers to the overall experience that a user has with your website or app starting from the moment they land on it up to the moment they leave after completing their task. A good UX solution will, among other things, make everything clear, simple, and unproblematic so users don't get stuck or confuse themselves.

UX covers such aspects as

Knowing the users: Identifying them and figuring out what they want and which problems they have.
User journey: The sequence through which a user goes from discovering your business to buying something or achieving a goal.
Information structuring: Ensuring that everything is put in the place where users look for it.
Ease of use: Designing the website to be easily navigable for all users, including those visiting for the first time.
Accessibility: Ensuring that everyone, including people with disabilities, can use it comfortably.
Performance: Loading quickly and operating smoothly without waiting time or errors.

The Key Difference

Knowing the subdivision and interaction tells the difference.

UI is how something looks.
UX is how something works.

A good example is buying a car:

The UI is the look of the dashboard, the seat style, the colors, and the design inside the car.
The UX is how smooth it is to drive, how easy it is to use the controls, and whether everything feels natural without thinking too much.
In some cases, a car may be stunning from the inside but be inconvenient or puzzling to drive; that is good UI but bad UX.
Meanwhile, a car may perform flawlessly and look shabby or dull; that is good UX but bad UI.
Neither one is perfect. You need both to create the best experience.

The same rule applies to websites and apps:

An Internet site may appear fashionable and chic, but if visitors cannot locate what they require, they will depart in a hurry.
Conversely, a straightforward website that functions properly but looks obsolete may cause users to doubt the brand and lose trust.

Most people confuse UI with UX or believe that designing is only making things look visually appealing. However, UI and UX are two different departments that have different objectives:

A UX designer closely works with the users to understand their needs and then comes up with the product functionality.
A UI designer mainly deals with the visual communication of a brand through the product.

Quick way to recall:

UX entails: "Is this the best place for the button?"
UI entails: "How should this button look?"

Why UX/UI Design Matters for UK Businesses

Good UX and UI design not only beautify a website but also help a business to grow. Usually, when companies invest in good design, they get a much higher return on the investment. Some businesses can generate up to £100 for every £1 that they spend. That is a giant success.

The power of a properly designed website is also in its ability to attract new customers. Indeed, the right design can bring about a 400% increase in results. Therefore, if currently 2 out of 100 people make a purchase, an improved design could increase that to 8 out of 100. And thus, there is no further need to spend more money on advertisement; the website itself becomes more efficient.

It is also true that even tiny steps such as simplifying the checkout process or making the important buttons more visible can have a significant impact.

Moreover, excellent design is an incentive for people to come back. Providing a website that is quick, user-friendly, and attractive to the eye, customers will be more willing to return. Approximately 90% of users say that they revisit a website because of a good experience. However, if your site is slow or complicated, users might leave, and some of them won't come back.

Another benefit of good design is fewer confusion and support calls. When the website is perfectly designed, customers won't need support, as they will find everything by themselves. Small things like simple navigation or a well-structured FAQ can save time and make both the user and the business less stressed.

In the end, design is also a factor that influences the very first impressions. People see your website first most of the time. If it looks neat, up-to-date, and well-arranged, it helps to create trust. A shabby or untidy-looking website might make people question the business. According to the studies, 75% of people consider a company to be trustworthy or not depending on the way its website looks.

UK Market Considerations

People in the UK expect websites and mobile applications to be efficient and without any problems. They are accustomed to fast and well-structured platforms like Amazon, Deliveroo, and Monzo. Thus, if the website is slow and confusing or if it has an old-fashioned look, a large number of users will abandon the site immediately, and a competitor will be their choice. In general, people here do not give second chances.

One more thing that is quite important is the use of mobile. Most of the people in the UK at present access the internet through their mobile phones, and more than half of the online transactions are carried out using mobiles. Therefore, a website's compatibility with a phone screen alone is not sufficient; it must primarily cater to mobile usage. If a phone user has difficulties in accessing a website, a business can lose its customers.

Whether or not accessibility is a question that has always mattered a lot. The Equality Act 2010 is a law that demands websites and mobile applications provide services for people with disabilities, for example, those who have problems with their vision or hearing. The failure to follow these regulations may cause the company to have legal issues. Besides the law, it is also a good business idea since the number of disabled people in the UK is more than 14 million. Making a website accessible means more people can use it and feel included.

In conclusion, besides GDPR and cookie consent rules, design is also affected by them. Websites need to get consent from users before taking their data. However, the manner in which this is accomplished should be kept simple and user-friendly. Users should be able to see through their working day without feeling disturbed by intrusive pop-ups, and also it should be easy for them to close pop-ups. The aim is to comply with laws while doing it quietly and respectfully.

Competitive Advantage

Nowadays, most people would actually check up on a brand through the World Wide Web prior to any in-person or call conversation with the company. That's why a well-crafted design has become the biggest edge for businesses in the UK.

I wonder if any brand, whether it is in shopping, finance, food delivery, or services, has its websites and apps in such a state that they are constantly upgrading them. They get one important thing: if customers feel using their platform is easy, smooth, and fun, they can hardly resist picking their choice and staying loyal to their brands. Thus, even if a company offers the same product at a similar price, the one with the best customer experience probably gets the customers.

Monzo is a perfect example of this. They didn't become big because they offered products with complicated features or that had higher interest rates. It was simply that they made banking easy and stress-free that they became famous. Their minimalist style, real-time alerts, and user-friendly tools were the factors that helped the bank go from ordinary to extraordinary. Consequently, the trend of designing better has been set by well-known banks to confront the competition. That shows how powerful good UX and UI can be.

Deliveroo is likewise a good example. The delivery and service are what matter most, although the design of the app is what contributed largely to the success. By the app, one can comfortably view foods, make an order, follow the delivery, and pay promptly. Their growth strategy has been largely through the creation of their simple user experience that has enabled a rapid spread of customer loyalty throughout the UK.

Moreover, a poorly designed website is a situation that can escalate quite drastically. About a good majority of 70% of the UK's online shopping baskets get abandoned, and the checkouts are one of the main reasons for this, as they tend to be long, confusing, and slow. Bad UX/UI can produce negative reviews, an unattractive user base, ineffective marketing spending, and sales, which are going to be the downside of your business initiative. People who have difficulties with a certain website are not only ditching it, but they also choose to go directly to a competitor's site.

Core Elements of Good UX/UI Design

Good design is basically understanding who you are designing for. Without understanding your users, their needs, their wants, and even the things that annoy them while they are online, it is impossible to create a smooth and useful experience.

The first question, then, is: Who are your customers in the UK?

However, this is not only about age or location. It is also about how tech-savvy they are, what kind of devices they use the most, and what sort of online experience they expect.

As an instance:

A 25-year-old London resident buying trainers will definitely expect a fast, modern, and mobile-friendly website.

A 60-year-old in the countryside of Wales who is booking a plumber might require clearer text, simple steps, and an intuitive layout.

To know users the right way, real research is a must, no guessing. It can be in the form of surveys, brief interviews, support message analysis, or people's usage of the current website observation.

By conducting this research, you can identify areas of confusion, hesitation, and the point at which users abandon the site. These insights are very valuable because they point you in the direction of what needs to be fixed.

Information Architecture

Information Architecture (IA) is the manner in which your website or app is laid out. It lets users carry on with their search for a particular thing with the least possible confusion.

Good structural organization ought to be user-friendly, not just a business word. Thus, for instance, clients don't get how the internal team works in support. When they require assistance, they will scarcely think of "Customer Operations," but rather they will look for "Help," "Support," or "Contact Us."

Additionally, your menu should appear as if it is in line with the user's expectation. There are particular sequences that people have gotten used to online, especially in the UK. For example:

Once anyone clicks the logo, it should definitely take him/her to the homepage.
It should be as easy as pie to locate the contact information.
Items of the menu should be like bookmarks that stay on every page; thus, you will move from one page to another, though the items will be in one place, but you will see them on every page.

One may feel the urge to be out of the ordinary with menu names and the arrangement of the layout, but at all times it should be first and foremost clear to the people. If people need to make a little pause and think, then it is not going well.

An additional part of IA is figuring out which information deserves to come first and then displaying it clearly. Designers use a variety of techniques, such as spacing, size, color, and layout, to help the user focus.

On a homepage, users should be able to grasp:

The identity of the company
The goods or services the company offers
What their next step should be (this might be scheduling a service, looking at products, or gaining more information)

When information is well set up, users are not required to hunt through or make guesses. It all appears to be simple, transparent, and without any pressure, and that is what good IA is.

Visual Design Principles

Visual design is the aspect of your site or app that individuals interact with initially. It's basically the return of your brand's look and character.

One of the most significant principles is always consistency. Any page should not only be identical in style but also be like brothers and sisters from the same family. Thus the same colors, fonts, buttons, and spacing should be used everywhere. When every detail corresponds, the journey feels flawless and professional. Also, this makes customers more confident in your brand.

Moreover, your visual style has to be in line with your brand's voice. For instance:

A law firm could feature calm, simple, and professional designs.
A children's brand could feature bright colors and playful styles.

Color is also essential that way because it impacts the mood of the people. For instance:

Blue seems trustworthy and calm (common in banking).
Green can represent nature, growth, or eco-friendly values.
Red, on the other hand, catches the eye and is the typical color of urgency.
Purple may give a feeling of being elite or creative.

When the color is used properly, it can be a guide for the users and, at the same time, focus the users on the key actions like "Buy Now," "Book," or "Sign Up."

Text style (typography) is also important. Your writing should not be complicated at all, especially when it is on a phone. The fonts should be legible, the text should be of a good size (around 16px or bigger), and there should be contrast between the text and the background; these things make a big difference.

Headings must be used in a definite sequence to give the persons an opportunity to quickly glance over the page and get the main points, especially when they are pressed for time.

Finally, white space (empty space) is quite a vital factor. It not only makes the layout look neat but also allows the users to concentrate on the most significant parts without the feeling of being stressed. Companies like Apple employ an excessive amount of space to make things appear not only clear but also modern and of high quality.

Interaction Design

Interaction design revolves around how individuals use and respond to the interactive elements of a website or application, such as buttons, forms, and menus.

Buttons and call-to-action messages (CTAs) must be understandable at a glance and handle the least amount of work for the user: a button should, in fact, look like a button, not simply be text.

By using simple words like "Buy Now" or "Get Started," people should be able to understand the button's function at once, and it should be placed where people are most likely to look. The most valuable button should be the one that visually differs from the others so that users know which action is the first one to take.

Forms are crucial to interaction design just as much for e-commerce as for registration processes. Proper forms are brief and only request necessary information. Every field has to be self-explanatory and easy to fill in. Autofill is handy, and dropdowns, as well as date selectors, facilitate the steps. Users that make a mistake in filling a form should be carefully pointed out by error messages that help rather than confuse them. In the UK, a lot of people find the Argos checkout form very simple, which is an example of how a well-thought-out form can be a great assistant.

There are also the tiniest things, known as micro-interactions, that are just as important. For example, when a button changes its color while the cursor is over it, the user being able to see a tick as confirmation or small loading animations can all be signals of the site responding without words. People, without these small signs, might think that nothing happened, and, therefore, they would click again.

These little touches may be invisible to the eye when working separately, but when combined together, they make the experience more efficient, user-oriented, and trustworthy.

Accessibility

Accessible designs are not extras; they are inherent features required in every website and app. The main reasons why accessibility matters are that the law needs it to be so in the UK, it is the right thing to do, and it brings more users to your product.

There are standards known as WCAG set up to guide businesses in making their digital platforms user-friendly for all. In the UK, to comply with the Equality Act 2010, most organizations follow WCAG 2.1 Level AA. The following are some instances of accessibility:

Text that is understandable
Giving a description to photos so that the screen readers can explain them
Ensuring that a person can operate a website through a keyboard
Employing simple, clear words
Not using the flashing animation

Accessibility is a concept that helps everyone, not only people with disabilities. For instance, subtitles assist people that are in silent places, clear menus help people that are in a hurry, and readable text helps elderly people or anyone that has eye strain.

Moreover, it is still convenient and affordable to create a design that is accessible to everyone from the very beginning rather than solving the issues later on.

On the other hand, UK law has strict provisions against neglecting accessibility issues. There is a list of UK companies that have been penalized with heavy fines because their websites were not user-friendly for all kinds of users. However, apart from causing legal problems, making your business accessible to the disabled community opens it to approximately 14 million disabled users in the UK who are potential customers.

Mobile Responsiveness

A majority of people that live in the United Kingdom currently use their mobile phones to access the internet. Therefore, an easy-to-navigate website via a mobile phone is no longer considered an option but a necessity.

There are two common methods to create a mobile design:

Responsive design: First, you create a design for a desktop and then adjust the layout for smaller screens.

Mobile-first design: Initially, you create a design for a phone and then extend it to bigger screens.

Since many people in the UK use mobile devices, designing mobile first generally results in a neater and more convenient user experience. It allows you to concentrate only on the essential things.

While creating a mobile version, you similarly need to consider the user's interaction with the device. Users tap with their fingers, not click with a mouse:

Buttons should be big enough for the user to tap comfortably.
The most important things to do should be easily accessible to your thumb.
Links and buttons should not be so close that it is difficult to distinguish them from one another.

Speed is another important factor here. Users of mobile devices want pages to be loaded quickly. If a site takes longer than three seconds to load, more than half of users leave. The UK is a place where the majority of people are on a mobile connection, not Wi-Fi. Therefore, the websites should take the following steps to increase the speed:

One of the most effective ways to increase the page loading speed is to compress the images that you want to upload to your website.
Eliminate components that are not necessary to keep the website running.
Make sure that the valuable content is shown first.

None of these things, such as design, layout, speed, readability, and ease of use, exist separately from one another but together constitute a website. A website may be visually stunning, but if it takes ages to load or is difficult to tap with a finger, people will go elsewhere. And even in the event that everything functions perfectly, it will be of no use if users cannot find what they are looking for.

Good UX and UI are the components that achieve this and thus constitute a successful system yielding positive user experiences.

The UX/UI Design Process: What to Expect

Understanding the design process is beneficial for UK business owners, as it makes them realize what designers are actually doing and why it cannot be done quickly. If the process is hurried, errors will be made, and it will be very costly to fix them later.

Discovery & Research Phase

The discovery phase is essentially the origin of everything. During this phase, the design team spends time and immerses themselves in the knowledge of your company, your customers, and the problems you are looking to solve. It is a very crucial step because it helps to eliminate the act of guessing, and also, the design will be based on the real facts and figures.

Stakeholder interviews are pleasant chats between you, your team, and designers. Some of the queries they might put to you are:

Really, what do you expect your app or website to achieve?
Is there anyone else doing the same work as you?
What would you say is the biggest problem that your customers have at the moment?
In what way will this project being successful be evident to you?

These questions clear the fog of goals for the design team and help them to align their efforts with your objectives.

By competitor analysis, it is meant that a business should see what similar businesses are doing digitally—but not copy them. The aim is to learn what works and what fails, as well as the potential positioning. For instance, if you are a British brand and others in the UK offer a quick checkout process but you don't, then it is a matter to be considered. The point may be to stand out if everyone appears to be the same.

User research is a method through which the design team gets feedback from the real users of the product or service. They can perform a customer survey, interview users, or watch people while using the website. For instance, running an online store in the UK, the research may indicate that users quit the process because payment options like Klarna or Apple Pay are not available and that mobile users find it hard to filter products.

Strategy & Planning

After the research phase, the designers transition to the planning stage, where they figure out how the design will actually function. This is the point where insights become not only clear-cut but also practical steps.

Mapping out the user journey illustrates the entire route that users take in order to achieve their goals. As a matter of fact, an online store could map the journey starting from the user seeing the brand on social media, then going to the website, checking the products, putting the goods in the basket, making the payment, and finally, returning as a customer. This is very useful in identifying problem areas. For instance, customers might feel anxious at the moment of checkout because delivery costs are only revealed at the last step; thus, fixing this could have a great impact.

Information architecture deals with the company of not only your content but also features that are user-friendly and understandable. Designers come up with easy site maps that illustrate how pages are linked together and the navigation flow. They might also conduct an exercise where users are given topics, and they have to categorize them into groups that are logical, thereby ensuring that your website works in the same manner as the way people think, instead of just the way your company is organized.

Wireframing is similar to preparing the monochrome and simplified version showing the layout of your pages. It illustrates the position of each element in addition to how users navigate the site without mulling over colors, photos, or the final content. Making wireframes is not time-consuming, and they can be altered with minimal effort; therefore, you are able to try out different configurations and obtain the feedback at an early stage. For instance, you could be presented with three alternative homepage designs and select the one with the most effectiveness prior to proceeding with the full visual design.

Design Phase

This is the point at which the rough wireframes are converted into actual designs that demonstrate your website or app visually.

Design typically follows a progression of steps:

Low fidelity: Basic drawings or wireframes. They're very quick, cheap, and only used to test the initial ideas.
Mid fidelity: More detail is included, and the brand style of your company starts coming through.
High fidelity: The ultimate design. It has real pictures, text, and colors, and even buttons and interactions are there, basically what the finished product will be like.

Prototypes are the clickable versions of your designs. They allow you to test how users will navigate your site or app without the need for coding. Thus, you can solve issues in the early stages and, therefore, save money later on.

Design systems and style guides are the tools that help keep everything consistent. They demonstrate what colors, fonts, buttons, icons, spacing, and layouts should look like. For businesses that are expanding, these guides allow the addition of new pages or features to be done in a way that ensures everything still looks like it belongs together. They are especially useful if more than one designer or developer is working on your project.

Testing & Iteration

Good design is not a thing that can be achieved in one shot; it requires testing and upgrading constantly.

Usability testing is when real users interact with your website or app while you observe. It can be done face-to-face or remotely, with the users explaining their thoughts as they work. This allows you to understand if places that you assume to be user-friendly are actually confusing, if the checkout process is difficult, or if people do not see the buttons that are important. Most of the time, testing with only 5-8 users is enough to find the major problems. For instance, a hotel website in the UK could find out that users have a hard time seeing the available rooms or that the booking calendar is not working well for phones.

A/B testing is about identifying the better one by comparing two versions of something. It can be two button colors, two headlines, or two page layouts. Half your visitors are shown version A, the other half version B, and the results indicate which one is more effective. Thus, you make decisions based on real data rather than just guessing.

Once your site or app is live, don't stop asking users for their opinions. Feedback can be obtained from on-site forms, support calls, social media comments, reviews, or the tools that record where users click and scroll. It enables you to find new problems and solutions for improvements.

Continuous improvement is about your design still being there after the launch. Launching your website is only version 1.0. Top UK companies like Amazon are always making small changes based on feedback and data. After some time, these small changes result in a significantly better user experience.

Development Handoff

It is necessary to have a bridge that connects design and development effectively if you want to ensure that your designs are constructed rightly.

Designers and developers must cooperate closely. Designers provide very detailed directions, such as the exact sizes, spacing, colors, fonts, and how the things should work. A tool like Figma helps developers to view their designs and get the information they need very easily. Having regular meetings helps to clarify questions quickly and also to ensure that the product matches the design.

Quality checks facilitate great results. This means confirming that the site or app:

Visually corresponds to the design (visual QA)
Is capable of good performance (functional QA)
Are different browsers like Chrome, Safari, Firefox, and Edge supported?
Are different devices like phones and tablets supported?
Comply with accessibility standards (WCAG)

For UK businesses, it is very essential that testing be done on the most popular devices and browsers in the UK. What works on a MacBook in Chrome might not work on an iPhone in Safari.

Usually, design projects take from six weeks for small websites to six months for big apps. Although it may seem long, each step is still significant. Without research, design may be based on mere assumptions. By skipping testing, one could mean launching a platform with problems that are able to be avoided. Doing things correctly from the beginning will save you time and money and will relieve you of unnecessary stress.

UK business owners knowing the process allows them to become better partners. You will understand when to provide feedback (early during wireframes, less during development), what questions to ask, and why rushing is not helpful. The greatest outcomes are achieved when business owners provide information about their customers and market, while designers concentrate on producing the best user experience.

Common UX/UI Mistakes UK Businesses Make

Sometimes, even the most meticulous business owners in the UK end up making design errors that cost them customers and sales. Being aware of these typical mistakes can be instrumental to you in staying clear of them while working on your websites or apps.

Designing for Yourself, Not Your Users

Among the most frequent errors and the ones that could cost the business owners a lot are the ones assuming that their choices are the customers' choices. Certainly, in most cases, it turns out to be a mistake.

For instance, maybe you like a very clean website with hidden menus, but your 55-year-old customers in Birmingham could find it confusing. You might use fancy industry terms that sound professional, but customers just want things explained clearly. Moreover, things that seem obvious to you about your product might not be obvious to someone using it for the first time.

The way to a solution is real user involvement in design decisions through research and testing. Your taste is important for your brand, but the way your website or app works should be based on what users need. A London estate agent learned this the hard way; they made a beautiful website with artistic property photos and very little text. It won awards, but inquiries dropped 40% because people couldn't find key info like prices or room sizes.

Ignoring Mobile Users

While the majority of people in the UK use their phones for browsing, the fact remains that most businesses still predominantly design their websites for desktops and consider mobiles only as an afterthought. Consequently, working with a site on a phone becomes a very frustrating experience. For instance, the buttons might be so small that it is almost impossible to tap them, the text may be so tiny that it needs zooming for reading, pages could be scrolling sideways without the user's knowledge, and forms might be complicated to fill out.

Mobile users are typically people who are on the move, have less patience, and may also have a slower internet connection. A restaurant website that is great-looking on a computer but makes it difficult to view the menu or get the phone number on a mobile is losing customers every day. UK users are very demanding when it comes to mobile websites, as they want them to be fast and easy, and if yours fails in this regard, they will be visiting your competitors.

Overcomplicating Navigation

Some companies in the UK aim to display every single thing they offer in their menus. As a consequence, there are enormous menus packed with copious choices, perplexing category names, and various methods to navigate, leaving the users indecisive about which option to select.

Proper navigation should be of low complexity and user-friendly. People like websites that keep to the standard patterns. Your menu should be the one to answer the key questions in an instant: What are your offerings? How much is it? How do I buy from you or get in touch? All other things come later.

A software company in Manchester experienced this. Their menu had 47 items, which made it difficult for users to find the most important pages. They reduced it to seven main categories only, and queries increased by 35% in just one month because people could readily locate the contact form.

Poor Accessibility

Many businesses in the UK are unintentionally making it difficult for people with disabilities to access their websites or apps. Even a few small changes in the design can create big problems.

Some of the typical issues are:

Colors that don't stand out enough, and thus the text becomes hard to read
Pictures without descriptions so that the screen readers cannot explain them
Videos without subtitles for the hearing-impaired users
Forms that confuse users and are not compatible with keyboard operations
Text that is too small for people with bad eyesight

Poor accessibility not only puts businesses at the risk of going against the law (Equality Act 2010), but it also means that they will lose customers. Approximately 1 in 5 people in the UK is a person with a disability. Moreover, accessibility is beneficial for everyone: subtitles can be of help to people in a noisy environment, clear menus help people who are busy, and good contrast can make text easily readable on bright screens.

Inconsistent Branding

Inconsistency damages trust and makes your business appear unprofessional. This is the case when your website has different fonts on different pages, button styles vary from page to page, colors change between sections, the writing style changes from formal to casual, or your mobile app looks completely different from your website.

Users notice these differences even if they cannot explain what is "off." Consistency is a sign of professionalism and giving attention to detail. Besides that, it makes your site more user-friendly; when buttons are always the same, users quickly understand which ones they can click.

A UK online store discovered that their inconsistent design was the reason why people were leaving their site without completing their purchase. Some product pages had blue "Add to Basket" buttons, while others were green. Some pages displayed prices clearly, while others hid them. After they made the design consistent, customer trust increased and the number of people leaving without buying decreased; thus, sales went up by 18%.

Skipping User Testing

Many businesses across the United Kingdom have launched their websites or applications without verifying whether they are accessible to real users. It is like opening a restaurant without tasting the food; you do not know if customers will like it.

Testing with real users frequently uncovers issues. That feature you thought was straightforward? People can't find it. That intelligent menu label? People get confused. That checkout process? People leave before completing it.

You do not require a lot of money or time to test. Even the observation of 5 people using your site can reveal major problems. For instance, a learning platform in Bristol believed that their course menu was clear. However, when 3 people used it, they got lost and couldn't find the finished lessons. The company saved itself from dissatisfied users and refund requests by fixing it before the launch.

Not Optimising for UK Payment Preferences

Customers from the UK are used to certain payment methods, and if you don't provide them, you might lose the customers.

It is a fact that people in the UK prefer to use PayPal, Apple Pay, Google Pay, and "Buy Now, Pay Later" services such as Klarna or Clearpay. Cards are still very much a part of the UK consumers' lives; however, if you are only accepting cards, there will be customers who will not do business with you. To be specific, a lot of young people are very heavy users of mobile wallets.

Moreover, UK buyers are very irritated by the so-called hidden costs. They are so frustrated with the extra delivery fees, which are the only ones that show up at the last step, that they leave without buying. Being transparent with the costs, letting customers see the delivery options, and giving free delivery if they buy over a certain amount are the ways to keep customers happy and confident to buy.

Cluttered Layouts and Information Overload

A lot of UK websites are trying to show so much at once that they end up confusing their visitors. They have a multitude of buttons, large chunks of text, pop-ups, banners, and videos all at the same time. As a result, users get confused and leave the site.

Good design is all about keeping things simple. Decide what one thing you want your visitors to do on each of your pages and make that very easy to see. The rest of the things are of less importance. Leaving some space between elements is very useful because it allows users to concentrate on the most important things.

As an example, Monzo's homepage is neat and straightforward with a single clear message. The majority of the banks that are traditional have extremely crowded homepages full of too many messages, which confuses the visitors and makes them leave.

The Cost of These Mistakes

These errors are not only about appearance, but they can also damage your business significantly. For instance, a poor mobile experience may result in a loss of 70% of the visitors. Confusing menus cause users to leave your site and thus may lower your website's search ranking. Non-accessible websites lose 1 out of 5 potential customers and may also invite legal issues. Moreover, inconsistent branding can make your business look like it lacks professionalism, and consequently, sales may drop. If you choose to skip testing, it means that you will have problems in your launch that will be costly to solve later.

What's the positive side to this?

First of all, each and every one of these issues can be resolved through the right UX and UI design. Being aware of them is actually the very first step. Whether you are creating a new site or just repainting an old one, it is possible to make your website more user-friendly and thus grow your business by simply spotting these common mistakes.

How to Know If You Need UX/UI Design Help

There is a common perception among business owners in the UK that the website or app of their business is not operating at its best; however, they doubt the hiring of a professional is worth it. These are some obvious indications that it may be necessary to seek assistance with UX and UI design and some advice on whether you should attempt to solve the problem on your own or if it is more appropriate to seek the help of a professional.

Signs Your Business Needs Design Improvement

People leaving quickly: The majority of visitors that choose to leave your site after seeing only one page would indicate that your website is either confusing, slow, or not providing what they are looking for.
Rarely taking action: If visitors to your site are not purchasing, signing up, or making a booking, then it could be that your buttons are difficult to locate, the process is too complicated, or that there is some important information missing.
Customer complaints: If customers are saying that your site is confusing or that it is difficult to use on mobile, then this is definitely a problem. A lot of people may just leave without telling you, though.
Outdated website: If your site appears to be old-fashioned, people may not have faith in your business. A modern and clean design is what creates trust.
Poor performance on phones: The majority of users in the UK are browsing on their phones. If the text is too small, buttons are tiny, or features are broken, then users will leave. Google additionally ranks mobile-friendly sites higher.
The competitors have better sites: If customers prefer going to competitors because their sites are easier or nicer to use, then you are losing sales because of your design.
About to launch a new site or app?: Professionally designed work from the start saves you both time and money. It is much more costly to fix problems later.

DIY vs Hiring Professionals

Do-it-yourself (DIY) is still okay when:

One of the points is when you are creating your business.
The website you have is a straightforward one (like a portfolio of your work, a small grocery store, or a restaurant menu).
Family budget does not allow you to invest much money.
You use the best website builders like Squarespace, Wix, or Shopify.

The problems with DIY:

The website of your company may appear like all the others.
It is impossible for you to change it much in order to tailor it to your customers.
Maybe you make mistakes that confuse people and thus decrease the number of sales.

It is good to have a professional if:

Your business is on its way up, and you want more customers.
You compete with other companies online.
Your website or application is complex (online shop, booking system, etc.).
You want your brand to be attractive and look like a professional one.

What professionals do:

Making the website user-friendly.
Ensuring that the site is accessible to everyone, including people with disabilities.
Checking the website before the official launch so that there are fewer errors.
Making the website look good AND at the same time helping your business to gain more money.

Example:

A UK shop started with a template website. Sales were low. After hiring a professional designer, sales increased a lot. The designer's work paid for itself quickly.

How to choose a designer:

Instead of just judging the beauty of their work, you need to look at their past projects and the results achieved.
Confirm that they carry out site testing with actual users.
Get in touch with other UK businesses and ask them for references.
Confirm that they are knowledgeable about UK standards such as accessibility and GDPR.

Red flags:

Proposals of "fast and cheap" solutions for difficult issues that do not make sense.
Only pictures and no results portfolios.
Explanations for why they did certain designs in a certain way are not given by them.

Local designers vs. remote designers:

Local UK designers know British users and rules better.

Remote designers can also do the job, but they might not be as familiar with UK habits.

Main question to think of:

"Is my website good enough to compete in the UK?"

If the answer is no, it is time to seek the service of a professional.

Budgeting for UX/UI Design in the UK

Understanding the cost of UX/UI design and budgeting accordingly is very helpful for business owners in the UK when it comes to making wise decisions. A redesign is a good spending under any circumstances, but if it turns out successful, the profits brought by this can be counted in increased customer numbers, higher sales, and even fewer mistakes; thus, the whole process is usually worth every penny.

Typical Cost Ranges for UK Businesses

UX/UI design costs in the UK

The kind of person you hire makes a lot of difference:

Freelancer: A single person to do the design. Around £250–£800 per day. Designers from London are pricier.
Agency: A team (designer, researcher, project manager). Costs per day are £500–£2,000, but the work is done quickly and more thoroughly.
Small project: Fix one page, checkout, or mobile view → £3,000–£15,000.
Full website: Create a brand new site → £15,000–£50,000.
Large website / complex site: Many features → £30,000–£500,000+.
Mobile app: A simple app costs £10,000–£20,000. A medium app costs £20,000–£80,000. A very advanced app costs £100,000+.

What Affects the Cost

Elements that increase the cost of UX/UI design:

A larger site with more pages as well as features will be more expensive.
If the design team has to research your users for the first time, the price will go up.
The higher the number of different types of pages (layouts), the more time it takes to design.
If there are many people giving their opinions, then it means that there will be more changes, and hence it will cost more.
If you need the project to be finished quickly, it can be still more expensive.
Some designers offer the service of assistance after the site is launched, while others may charge extra for it.

ROI Considerations

An investment in a well-designed website or app will benefit your UK company in several ways:

Increased sales: Customers will purchase more if your website is user-friendly.
Reduced support work: Users get their questions answered, so there is a decrease in calls and emails.
Improved Google ranking: A fast, easy, and mobile-friendly site is ranked higher in searches.
Satisfied customers make repeat purchases: Consumers return to the websites they like, thus purchasing again.
Outperform competitors: A site that runs smoothly and looks good can attract customers from other businesses.

Phased Approach for Budget Conscious Businesses

It is not necessary for you to overhaul your entire website in one go. You are able to accomplish it in increments:

Fix the biggest problems: such as mobile issues, a confusing checkout, or pages that are difficult to read. Small budget, big impact.
Important pages: for example, product pages or contact forms. After the first fixes have been made, spend a bit more to show results.
Update the whole site: ensure that everything looks and works well, and do it by using what you learned from the first steps.

If you do it step by step, you will save money and still make your website better.

Questions to Ask Potential Designers or Agencies

By asking the right questions, UK business leaders can clearly see which design team is the most suitable and hence be able to avoid expensive errors.

Questions to ask:

1. About their process:

What is your normal working procedure on a project?
During the project, how will you involve us?
To understand our users, what kind of research do you do?
At each stage, we will get what?

2. About their experience:

Do you have the same kind of work to show that you have done?
What were the results of those projects?
Do you adhere to the UK regulations for accessibility and GDPR?
Can we interact with your previous clients?

3. About costs and timing:

What are the things that you will do for that price?
What is the extra cost for?
When will the project be finished?
If I want to change my mind on the content, how do you handle it?
If it is longer or costs more than expected, what will happen?

4. About working together:

Who on your team will be the point of contact for us?
How often do we get updates?
If you are to succeed, what do you need from us?
In case there is a disagreement on the design choice, what do you do?

5. After launch:

After the website is completed, do you still provide support?
How do you determine if the design is effective?
Will you help with the process of design implementation?
Are you able to improve it and make it better over time?

6. Red flags:

Process not clearly understood by them, and hence answers are not clear
Not able to convince why they do things
Not willing to provide references
The price that you are being quoted is too low to be real.
If the promise is made to be unrealistically great ("We will be the number one on Google"), then it is probably not true.

Key idea:

Good UX/UI design should be seen as an investment rather than a cost. The result of spending money on good design is usually more sales, happier customers, and a better reputation. British businesses that are serious about design are the ones who get way more out of it than they put in. Select those partners who are on the same page with you in terms of your objectives and can prove real outcomes.

Getting Started: Practical Steps for UK Business Owners

By now, you understand what UX/UI design is, why it matters, and how much it can be. After that, here is a straightforward tutorial to help you take the first step in making your website or mobile app better, either by gradually doing small fixes or completely redoing it.

1. Audit Your Current Digital Presence

Step 1: Check how your website is doing now.

Before you make any changes, find out what is working and what is not. Knowing this will help you decide what to fix first.

Have a look at your website figures:

How many people leave after viewing just one page (bounce rate)?
How many people do what you want, like buying something or signing up (conversion rate)?
Which pages are the most visited, and which cause people to leave?
Where visitors are coming from (Google, social media, ads)

If many people leave your site when they are using a mobile phone but not a desktop, then your mobile site is the one that needs fixing.

Test your site yourself:

Put your site on different devices like your phone, tablet, and computer.
Try to do what a customer would do: look for info, fill out forms, and buy something.
Note everything that is confusing, slow, or hard to use.

Check accessibility:

Ensure that people with disabilities are not left out when using your site.

Accessibility checking tools such as WAVE can provide you with the information that your site has problems, like the text is hard to read or images are without description.

Ask customers:

Listening to customer complaints or questions can be very informative.
Look at social media or reviews.
Directly ask customers through a short survey about their experience.

Look at competitors:

Analyze the sites of 3–5 of your closest competitors.

Where do they excel that you don't?

What are your strengths compared to them?

2. Define Your Business Goals and User Needs

Decide what you want to achieve.

Think about the features and functionalities that your website or app needs to have rather than just focusing on the visual aspect.

Examples:

Through online channels, sales are to be increased by 30%.
The website will be the source of 50 new leads every month.
Customer service calls will be reduced by 25%.
People to see your brand in a better way
A brand-new product launch with great success

Clear goal statements provide designers with something tangible to target and also a means to measure the success.

Know your customers

Do not assume. They might not be the ones you think.

Develop simple "personas" that depict:

Age, location, and tech skills
What they want from your site
The problems they face
Devices they use (phone, tablet, computer)

For instance: A software company assumed that all of its users were tech experts; however, a significant number of them were not. To make the site easier to understand for users, they went through a simplification process.

Map the customer journey

Describe the journey customers take from their first acquaintance with your brand to the purchase of your product or service.

Questions to ask:

How do they find you?
What info do they need at each step?
Where do they get stuck or give up?

By doing so, you are able to recognize the spots that are slowing down the process.

Focus on the most important fixes first

There is no way to rectify all the problems simultaneously.

Write down the issues, then decide their importance and the difficulty of solving them.

Work on the high-impact, low-difficulty problems first. Fast wins deliver results quickly and help you gain support for making bigger changes later.

3. Research UK Design Trends in Your Industry

One of the best ways to build a successful website is to analyze and learn from the leading companies in your domain. Examine their websites and see how they organize their data, what kind of buttons they employ, and which features they offer. Don't copy them, but comprehending this will help you know what the users expect.

Moreover, you can gain ideas from different kinds of businesses as well. For instance, banks have very secure and user-friendly checkout systems, and you might take a similar route for your online store.

Though it may be very tempting to concentrate on the latest trends and flashy designs, your website should still be kept simple and user-friendly. Users from the UK, specifically, are more inclined to choose clear and straightforward designs rather than complex or confusing effects.

Finally, think about the UK-specific requirements. Make privacy info readily accessible, show the most common UK payment methods, and be honest about delivery and customer support.

4. Set a Realistic Budget

While determining how much money to allocate for your website or app design, you should first know how much your business is able to spend on upgrades. Since a good design can help you make more money, it is really important to think about what you will get back from your investment. To give an example, a spend of £20,000 may result in an additional income of £7,500 each year, which means that over several years you make more than you spend.

Furthermore, you should consider payment options. If you wish to pay by installments, some agencies may be the right place to look. Also, loans or business credits can be a good idea if the returns will be generated in a short period of time.

Starting small is always a good idea. First, focus on the most important improvements, and then, when you get the results, you will be able to invest more in further enhancements. However, at the same time, do not decide on the cheapest option, because a low-cost design will most likely lead to problems, which will cost you a lot more to fix later. Proper design is an investment that will bring you benefits in the long term.

5. Choose Between Freelancer, Agency, or In-House

Essentially, the main methods of securing design work for your website or app are just three. A decision to hire one freelancer will limit your interaction to that single person, which makes it ideal for small projects. As a rule, it is cheaper, and you can talk directly to them, but they also have a boundary in the work they can do, and if they fall ill or get engaged, there is no alternative.

On the other hand, agencies are composed of designers and experts, thereby being appropriate for large projects or when you require the different skill sets of a variety of persons. They can accomplish more in less time because different people can carry out different tasks simultaneously, but they are usually more costly and less personal.

Whereas, the designers who work in-house are the ones that you hire full-time for your company, which happens to be the best scenario if your business is in constant need of design work. Nevertheless, this alternative hardly makes sense for small enterprises due to its exorbitant price.

6. Request Portfolios and Case Studies

While selecting a designer, it is very tempting to pick a person whose work is simply very attractive and visually appealing. But, it is quite crucial to check out their previous works to understand whether they have the relevant experience for the kind of work you require and if their designs are up-to-date.

Moreover, you should just take a glance at the outcomes of their works—have their designs been the means that businesses used to achieve, for instance, sales and clicks growth? It is a good idea to inquire of a designer about their errors and the lessons they took from them, as a great designer will always be open about the challenges faced. Furthermore, obtaining the opinions of their former clients can let you know if the designer is punctual with the completion of the work, is good in communication, and is efficient in solving problems.

7. Start with a Discovery Phase

Instead of directly going for large-scale projects, a lot of businesses in the UK find it more advantageous to initiate a discovery phase. Discovery entails a minor, inexpensive initiative, the cost of which is usually between £3,000 and £8,000. During this time designers learn about your users, look through your analytics, figure out what competitors are doing, talk to your team, and give you advice in the form of strategies.

The main goal of discovery is to know the exact requirements before money is heavily invested. It provides you with a definite plan that maps out the priorities, money, and results anticipated.

Discovery is also a measure that lessens risk since you are allowed to see how the designer operates and if their method is applicable to your business. You have an option to continue with the complete design stage if it turns out positively, whereas in a negative situation, you still get some valuable insights for a small amount of money. As an instance, a retailer in Norwich found out through a discovery project that their customers were older than they had anticipated, and thus they required easier navigation and more product information. Their redesign, which used the insights, achieved a conversion rate of 2x, whereas, without the discovery, they might have ended up with a fashionable site that wasn't suitable for their users.

Conclusion

The website or app of your company is how customers get to know your business. If it is hard to use or has a bad look, people are likely to leave and go to your competitors. A good design or UX/UI makes your site very simple and nice to use; thereby, you get more sales or sign-ups, customer questions or complaints decrease, and customers are loyal to your brand.

However, bad design is a daily money-draining business. Visitors may leave your site without making a purchase, mobile users might find it difficult to navigate, and some customers may not be able to access it, for example, those with disabilities.

Businesses in the UK need to begin by checking their website to identify what is effective and what is not. Testing your site on phones, tablets, and computers is necessary, along with asking real customers for their opinion and comparing with competitors. If you find problems such as low sales, difficult navigation, a slow mobile site, or an old look, start fixing them little by little. You do not have to solve everything at once; even a few small changes can have a great impact.

10 Frequently Asked Questions About UX/UI Design

1. What's the difference between UX and UI design?

UI (User Interface) is the visual part of your site or a mobile app, for instance, the buttons, colours, fonts, and layout.

UX (User Experience) is the measure of the convenience and the joy of use, by way of locating things, accomplishing tasks, and general impression.

2. How much does UX/UI design cost for a UK small business?

Minor changes, for instance, making your site mobile-friendly or simplifying the checkout process, are usually priced from £5,000 to £15,000. The cost of a complete website redesign is commonly between £15,000 and £50,000, while the expense of large e-commerce sites packed with features can be anywhere from £30,000 to £100,000.

The cost is also influenced by the kind of individuals you decide to work with. In general, freelancers are less expensive, and their charge is about £300 to £800 per day, while agencies are a bit pricier, and the rate is normally £500 to £1,500 or even more per day, but in return, you get the service of a complete team of designers and specialists.

3. How long does a UX/UI design project take?

Small projects, for instance, the creation of a single landing page, normally take from 2 to 4 weeks. The redesign of a regular website is generally completed within 8 to 12 weeks, whereas the large-scale projects, such as the building of online stores or the development of apps, can take 3 to 6 months.

Time allotment for the work depends on a number of factors, such as the extent of the work, the volume of change requests, your team's approvals, and the necessity for user research.

4. Do I really need professional design or can I use website templates?

Templates:

Ready-made website designs. Suitable for very small or new businesses that have simple needs.

Professional design:

Custom made by experts. Required if your business is bigger, has an online store, or wants to be unique.

5. How does good UX/UI design improve my conversion rates?

Effective design enables a larger number of people to perform the actions you desire on your website. A smoother checkout process results in the reduction of customers who abandon their carts, straightforward menus assist users in locating products more quickly, and unambiguous buttons attract more clicks. Responsive design to mobile devices retains users who are on their smartphones, and a well-designed, trust-inspiring layout makes people comfortable with their decision to buy. Typically, companies experience a 50% to 400% increase in the number of people finalizing purchases after a redesign.

6. Is my website legally required to be accessible in the UK?

Based on the UK law (Equality Act 2010), websites must be accessible to people with disabilities. If they aren't, companies may have to deal with legal consequences. Besides, an accessible website means that 14 million disabled people in the UK can use it.

7. How do I know if my website needs a UX/UI redesign?

Several indications exist that your website might be malfunctioning. One such indication is a high bounce rate, which is generally above 70% and is the main reason for visitors leaving the site quickly. Low conversion rates, i.e., buyers, subscribers, or contacts, are also a symptom of a problem.

Moreover, the signs might be customers complaining about the difficulty of using the site, a website that looks old or outdated, bad performance on mobile devices, and losing customers to competitors. Also, if getting information is difficult, it is an unequivocal signal that your site requires a change.

8. Should I hire a freelancer or design agency?

Freelancers: A single individual is responsible for your work. Less expensive, suitable for a small amount of work, and a direct communication line is established. However, they are unable to handle multiple tasks at the same time.

Agencies: A group of people collaborate to complete the work. Higher in price, but can be used for large projects and quicker results.

9. What's the ROI of investing in UX/UI design?

In the case of businesses in the United Kingdom, a mere one pound expenditure aimed at enhancing the website or app usability of the user is capable of yielding a profit return of approximately one hundred pounds. Improved design persuades more people to purchase or register, thus sales are typically doubled or even quadrupled.

Moreover, a customer-friendly website decreases the number of customer service calls, hence the cost of support is reduced by 25% to 40%. The better design attracts the old customers to return and thus the frequency of repeat visits increases by 20% to 35%. Besides that, Google prefers a well-designed website, which assists it to be ranked higher in search results.

10. Can I improve my website in phases or does it need complete redesign?

In case your company is reluctant to make a hefty one-time expenditure, you could incrementally enhance your website. Initially, accomplish the most essential tasks like enabling the site to be accessed from mobile devices and streamlining the buying process which is normally around £5,000 to £15,000 in cost.

After that, concentrate on upgrading the most necessary pages of your website that have the highest traffic and the cost will be approximately £10,000 to £25,000. At last, work on the whole site to ensure that it is consistent and fully optimized which might cost from £15,000 to £40,000 or even more. Utilizing this gradual approach, you get to see the results early and have the opportunity to put in more later without the risk of losing money.

What Is UX/UI Design? Explained for UK Business OwnersUX/UI Design UK