You may often hear a colleague or client talking about the importance of ‘UI’ or ‘UX,’ and its relevance to product success in the B2B marketing realm. You also may be wondering what in the world UI and UX mean.

UI or User Interface is the combination of visual and functional elements that your site provides to its users. It is essentially the design and aesthetic appeal of your product or service. UX or User Experience is the strategy and framework that overlays your product or service, contributing to the actions or paths your user will take during the interaction.

By combining these two focuses into your product, you are more likely to gain valuable and return consumers. While both UX and UI are crucial for B2B AND B2C brands, it is more crucial to encompass the two for B2B because of the longer and more complex journey the user will experience.

Key Features to Consider for Designing Effective UX/UI

As digital marketing agencies and their designers work through the process of developing long-lasting impressions through UX and UI, there are many elements to consider during the design phase.

In order to increase your users’ positive experiences and encourage them to return to your site, understanding key principles and how to implement them will help set you apart from competitors. So what are some of the key principles?

• Call to Action (CTA) Buttons

Ensure your content has an easily identifiable CTA with the proper context for the platform being used. You should also consider both desktop and mobile displays when designing them.

• Background and Overlay Images

These features will be a prominent part of the aesthetic and visual appeal of your brand, so it’s important to choose them carefully.

• Selection Menus

These aspects often get overlooked but will have an impact on the UX as you want to limit the time it takes to scroll through options. Dropdown menus work best for lists with more than 5 options, whereas radio buttons work well with 5 or fewer options to choose from.

• Iconography

Utilizing icons must have a purpose and a relatable aspect to the content. Overusing icons without reinforcements of what they stand for will have a negative impact on the look and feel of the UI.

• Colors and Contrast

Color palettes dictate users’ actions more than you think, so use them effectively as they are often considered the language and communication basis for your user.

These are just a few key examples of how you optimize your site and grow your audience’s interaction experience. Don’t leave any stone left unturned, and look at your site through the eyes of your users to have a more overarching approach to your UX and UI strategies.

Common Obstacles and How to Overcome Them

Challenges and obstacles are a part of our everyday lives that present themselves unannounced and sometimes with no rhyme or reason. As a UX or UI designer, your responsibility involves designing the look and feel of a product for a seamless experience. To achieve this, there are many things to consider during the digital marketing strategy and planning phase.

As problems arise in all aspects of our work, there may not always be a solution, but there are ways to prepare for or avoid them. If you look at issues like lack of time or experience to get to know your target audience, you may want to find ways to automate your design process or spend some time understanding the industry to tailor your design for accommodation purposes.

Reporting and analyzing your product is crucial to ensure it is producing the results you want. But what if your customers aren’t interacting with the product on a frequent basis to allow you to properly make changes and adjustments? Testing again and again during pre-launch and post-release can help work out any kinks before they are experienced by the end user. Incentivizing the testers can help generate the results you need to find out these key learnings. Finding ways to collect data will contribute to more enjoyable experiences and mitigate the challenges many designers face when creating memorable and unique experiences.

Good Examples of UX and UI in B2B

There are countless digital advertising agencies creating long-lasting impressions for their customers with cutting-edge User Experience and User Interactive designs. These will make or break the success of a product. Learning from industry experts to influence your strategy and approach moving forward can help you and your brand build the loyalty and return from customers you set out to achieve.

Some brands that are at the forefront of these designs include: Airbnb and their booking interface, Netflix and its autoplay feature after an episode concludes, Duolingo and the gamification of learning new languages, and Spotify’s ‘Year in Review’ feature that floods social media at the end of each calendar year. All of these examples have many aspects in common, but the most important of them are features such as data collection to understand user trends as well as the “if it’s not broken, then don’t fix it” approach, which can streamline brand communication.

As technology continues to advance at a rapid pace, it is crucial to keep up with the latest trends of our users and produce lasting impressions through unique experiences. As a digital marketing agency, you shouldn’t be afraid to think outside the box, but keep in mind some of these important aspects when creating your next product design.