How Custom Websites Influence User Behavior

For businesses and organizations with a sizeable budget set aside for web development, custom websites offer a tailored online presence. These sites leverage user behavior data and psychological principles to influence visitor actions.

Personalization is one such principle, which encourages users to take action by showing them content and products relevant to their interests. Other behavioral principles include using scarcity (such as limited-time offers or low stock levels) to encourage urgency.

Trust and credibility

Trust and credibility are important for fulfilling basic needs, such as safety and security. They also play a critical role in forming relationships and promoting social belonging. Moreover, they help individuals develop a sense of confidence and self-esteem that is essential for achieving success in the workplace.

Custom website design Melbourne, can help companies build a trustworthy brand and increase conversion rates by providing a user-friendly experience. This can be done by gathering data about a user’s browsing history and demographics to create a customized experience. For example, if a user often views shoes on an e-commerce website, the site may start showing them shoe-related content and products

In addition, custom web design plays a crucial role in promoting trust and credibility for organizations by ensuring transparency, consistency, and authenticity. By establishing a strong online presence, they can attract loyal customers, investors, and employees, leading to increased revenue and growth. Research on trust and credibility highlights various factors such as past experiences, social interactions, and communication channels, emphasizing the importance of conveying information through trusted sources like friends and family rather than anonymous platforms

Microinteractions

Microinteractions are subtle design elements that respond to user input. They help websites feel alive and responsive, which encourages users to spend more time on the site and convert more often. They can be as simple as a button changing color when clicked or as complex as an animation that plays during a load screen.

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When creating microinteractions, designers should draw inspiration from context and user research. This will help them create more precise and effective interactions. They should also keep in mind that microinteractions are meant to be short and unobtrusive. This helps to avoid distracting the user and maintains their attention span.

A microinteraction’s trigger, rules, feedback, and loop/mode determine how it functions. Triggers initiate the interaction, while rules decide what happens and how it changes over time. Feedback lets users know whether or not the interaction has been activated and helps them understand its meaning. Loops and modes are the dynamic parts of a microinteraction that make it adaptable to user behaviour. For example, a progress bar that incorporates several colors as the loading process unfolds can motivate users to wait until the website is fully loaded.

 

Emotional design

Emotional design is a method of creating user experiences that evoke positive feelings. It can be used to build brand loyalty and create lasting emotional connections with users.

There are three cognitive levels that can be targeted with emotional design: visceral, behavioral, and reflective. The visceral level is the first instinctive response to a product. This can be triggered by colors, shapes, and overall aesthetics. The behavioral level is a more considered response. This includes a user’s thoughts and feelings about the product, including their satisfaction with it. This can be measured using traditional usability metrics or with physiological measures, such as heart rate variability and skin conductance.

The reflective level is the last stage of emotional design. This involves a more introspective response to the product, allowing users to connect with it on a deeper level. This can be achieved by creating a narrative or using storytelling to create a connection with the user. By addressing each of these cognitive levels, emotional design can help brands create long-term engagement and build an emotional connection with users.

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Exit-intent pop-ups

Using the Zeigarnik Effect, which states that people feel uncomfortable leaving things unfinished, exit-intent popups can boost conversions by encouraging visitors to complete the last step of an action before they leave. The popups can also use personalization to increase effectiveness by speaking directly to a visitor’s motivations and concerns.

Use an attractive visual that will catch a visitor’s attention when they are about to close your site. The visual will help the message stick in their brains and be processed much faster than text. Use photos of real people to increase credibility and trustworthiness.

Try giving away a free gift to encourage your visitors to stay. This can be a physical item or a digital download, such as a coupon or ebook. Design software Invision offers a free t-shirt, while Yorkdale shopping center in Toronto provides an entry into their monthly drawing for a $150 Yorkdale gift card.

Messages that offer something tangible have a higher perceived value than simple requests for an email address. This is why it’s important to create a compelling value proposition in your exit-intent popup. For example, Treehouse uses a powerful headline: “Change your Career. Change your Life.”

Gamification

Gamification uses game-like elements to make tasks more enjoyable, engaging, and rewarding. This can lead to increased motivation and productivity, and it can also improve the overall user experience. In addition, it can reduce stress by diverting the mind from everyday concerns. Games are structured to give players a clear sense of progress through levels, achievements, and story advancement. These structures can be applied to non-game systems to increase motivation and user satisfaction.

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However, it is important to note that no amount of gamification can overcome a bad value proposition. Users are unlikely to engage in a task that doesn’t offer them something of value. For example, a rewards system can only go so far in motivating participants to participate in a focus group.

It is essential that the chosen gamification mechanics are directly aligned with the research goals and overall purpose. Otherwise, they will feel like a distraction and may compromise the quality of the data collected. For example, a fitness app can turn a mundane activity into an engaging experience by adding a narrative overlay such as surviving a zombie apocalypse while running.

Alvin Lynch