How Can Professional UX/UI Designs Affect the Productivity & Efficacy of Your App?

You might have heard that getting a professional design for your app is important, but the question remains as to why you should spend extra dollars to get a UX/UI design when you could use AI prompts or Canvas drag-and-drop to do it for you.

The truth is that design is a specialised field, just like any profession, and even small tweaks in layout and positioning can make a big difference. It’s easy to overlook the finer details that can really enhance your product’s overall impact.

What’s Covered?

1. What is UX/UI Design? UX vs UI
1. Why Do You Need UX/UI Designs?
2. How Can UX Impact Productivity?
3. Boilerplate vs “Design-as-You-Go”
2. FONSEKA’s UX/UI Design Approach: A Thorough Process
3. How Does a Thorough UX/UI Design Influence the Output?
4. FONSEKA’s Dedication to Ongoing UX Enhancement and Designer Growth

What is UX/UI Design? UX vs UI?

As defined, UX/UI design refers to the process of creating and optimising digital products to ensure they are both user-friendly and visually appealing.

UX (User Experience) focuses on understanding and improving how users interact with a product, ensuring ease of use, efficiency, and satisfaction.

UI (User Interface), on the other hand, deals with the visual elements of the product, such as layout, colours, typography, icons, and button designs, ensuring a seamless and aesthetically pleasing interaction.

Together, UX/UI design ensures that users not only find a product easy to use but also enjoy the experience of engaging with it.

Even though these two words always come together, UX and UI are actually two different things. On social media, you may have seen these kind of posts:

UX/UI design has really become a hot topic lately since so much of our lives is online now. With the whole "Internet of Things" trend, just about everything out there needs to pay attention to user experience.

But Why Do You Need UX/UI Designs?

Here’s a question for you. Do you prefer this?

Or this?

It's clear that the first image has a more aesthetically pleasing design—it's cool, dim, abstract, and exudes a high-class feel. However, would you recommend this design for an app targeting grannies? A quick answer would be no. The text is too small, too light, and barely visible, which is where the role of User Experience (UX) comes into play.

RetailDive finds that smaller screens cause higher abandonment rates among mobile users, with apps facing up to 73.4% abandonment. Without optimisation for speed, performance, design, adaptability, and usability, this can be higher.

UX can be thought of as a creative framework that keeps design from becoming overwhelming or confusing for the user. Its primary goal is to ensure that designs are user-friendly and accessible, adhering to various psychological principles.

Having effective UX/UI design for your app helps keep a good impression of your brand. Statistics find that user’s first impressions are 94% influenced by design. Up to 75% of users trust a visually appealing web design. In mobile app’s nation, about 21% of mobile apps have only been used once and 52% of users say the main reason why they won’t return is aesthetics.

UX design also involves various studies, such as user research, usability testing, accessibility assessments, cultural behaviour analysis, and psychological coordination. In fact, 66% of consumers indicate they will stop engaging with a brand if their experience isn't personalised. These elements help tailor your app to meet the needs of your target users, allowing them to feel that your company values their experience, ultimately helping you build stronger connections with your customers.

How Can UX Impact Productivity?

UX/UI design impacts productivity by streamlining the user experience, making it easier and faster for users to accomplish their tasks. Here's how:

1. Intuitive Navigation: A well-designed interface guides users naturally through the app, reducing the time spent searching for features or information.
2. Reduced Learning Curve: Clear and consistent design elements help new users understand how to use the app quickly, minimising the need for extensive training or support.
3. Minimised Errors: Thoughtful UX/UI design anticipates user needs and potential mistakes, providing safeguards like confirmation prompts and error messages that prevent errors from occurring.
4. Efficient Workflows: By organising tasks logically and simplifying complex processes, a good UX/UI design allows users to complete their work more efficiently.
5. Enhanced Focus: A clean, uncluttered interface reduces distractions, enabling users to concentrate on their tasks without unnecessary interruptions.
6. Responsive Feedback: Immediate feedback from UI elements (like loading indicators or success notifications) keeps users informed about system status, reducing uncertainty and waiting time.

To conclude above, UX “streamline design” is responsible for cutting out unnecessary clutter and making sure everything from buttons to workflows is intuitive and easy to navigate. In the context of UX/UI, the streamlined design ensures that users can get from point A to point B quickly, with minimal friction or confusion.

Streamlined designs

This is especially important in today’s workplaces where time is tight and distractions are plenty. More statistics reveal that 74% of visitors are likely to revisit a site with excellent mobile UX, and 90% of smartphone users say they're more inclined to keep shopping if they enjoy a great user experience. A well-thought-out design can help users focus on what really matters, driving both productivity and satisfaction.

However, creating a truly successful streamlined design isn’t as simple as it sounds. It requires a deep, thoughtful approach—one that goes beyond surface-level changes and involves several processes, research, and careful mapping.

It’s not something that can be easily whipped up or handled by just anyone. Achieving a design that truly enhances productivity and user experience takes expertise, time, and dedication. And that’s where the Professional UX design approach comes in.

Boilerplate vs “Design-as-You-Go”

When it comes to UX/UI design, there are two main approaches: Boilerplate and Design-as-You-Go. Each has its own merits and is suitable for different types of projects.

Boilerplate Designs

A boilerplate design approach involves using pre-existing templates or frameworks as a foundation for your app or website. This method can be highly efficient, especially if you're working with tight deadlines or budgets.

• Pros:
• Speed: Since you're starting with a ready-made template, development time is significantly reduced.
• Cost-effective: Often cheaper than custom designs since much of the groundwork has already been laid out.
• Consistency: Using established frameworks ensures consistency across various elements of the design.

Design-as-You-Go

The Design-as-You-Go approach involves creating custom designs tailored specifically to your project's requirements as you progress through development. This method allows for greater flexibility and creativity.

• Pros:
• Customisation: Offers a high level of personalisation, ensuring that the final product aligns perfectly with your brand identity and user needs.
• Flexibility: Allows for iterative changes based on feedback and evolving project requirements.
• Innovation Potential: Encourages innovative solutions that stand out in the market.

While both Boilerplate and Design-as-You-Go approaches have their advantages, they aren't without pitfalls. Boilerplate designs may lack uniqueness and limit customisation, potentially leading to a generic user experience that doesn't fully represent your brand. On the other hand, Design-as-You-Go offers creativity and flexibility but can be time-consuming and costly due to its bespoke nature.

Creating a truly successful streamlined design isn’t as simple as it sounds. It requires a deep, thoughtful approach—one that goes beyond surface-level changes and involves several processes, research, and careful mapping.

Our method combines the best elements of both approaches—providing efficiency without sacrificing personalisation or innovation.

FONSEKA's UX/UI Design Approach: A Thorough Process

We follow a structured, multi-step design process aimed at creating intuitive and efficient user experiences while ensuring that no money is wasted during the process.

Step 1: Smart Workshops
Understanding Real-World Workflows

We begin by conducting in-depth workshops with us to understand your expectations, needs, and frustrations. Focus on finding a smarter way to balance what’s possible with your creative vision.

At FONSEKA, we don’t just jump in and get started; we take the time to really understand your needs and the reality of the situation first. We know you have loads of brilliant ideas, but let’s be real: there are often constraints like budget, time, and workforce that come into play when it comes to making those ideas come alive.

As the saying goes, knowing your opponent is key to winning any game.

This rings true for your app’s design as well. User research and analysis are the cornerstones of our UX/UI design process. We begin with organising workshops with you, making it a point to gather valuable insights about your everyday experiences, challenges, and preferences—understanding your real world.

Case Study: Why do we need a smart workshop?

We had a client reach out, looking for a solution to manage their jewellery repair process. After taking a close look at their business, we noticed it was quite traditional and heavily reliant on paperwork—definitely not the most efficient setup. We assessed their needs and their readiness for a transformation, and we organised a smart discovery workshop to further refine & hone in on the most appropriate solution for the prospective users.

“We don’t just create apps; we tailor them to fit unique needs. Conducting discovery workshops can help us understand workflows at various levels—beyond just the mundane A to B of completing a task. This means looking into the emotional expense and the related overhead and, critically, asking the question: should we continue doing this?”

- Nipuna, Founder

FONSEKA also recognises that real-world workflows are rarely purely paperwork. For many businesses, especially those with hybrid workflows, there is a constant back-and-forth between physical and digital activities. For example, in this case, users needed to transition between working on the ground and updating the system. Understanding this was key to designing a solution that actually fit their needs.

Eventually, we stepped in with a digital solution to streamline their workflow. Our goal was to introduce new technology that would align with and even enhance their traditional processes.

Step 2: UX Wire-framing
Visualising Your Ideas

Once we’ve got a solid grasp of your needs, we dive into creating wireframes. These wireframes outline the app’s structure and functionality without getting too caught up in the visuals. Think of them as the blueprints that show how users will navigate through the app. They can be low-fidelity sketches, simple prototypes, or flowcharts that effectively communicate our understanding of what you need and how we plan to deliver.

After we sync up on the wireframes, we’ll transition into the next step—what many people often relate to in the world of UX/UI: High-Fidelity Prototyping.

Step 3: Prototyping
Create High-Fidelity Design Stack Ensuring Clear Alignments with Goals

Our designers develop interactive high-fidelity prototypes that simulate the final product's functionality. These so-called hi-fi design stacks allow us to test ideas quickly and iterate based on feedback before committing resources to full-scale development.

High-Fidelity Design Stacks

A high-fidelity design stack refers to the set of advanced tools, techniques, and detailed elements used to create visually polished, interactive prototypes that closely resemble the final product.

During our UX/UI design process, we use a high-fidelity design stack for every project to ensure that what we deliver is not just functional but also refined and aligned with your brand’s aesthetics. This process involves creating designs that are high in detail—capturing everything from colour schemes and typography to interactive buttons and animations—so that stakeholders can experience a near-final version of the product before development begins.

A high-fidelity prototype provides a much clearer understanding of how the app or website will look and function once launched.

Why does it matter?

I think we can all agree that it’s important to spend our money on things we truly want, right?

High-fidelity prototypes are essential because they bridge the gap between conceptual design and real-world functionality. In the early stages of design, wireframes and low-fidelity prototypes are useful for outlining structure and flow, but they don't provide a complete sense of the user experience. High-fidelity designs, on the other hand, offer a detailed, interactive experience that allows us to refine visual elements, test user interactions, and validate usability in a way that’s closer to the final product.

Our attempts to differentiate our product from the competition

We use tools like Figma and Adobe XD, the industry-standard UX/UI design tools that allow us to bring ideas to life in a way that’s both functional and visually aligned with your brand.

They allow us to spot design inconsistencies, refine navigation pathways, and ensure that the final product is both aesthetically pleasing and functionally sound. This thoroughness ensures a smoother handoff to the development team, where the design translates seamlessly into code.

By providing clarity on visual alignment, interactive elements, and user flow, high-fidelity prototypes help to identify potential issues before development starts. So we won’t waste our money on fancy features that you don’t need.

We also know that UX/UI design is about more than just applying a digital layer over existing processes; it’s about applying change.

The level of change that’s tolerable depends on the company’s profile and the people within it. We’re knee-deep in change at FONSEKA, but for others, this can be a somewhat distressing and fearful process. That’s why we make sure that changes and designs are communicated as clearly as possible. With high-fidelity prototypes and detailed design stacks, we ensure the expected changes are as transparent as they are effective.

Step 4: Testing & Iterating

At this stage, you'll receive a detailed prototype to test before development starts. We assess how you and your users interact with it. The feedback collected here is crucial for spotting areas that need improvement.

Throughout our time working out with our jewellery-repairing client, we made several design improvements to ensure everything worked smoothly in real-life situations. By continuously questioning blindspots, iterating on designs, and using best-in-class components perfected over many hours of work, we helped our client move from a paper-heavy process to a streamlined digital system that not only saved time but also improved user experience at every step.

How Does a Thorough UX/UI Design Influence the Output?

You know what? A solid UX design can triple how many people convert to your website! It’s really that straightforward. Who wouldn't want to engage with a sleek, user-friendly product instead of dealing with a clunky, slow-loading mess? It just makes everything so much better!

Help Increase Brand Impression and Sales

Having a well-designed UX/UI on your website or product can help elevate the impression you make on your customers. Research indicates that businesses that focus on solid design practices tend to grow at twice the rate of their industry peers and there’s plenty of evidence backing this up—take JobNimbus, for example. After they revamped their app and leveraged UXCam data, their ratings jumped from 2.5 to 4.8.

But it doesn’t stop there. Good UX can also give your sales a nice boost. Housing.com saw a 20% increase in feature adoption after they improved their search functionality, which in turn helped ramp up their booking sales and transaction rates. The rise in sales at Housing.com can be attributed to consumer behaviour influenced by experiences—approximately 80% of individuals are willing to pay more for an enhanced user experience.

Focusing on UX/UI design isn’t just a nice-to-have; it’s a smart business move.

Using UX research to improve usability and boost sales and productivity

Some companies have taken UX research a step further to enhance their customer experience. UX Research involves systematically understanding users' behaviours, needs, experiences, and motivations through various observation and feedback methods.

Companies often use tools like session replay, a digital analytics technique that records and plays back a user's entire interaction with a website or application.

This tool acts like a video of the user's journey, showing mouse movements, clicks, scrolling, page interactions, navigation paths, and time spent on specific elements. These insights help improve the app experience.

PlaceMakers doubled in-app sales after identifying a UX issue using session replay. It also reduces backend support work by analysing collected data to understand user behaviour, identify hidden usability issues or bugs, detect rage clicks or frustration points, and more. Recora reduced support tickets by 142% using session replay to gather information on UX issues.

Help Increases Productivity

The Walmart report reveals a compelling insight into how UX design directly impacts productivity: for every second of loading time improvement, businesses can see a 2% increase in conversion rates. This statistic isn't just about sales—it's a powerful indicator of productivity gains.

Faster loading times mean users can complete tasks more quickly and with less frustration, effectively streamlining their workflow. In a business context, this translates to employees and customers spending less time waiting and more time doing—whether that's processing transactions, accessing information, or making decisions.

The reduction in loading time represents a tangible productivity gain, as those saved seconds accumulate across multiple interactions, leading to significant time savings, reduced cognitive load, and increased efficiency in digital environments.

Now, let’s just pause for a second and think about a website you'd rather avoid opening on your phone.

Can't think of one? Let me give you an example—Facebook.

The examples of worse mobile sites

The old Facebook app is not just bad; it's the worst, especially for such a big global company. Facebook gives me nightmares whenever I try to log in and check a quick message, which has now improved since it merged with Messenger. Navigating their activity section was a nightmare, with endless notification banners popping up. I eventually gave up.

Another example is Temu, known for its never-ending fake "free gift" spam. It’s nearly impossible to scroll for more than 10 seconds on their mobile site without being invited to play their fake games. Their images and text on the mobile site are not optimised for small screens, often causing uncontrollable horizontal scrolling. Their buttons are also sometimes unresponsive. It's incredibly inefficient.

Mobile users are 5 times more likely to abandon a task if a site isn’t mobile-optimised. Similar statistics show that 39% will stop engaging with content when loading time takes too long.

If your app aims to boost customer productivity, good UX is essential. Otherwise, your app will just become another annoying attention seeker that users will hate. By minimising unnecessary popups and creating smooth, responsive interfaces, UX design acts as a productivity multiplier, enabling users to accomplish more in less time and with greater ease.

FONSEKA’s Dedication to Ongoing UX Enhancement & Designer Growth

Now you understand that design isn't as simple as drawing in MS Paint and why hiring a designer is essential. You might be wondering what sets us apart from others. Is it just our thorough design approach?

No, we don't just design with care; we create designs tailored to your needs.

We Stay in Touch with Our Clients to Provide the Best Solutions for Their Needs

Throughout the entire process, close contact is maintained with clients to ensure solutions truly meet their needs. The design process remains transparent through the use of diagrams like flowcharts and the offering of different design options. Prototype review links are provided, designs are updated based on client feedback, and better solutions are suggested when complications arise.

We use Industry-Standard Tools to Design and Develop

One of the key elements that set professional UX/UI designers apart is their use of industry-standard tools like Adobe Suite. These tools offer a plethora of features that enable designers to create visually appealing and highly functional interfaces.

• Transparency and Control: you have full control over your product, even when it's time to hand it over for development or further enhancements.
• Consistency in Design: Adobe Suite allows for consistent design across different platforms, ensuring that your app looks and feels the same whether it's being used on a mobile device or a desktop computer.

We Stay Ahead with the Latest Trends & Best Practices

The field of UX/UI design is ever-evolving, with new trends and laws emerging regularly. FONSEKA’s designers stay updated with these changes by constantly refreshing their minds with the latest in industrial UX laws.

• Adapting to New Trends: FONSEKA ensures that your app not only meets current standards but also anticipates future ones. Allowing you to stay competitive in the market.
• Enhancing User Satisfaction: Adhering to industrial UX laws helps in creating designs that are intuitive and user-friendly, we commit to boosting productivity as users can navigate through the app effortlessly.

We Build UX Designs with Tailwind CSS

We at FONSEKA build our designs using Tailwind CSS, a utility-first CSS framework known for its flexibility and efficiency.

• Speedy Development: Tailwind CSS allows for rapid prototyping without compromising on quality. This means quicker turnaround times from design to deployment, making your app more efficient right from the start.
• Easy Handover for Development: You can take your product to another developer without any hassle as Tailwind's utility classes make it straightforward for anyone familiar with CSS frameworks to pick up where you left off.

Get Professional UX Designs With FONSEKA

Investing in professional UX/UI design isn't just about making your app look good—it's about creating an experience that resonates with your users and makes their interactions seamless and enjoyable. At FONSEKA, we believe in the power of thoughtful design to transform not only how users perceive your brand but also how efficiently they can achieve their goals.

We are not just graphic designers; we are partners in bringing your vision to life. Our approach is rooted in understanding your unique needs and crafting solutions that are both beautiful and practical.

Reach out today—we are excited to hear from you and explore how we can elevate your digital presence through exceptional design!

More Related Readings:

1. 5 Factors to Consider When Developing a Mobile App
2. The Importance of App Personalisation: Enhancing User Experience
3. Elevating User Experience: The Power of Avatars in App Design
4. Key UX Elements in Lifestyle Self-Improvement Apps
5. Simplicity in Complex Digital World: Minimalist UX/UI Designs

Source(s):

1. 50+ Powerful UX Statistics To Impress Stakeholders 2024