Designing a world-beating frontend for your Software, website or digital service is vital. These tips on how to make a slick frontend help you tidy up the frontend of your software, website, or platform.
Software, for businesses at least, makes the world go round. When you’re logging into Microsoft Teams, using Zoom for your meetings and interviews, or heading over to Slack for your team updates, there’s no end to the software that’s used in the business environment in 2020. And, with employees increasingly working remotely, engagement with teamwork and collaboration apps has seen a rapid increase since the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic.
To navigate this perfect storm and the rise of business software, here are some tips to help you tidy up the frontend of your website, app, or platform.
Users First
Where the backend is where you’re leaving all your plumbing and circuitry to third parties and the techno-whizzes in whom you trust with the technical details, the frontend is all about user journeys and user experiences. Whenever someone logs onto your app, or visits your website, you want them to feel relaxed and ready to explore or engage with the features that you’ve built. You want to dazzle them, but not overwhelm them. In short, you want to show them what they’re expecting to see.
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All of this boils down to keeping the user’s experience, or UX, at the top of your agenda. Without focusing on this all-important part of the digital service jigsaw, you’ll find that users quickly flock to other apps and websites that offer clearer instructions, simpler features, and a more user-friendly interface. Hire UX designers to help you nail the perfect look for your website or app – and make continual adjustments to ensure that you’re offering the best possible experience alongside your product.
Feedback
One of the most important features of web design is your ability to receive and act upon feedback from your users. If your users are running into technical issues, they want to be heard – they want to contribute to the fixing of a bug, or the patching of a particular weakness or blind spot in your frontend or backend. As such, you should always include a feature that allows users to get in touch about issues they’re experiencing with your app or website. Hire at least one full-time employee to manage these communications.
Above and beyond hiring someone, though, you should also consider using the third-party feedback solution that’ll plug into your current app or website, allowing users to file complaints and queries seamlessly. These additions to your website help you close the feedback loop on your specific technology, and be sure to notify users of the changes that you’re making to your stack.
Competition
As you’ll be well aware, the rise of the workplace app and the litany of business software solutions has been fitted with rocket boosters since the beginning of the pandemic. Not only are more people using technology to facilitate their work than ever before – but more people are creating software solutions for them to use, too. It’s within this hyper-competitive, high-volume climate that you’re trying to tempt users to your technological solution – with huge gains to be made if you manage to maintain your competitive edge.
To do this, you need to remain constantly on top of your competitors. Keep track of the features that they add, the pricing plans that they’re offering, and the number of downloads or users that they appear to be attracting. Watch out for major contracts, too, as this will give you a sense of who is looking for your kind of tech solution – and who is going with alternative providers. By keeping a check on your competitors, you’ll maintain your edge in the market – at the same time as bringing in features you see elsewhere directly to your front end.
Simplicity Matters
Of course, simplicity is one of the features of good UX. Users, whether they’re tech-savvy or not, want to be able to log-in to your software, app or website and immediately set to work adjusting your settings for their team or their specific workplace requirements. They don’t want to be assaulted by different buttons and stimuli that can be very difficult for them to adequately respond to. Often, over-complex apps are abandoned before users even give them a chance.
So simplicity is key. But this isn’t just a case of tailoring your tech to look and feel friction-free – it’s also important to bear in mind what your user is used to. Indeed, to a certain extent, you’re going to need to borrow from conventional web design and app design innovation in order for your users to be comfortable using your app. Don’t attempt to reinvent the wheel with your frontend – replicate what users see and interact with across the Internet, and in order apps, to give them the best chance of finding your tech simple and easy to use.
Beta Testing
If you’re about to launch your tech product – be it a new website, a fledgling app, or a platform that you’ve been working up for months – you should conduct at least a rudimentary beta test in order to ensure that everything is working as expected within your product. Get members of your company to download or log in to your product, and test all of the features. Invite your first few customers to enjoy a discount when they do the same – giving you valuable feedback before your launch.
On launch day itself – and in the days and weeks after your launch event – you want to be sure that there are no glitches in your frontend that you hadn’t anticipated or tested. You will still run into snags and bugs – this is nigh-on inevitable – but you’re trying to minimize those as much as possible through beta testing, ensuring that you don’t present users with difficult and off-putting experiences in their first weeks using your product. Look online for tips that’ll help you conduct a mature and simple beta test for your product.
Final Thoughts On Designing A Slick Frontend For Your Software
These tips are regarded as vital for those who are designing a world-beating frontend for their new app, website or digital service. Bear them in mind to ensure your users love using the product that you’ve worked so hard to create.
