Why it's Important Not to Be Lazy With UX Design

The problem with the annoying UX designs we hate is they are not malicious. They are just design patterns that people keep using, probably because they are easy to copy. No one intentionally wants to make visitors leave their site before converting.

Visitors get frustrated when you ask for a date, like their date of birth, only to find out they have entered it in an incorrect format. Tell them the format you need to see, such as MM/DD/YEAR, if that is what you need. Otherwise, supply them with a calendar where they can just click on a box. If there is an error, let them know immediately, not at the bottom of the page.

Naturally, you only want to ask for a birth date or other information if it is absolutely necessary. There once was a theory that said you should gather as much information about your visitors as possible. Today, you'll have people hitting the back button as soon as they can if you ask too much of them.

Another annoying feature is a pop-up box with no clearly obvious way to close it. Making the No Thanks in such a faint, small font, while the Yes, Sign Me Up is big and bold, is very annoying. Marketers love this, but then, they are not concerned about bounce rates.

Long drop down menus are also annoying. If you're over 50, you have to keep scrolling and scrolling to find your birth year. Also, if your site caters to people in the United States, put United States first in the drop down menu. Don't just list every country in the world, so users have to scroll endlessly, especially if you don't ship to 99 percent of them. People who use e-commerce CMSs are often guilty of this because it is a built-in feature.

If you want conversions, make your website UX friendly. Needlessly annoying visitors is bad business. It may take a little extra work on your part initially, but it is well worth it. For more information click here https://www.smashingmagazine.com/2021/05/frustrating-design-patterns-birthday-picker/.