Inspiring UX design examples for your next project

These days, user experience design is everything. Website and app users expect technologies that are as functional and logical as they are “pretty.” Companies that don't incorporate a UX/UI plan into their designs to engage users end up falling behind the competition at alarming rates.

To avoid these types of problems, companies must strive to create engaging user experiences that exceed customer expectations without excessive hassle. The best examples of UX design combine aesthetics with an easy-to-navigate customer journey.

How can companies encourage users to return and attract new users? They must create a captivating experience. Take a look at the examples below of companies that are masters at guiding user behavior through well-honed UX designs.

Do you need a user experience overhaul?

Before embarking on a journey to improve the user experience of any type of product, such as a website, app, or blog post, it is important to assess your current position. Are users able to easily navigate your website or app, or do they encounter problems? Do you offer a minimal or complex interface? Is it consistent and responsive on both desktop and mobile devices? Do you have a journey that tasks users with navigating the website or app without a clear layout or roadmap?

Some signs that companies need to consider revamping their UX design include:

• A wave of complaints from website or application users regarding their usability
• A sharp decline in traffic and user numbers
• Various metrics and reports that specific features are no longer used
• High uninstall rate of the application or software
• A significant reluctance among users to upgrade to a newer version of the digital product/solution
• An old-fashioned or outdated-looking interface

While it's definitely possible that some of these signs point to issues unrelated to the user experience, companies that encounter these issues would do well to conduct thorough testing to determine whether the user experience is up to par.

Most likely, this examination will reveal UX-related concerns that require a major overhaul of the most critical parts of digital solutions.

The fundamentals of UX design

UX design acts as a blueprint for creating efficient, user-friendly, and pleasing digital interfaces and layouts for websites, apps, software systems, and more.

Although many people confuse UX design with traditional graphic design, the latter goes beyond aesthetics and visual content and focuses on improving user satisfaction.

By understanding and prioritizing users' needs and preferences, these technologies encourage more intuitive and engaging user interactions. A well-designed and implemented UX not only significantly boosts business growth, but also promotes higher levels of customer retention and encourages more positive reviews.

Several basic principles and key features guide a design team in optimizing a technology's user experience.

• Simplicity acts as a cornerstone of the practice, emphasizing clear, clean, and intuitive designs to avoid user frustration.
• Usability is a fundamental part of the UX process, allowing users to perform easier and more straightforward tasks.
• To promote seamless interaction, the principle of consistency ensures uniformity across various sectors of the application or website.
• Accessible UX design is critical because it promotes inclusion by serving all users, including individuals with special needs.
• Providing immediate feedback is also an invaluable principle that involves helping users by guiding or confirming their actions to create a more efficient and rewarding user journey.

Top UX design examples

Each type of technology requires a unique UX design approach based on the product's goal and end users' journey.

Network

For websites, the best examples of good UX design combine ease of use with intuitive interfaces, fast load times, clear calls to action, and mobile optimization. These factors brought together on a website offer users a seamless and enjoyable browsing experience, as well as higher user satisfaction and engagement rates.

Ecommerce Websites

The main factors that contribute to stellar UX design on eCommerce websites are those that help elevate the shopping experience and increase conversion rates.

This includes intuitive navigation to ensure easy access to multiple product categories, responsive search functionality for instant, relevant results, and a streamlined checkout process for reduced cart abandonment rates.

Personalized recommendations also improve user engagement. A prime example is Amazon, which demonstrates this principle well. Take a look at this UX design example:

Blogs or news sites

UX is also important for blogs and news sites. A well-planned content layout with organized sections and a logical flow assists in more fluid navigation, thus helping to retain readers' attention more effectively.

Typography is an important element of this UX. It also facilitates readability by presenting information in an attractive format. Compelling images add visual dimension and complement textual content to cultivate a rich, engaging user experience, encouraging repeat visits and sustained engagement. CNN.com does a good job of displaying a significant amount of information while keeping things organized and easy to navigate.

Portfolio Websites

A portfolio website must strike a balance between showcasing users' work and ensuring an excellent user experience. This involves ensuring that the meticulous display of work does not overshadow the ease of navigation through the site.

Features like filters, intuitive navigation tabs, and user-centric design elements also improve user engagement levels. Behance.net is a great example of a well-designed portfolio website.

Mobile apps

Exemplary UX design is a fundamental part of successful mobile apps. Intuitive layouts and fast, responsive controls combined with personalized user experiences and helpful search functionality help promote more frequent app usage and facilitate better user engagement.

Fitness Tracking Apps

UX design in fitness tracking apps requires the logical representation of data that allows users to quickly understand their progress and health statistics. Smooth navigation between various health metrics is an essential part of a successful fitness app, as are seamless transitions, straightforward data visualizations, and easy-to-use navigation.

MyFitnessPal is the right choice for many users due to its solid UX design.

Food Delivery Apps

These types of apps require simple and efficient UX design. This includes intuitive filters and search functionality to allow users to easily find their favorite cuisines and restaurants. An organized layout with a focus on high-quality images helps users make informed choices, while a streamlined checkout process further improves the overall app experience. Uber Eats excels at creating an easy-to-navigate, stress-free customer journey.

Desktop Software

For desktop applications and systems, the best UX design emphasizes intuitive interfaces and easy navigation through the program's diverse functionalities. With features like responsive controls, clear menus, and easy-to-access tools combined with aesthetically pleasing visuals, desktop apps create easy-to-use environments for greater productivity and a more successful user journey.

Photo editing software

The arrangement of tools and a layout that promotes usability and accessibility are fundamental in creating a successful photo editing program. This type of software has the potential for a high level of complexity, which means UX designers must put user needs ahead of anything else. A good user experience also helps flatten the learning curve for novice editors. Adobe Photoshop is the gold standard of photo editing software.

Productivity Bundle

UX design has a huge impact on the success of a productivity software suite because it influences user satisfaction and effectiveness. One of the most prominent features of this type of software is the incorporation of collaboration features, which help users work as a team on projects and workspaces. Cloud sync and real-time editing features further enhance the user experience.

Google Workspace brings together all of these tools and more into a single, blockbuster toolkit.

Common UX design pitfalls and how to avoid them

There are several common UX design mistakes that can lead to cluttered, ineffective designs and dissatisfied users. Some of the most frequent pitfalls of UX design include the following.

Overloading the layout with resources

Including too many features often detracts from a product's usability while reducing the simplicity and focus of effective UX design. Overly cluttered apps overwhelm and deter users with unused features, too many options, and so on. Overly complex websites with pop-ups, advertisements and many options also drive users away from the website.

A UX designer must continually strive to create the most streamlined design possible while prioritizing essential functionality with easy-to-use interfaces. This helps improve customer satisfaction and encourages greater engagement rather than deterring users.

Ignoring mobile users

With the exponential increase in mobile web usage, which now comprises 58.5% of total global online traffic, companies that choose to ignore mobile optimization alienate more than half of the potential online audience.

UX designers must adopt responsive design principles that allow websites to adapt seamlessly to a wide range of devices and screen sizes. Prioritizing mobile-friendly design helps businesses serve a larger audience while boosting engagement and satisfaction levels.

Neglecting accessibility

UX designers should strive to make each digital product accessible to all members of their potential user base through inclusive design principles.

Recognizing and meeting the diverse needs of all users means producing alternative text (alt text) for images, providing keyboard navigation mechanisms, choosing color schemes friendly to the visually impaired, and implementing screen readers, among other steps.

Tips for inspiration from UX examples

No matter the designer's experience level, taking inspiration from existing UX examples is often part of the design process because it creates fertile ground for improvement and innovation.

However, these examples should remain just that: inspiration. Directly copying designs and design elements does not help create a unique and personalized user experience for customers.

Designers must focus on deeply understanding user needs so they can align those needs with business goals to create a harmonious interface that resonates with the target audience and enhances product intent.

Many online platforms strive to build an environment of creativity among the design community by showcasing effective designs of their users' existing websites and apps. Dribble and Behance are two great examples of sites that serve as inspiration boards for UX designers.

Overcoming UX problems

To begin creating a solution for a broken UX, companies need to gain a solid understanding of users' needs through some of the following options:

• Focus groups for direct end-user feedback
• Heatmaps to track movements, clicks, and so on
• Reports on unused resources
• Software performance and responsiveness testing across devices and platforms
• A/B testing for layouts and aesthetics
• Analyzing competitors

Design Thinking

A design thinking mindset helps designers create the tools to challenge assumptions about a design, thus providing space for redefining issues to see alternative solutions. The 5 classic phases of design thinking include:

1. Empathize with users' pain points.
2. Define and interpret data collected from key issues, followed by creating user personas for further testing.
3. Idealize by generating new ideas that redefine the user experience with disruptive results.
4. Prototype new ideas to bring changes and ideas to life.
5. Test prototypes to assess whether they solve the original UX problems. If not, restart the process.

Conclusion

From robust desktop systems and productivity suites to mobile apps and e-commerce websites, companies must ensure that each of their digital products features effective UX design.

This goes far beyond pleasing aesthetics and includes important factors like accessibility for everyone, intuitive navigation, inclusive designs, mobile optimization, and more.

UX design makes or breaks customer satisfaction and retention in the modern digital world. Without thoughtful, thoroughly tested, and engaging UX designs, companies alienate their customers and eventually lose revenue.

Common questions

What is the difference between UX and UI?

UX and UI are connected but differ in scope. A user interface designer’s job is to focus exclusively on UI Design – the more “traditional” design aspects of a digital product. This includes visual cues, a web page's layout and aesthetics, graphics, and other important design elements.

User experience designers create and improve the functionality and feel of a product to ensure better user satisfaction and retention rates. Both types of designers often work together as a team to create products that are aesthetically pleasing and easy to use.

Why is UX design crucial for companies?

UX design is a vital part of a successful online presence because it directly influences customer retention and satisfaction. User interfaces created by UX designers increase conversion rates and improve user engagement, keeping users coming back for more. UX design remains a crucial part of creating any digital product.

Can Good UX Design Improve SEO Rankings?

Yes, UX design improves SEO rankings by combining a positive user experience with fast load times and mobile optimization to reduce bounce rates and increase the time a user spends on a website. These are influential factors in SEO rankings. Major search engines like Google are already incorporating UX-centric metrics into their ranking algorithms.

How often should UX design be updated or revised?

Generally, companies should update their UX design every 3-5 years unless they see a significant decline in the number of website visitors/app users or receive negative feedback from customers about their experiences.