{"id":86353,"date":"2021-11-18T12:58:49","date_gmt":"2021-11-18T20:58:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thegood.com\/?post_type=insights&p=86353"},"modified":"2025-04-21T13:03:53","modified_gmt":"2025-04-21T20:03:53","slug":"user-centered-design","status":"publish","type":"insights","link":"https:\/\/thegood.com\/insights\/user-centered-design\/","title":{"rendered":"Ecommerce User-Centered Design: Core Principles That Drive Better Results"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

When shoppers arrive on your ecommerce website, you want them to feel at home. You want them to feel like your site was made specifically for them, like everything is right where they left it. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Why should the experience feel<\/em> familiar and intuitive? It\u2019s not complex: Customers who feel known<\/em> and understood<\/em> are more likely to buy from you. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Therefore, the design of your store – and your entire business – should come from a place of empathy. You need to create a customer-centric experience if you want to maximize conversion. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In this article, we\u2019ll briefly define the concept of user-centered design and explain why it\u2019s important for ecommerce. Then we\u2019ll lay out the fundamentals of user-centered design and teach you the process. Our aim is to provide you with practical, usable ideas you can leverage to boost your key performance indicators across the board with a user-centered website.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What is User-Centered Design?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

User-centered design is an iterative design process where you focus on your users\u2019 needs. It\u2019s how you create valuable, intuitive, and accessible products and experiences for your customers. The international standard 13407<\/a> is the basis for many UCD methodologies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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A keyword there is \u201citerative.\u201d This isn\u2019t something you do once and forget about. Understanding your users\u2019 needs and baking that learning into your store is an ongoing process that only ends when you close up shop or sell the business. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

User-centered design comes from a place of empathy with your customers. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Keep in mind that you don\u2019t need to optimize your ecommerce<\/a> experience for all humans. You only need to focus on certain visitors – the ones who are most likely to become customers. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The user-centered design process requires four important phases: context, requirements, design, and evaluation. Once you complete a cycle of this design process, it starts all over again from the top. We explain this process in more detail below. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Why User-Centered Design is Crucial to Ecommerce<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

User-centered design is a clear way to boost your ecommerce conversions<\/a>, improve customer engagement, and create a better overall experience. Let\u2019s illustrate this with a fictional example. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Imagine you are an amateur guitarist. You’re done with your cheap starter guitar and ready to move on to something more serious. So you visit a popular online guitar store. When you arrive on the site, you are immediately overwhelmed by choices. There are links to different guitar styles and types (which you don\u2019t understand) and guitar brands (which you\u2019ve never heard of). You don’t understand what any of this means, so you leave the site.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On another guitar vendor\u2019s site, you find categories for \u201cbest amateur guitars\u201d and \u201cbest guitars under $300.\u201d Those are exactly what you\u2019re looking for, so you start there. You find a much<\/em> smaller selection of guitars. Now your decision is much easier.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The first site isn\u2019t designed for new guitarists, but the second one knows that new guitarists don\u2019t have enough knowledge to make complex decisions. They need recommendations that make their choices simpler. At this point in their musical hobby, price is a bigger factor than, say, string material or fretboard length. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Does this mean the first site has a poor user experience? Not exactly. It just means they are focused on a different kind of customer. Perhaps their customers are experienced guitars who already know enough to make decisions about style, brand, and other details. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

And that\u2019s just one example of how user-centered design affects the ecommerce experience. Imagine that same vein of thinking throughout every element<\/em> on your site – your navigation menu, your category pages, footer links, etc. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Implementing user-centered design principles offers three big benefits: <\/p>\n\n\n\n

1. User-centered design improves the customer\u2019s experience <\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Customer experience is the biggest benefit of user-centered design. It makes it easy for users to navigate and explore your ecommerce site because it matches the journey with their expectations and needs. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The easier it is for them to find and checkout with the items they want, the more you\u2019re going to be able to sell them. Strong user-centered design fine-tunes the interaction between buyers and your website.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Good website design means putting information and actions in front of the user at the right time so their path to conversion is smooth and frictionless. You want them to effortlessly land on product pages that make sense for their needs<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Notice how Apple uses a clever row of icons within their Mac category to help you find the right subcategory. This helps users understand, at a glance, what they need. If a customer isn\u2019t sure which product is right for them, the icons give them visual clues. For instance, you can tell right away that iMacs are not<\/em> laptops. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The goal of user-centered design is to create an intuitive experience. Ideally, your website visitors shouldn’t even be aware that you have taken steps to create a quality experience. This is one of those things that’s invisible if it works.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

2. User-centered design establishes credibility<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

People want to be known. They want to know that you understand them well enough to provide solutions to their problems. When they realize that you understand them, you become a trusted ally in their eyes. Thus, they become far more willing<\/em> to make a purchase. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

You can establish this credibility by creating an ecommerce experience that meets their specific needs. They say, \u201cAh, finally someone who knows what I want.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Target excellently builds credibility with their customers by including this row on their home page. They know that some customers come to their store to buy gifts, but don\u2019t know what to get. In response, Target built custom categories to help them find the perfect presents. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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If users don\u2019t find you credible, there\u2019s no way<\/em> they will trust you with their money or private information. They will assume that your lack of credibility extends to your products. 95% of new products launched each year fail<\/a> because of a lack of perceived credibility.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Keep in mind that this credibility doesn\u2019t develop spontaneously. It requires you to consistently meet their needs with each interaction, before, during, and after the transaction. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

3. User-centered design fosters customer loyalty<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

The formula is simple: If customers have a good experience on your site (because it\u2019s made specifically for them), they are more likely to return in the future. We all shop at Amazon because the experience is reliable and fast. Though you may not be able to replicate the hundreds of tests their team runs to improve user experience and profitability, you can study your users at a smaller scale and create experiences that help them purchase the products they want and need. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In fact, you can even go so far as to think of user-centered design as part of your relationship with your customers. Creating an experience that serves them well is a function of empathy<\/em>.  Answering their questions before they ask is – in a roundabout way – conversation. <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Consider Warby Parker\u2019s offer. They know their customers want to try on glasses before they commit to buying. But that was previously impossible when purchasing online, so they give customers the opportunity to try multiple pairs at home and send the unneeded ones back. After using a system like this, could you imagine going anywhere else to buy glasses online?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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User-Centered Design Principles<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

In the hyper-competitive world of ecommerce, one little tweak can spell the difference between a happy customer and a lost transaction. If your website helps your visitors reach their goals, they will see value in it. If you do it better than other brands, then you have a significant competitive advantage. Therefore, user-centered design principles are at the core of conversion rate optimization.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Your best prospects have two primary desires when they visit your ecommerce website: research products and buy products. Your job is to make it super-easy to do both by following these 12 principles.<\/p>\n\n\n\n