I don’t normally write on my blog. However, after a recent meeting with a client, I need to talk about the types of users we encounter.
It might help UI designers think like UX designers (yes, there’s a difference).
Let me start by settings this one up. (pictures coming soon – sorry about wall of text)
Assume the UI designer had created a long one page informational website. These types of sites are pretty standard, call to actions (CTAs) all over the place. Information about the product or company one section at a time. “We love our company/product and so should you…”, “Our company/product is the greatest because…” — you get the point.
Again, these are your standard landing pages. You should always have the most important stuff at the top. Why? Because it’s important! You already knew that though.
Now what if your client feel that EVERYTHING is important? Did I mention the important thing is actually on the bottom? Then what? This is where you need to think like ALL types of users at the same time, not just the typical UX design thinking where you need to get the user from Point A to Point B in the fewest of clicks. We’re at the mercy of the UI designer at the moment.
To make this easier to understand, we’re going to make this a product. Better yet, 2 products.
User 1: The impulse buyer
These are the users that will hand over their money no matter the cost. They make their buying decision right when the website loads. So a hero image with a CTA, or sliders that are all flashy, really grab the attention of these users. These are the ones that either hear about the product, or are sold when they see it. We give them a “Buy Now” button immediately…right smack at the top!
They will click and click until it’s theirs. They are OK with that extra click, or just don’t notice.
I honestly feel that sometimes, as a company, you owe it to them to make sure they know what they are getting. So we’ll give the Product A and Product B on the next click. Let’s face it, they know what they’re getting, they will click on what they already want.
For their sake, we’ll give them the another “Buy Now!” button on this product collection page. Done. We love these impatient people! (you know who you are)
User 2: The impulse informative buyer
These are just like your typical impulse buyer, with one exception, they may have scrolled 0 – 25% down the page.
Let’s assume they acted like User 1. Click. “I WANT THAT!”
Remember that next page with 2 product choices? We give this type of user another type of choice. If they scrolled down 25% of the previous page, they may click the “Buy Now” button, because they are semi-informed. What if they clicked too early or are still a bit shaky giving away their money?
This user is given the “Learn More” or “More Detail” button. This one will bring the user to the product’s detail page. This page has the vital information of the product.
This user will more than likely scan through the description to make sure this is what they want even though they missed the part where it tells them you want another million and their first born child.
This user will click “Buy Now” and feel like they did their homework on the product. They know what they want, and needed to make sure of things. Most of us fall under this category.
User 3: The informative impulse buyer
These users are a bit different than the impulse informative buyer (yes, i know I moved 2 words around). These are the people who will look at the landing page, scroll all the way or almost all the way down the page. However, they don’t want to waste anymore time than they just did.
Remember, our important product is at the bottom. They will make it here! They have made an informative decision to make their purchase. We’ll give this user, a “Buy Now” button to quickly make their purchase. They did read the part about their first born and are OK with it.
This is pretty straight forward, and we hope we have these users to prevent returns.
User 4: The informative buyer
This user is the one you want to hire for your company. They know your product better than you! However, you need to convince them to make a purchase.
This user will make the most clicks possible. They will read the landing page more than once. They will check reviews. They will ask their friends, even the ones from that social networking forum that has absolutely nothing to do with the product. Throw most UX design out the window.
These are the users that are like User 2. We need to show them the 2 product choices. They will also want more detail of the product no matter what. This is why we have a product detail page. This page highlights everything we’ve mentioned previously. So of course we’ll give them a “Buy Now” button! They’ve made it this far, it’s up to them to buy.
There’s more….
While these are your major 4 user types, there are others. Some can be any one of the above, but will come back later. They may need to wait for their next paycheck.
No matter what, someone will fall under the 4 user types, re-targeting will be the next key element….leave that to your marketing people! Or maybe the next post.