Every time you purchase something new and try to exploit it, you get some emotions and thoughts, and conclusions that the professionals identify as user experience.
In the case of creating a sought-after app, such an experience becomes a cornerstone of the ability of the service to conquer customers’ hearts. That’s why the leading companies are investing tremendous sums in their deliverables in order to make sure that the product will bring a positive impression.
They’re acquainted with the statistics that confirm the ROI of well-tailored UX design can reach 10,000%.
Many startup founders neglect this part of development that often entails disappointments: GooglePlay says that every fourth app in the store was used only once.
So, it makes sense to reserve a part of the budget for booking a highly qualified project that works on the design of product architecture.
On the path to figuring out how much money it will require, learn about the benefits and factors impacting UX design cost. The Purrweb agency accumulated some useful notes related to the issue intending to shed light on the essential nuances.
UI & UX design: the fundamental difference between them
Let’s save you from jumbling these definitions: mulling UX design and design of the user interface is a common delusion among newbies in digital entrepreneurship.
As a misconstrued phenomenon, UX design is often perceived as a visual part of the app: GUI. Though creating a graphical interface is an intrinsic part of UX design, the definition is much deeper: it includes a bunch of activities targeted to predict users’ behavior and satisfy them in functional as well as visual parts.
Let’s illustrate it with a simple example: guess, you’ve bought a car and now you’re enjoying its capacity to develop speed, the comfort of a chair, easy-to-navigate control panel, fuel consumption, engine sound, etc.
So, your user experience is inspiring and there’s no reason for getting rid of the vehicle. Add to this its beautiful body style design of your preferred color – parallel with UI design – and you’ll get almost an ideal acquisition.
Your future app is like a car: to retain visitors it should have not only a stylish look but surprise with its delicate ability to divine users’ needs and actions, satisfying expectations.
Value of UX design: why it deserves contributing
Though there’s no scale to weigh the quality of UX design at once, the consequences of failed user experience can be discovered very fast: bouncing and descending traffic, less loyalty and approving reviews, and less profit, respectively.
In contrast, a product that delights the user’s eye and makes them feel easy and safe while using it usually has no obstacles to effective customer retention, higher loyalty, and more willingness to pay.
Reaching such an effect depends on the competencies of the team you cooperate with.
The depth of analytical skills paired with graphical artists’ and marketogists’ talents determine how business relevant and inviting the UX design is performed. Put in a bit of effort to search for a team that includes not only a graphic designer but a UX designer and UX-analyst.
Attributes of high fidelity UX design
The best sign of the potential breakthrough UX design of the product, the user can navigate it like a fish in the river and feel delighted enough to recommend it to his close environment.
Let’s enumerate the attributes that transfer the look and architecture of your product into the range of successful projects.
- Aesthetic look with trendy details
Who wants to use an app with a design that looks like a fossil? Outdated fonts and icons, non-stylish forms of buttons and sliders, last-century illustrations… it still happens more often than you think.
Of course, creating authors’ illustrations specifically for your product costs much. Animated graphics can require a lot of internet traffic and push your product out of competitiveness.
But there’s always a way to make the interface captivating with other elements: freshly published fonts, eligible colorful palettes, applicable photos or pictures, etc.
- Intuitive layout of elements
There’s no need to call your best friend at midnight in order to invite him to brainstorm how to add, delete or change something in the app. All settings are comprehensible, all features are structured in a way that eliminates the opportunity for one to “get lost” in the app.
If there’s a place for some ambiguity, the specific hints don’t allow the user to lose the path.
- Flawless work of the app
Such things as fast downloading, and adequate displaying of the content also impact the first impression. To prevent any drawbacks, the UX design team can avoid heavy graphics or apply specific formats of graphics (Scalable Vector Graphics) that are able to be automatically adjusted for various types of devices.
Trends of UX design in 2023
Trying to create an up-to-date interface, customers take stock of the latest notable trends. Simplicity, clarity, and intuitive navigation, nowadays, aren’t trends anymore: these are the standards of user-friendly UX design.
Every year there are some changes in the industry like in fashion: some trends are “eternal”, and some are actually for several months or years. Target to create a stylish interface but enough universal in order to escape redesign in the nearest future.
Some tendencies like attention to ombre and gradient are returning their positions though a year ago it was a taboo.
And there are some trends that have been demonstrating their longevity for many years. We’re sure they will be appropriate in the next five years.
1. Minimalism
To focus attention only on the essential content and avoid any distractions is the essence of such an approach. The minimum number of the most significant features is an indicator of good taste.
2. Handmade graphics
People are fed up with stock illustrations, so there’s a green light to something original and fresh. Handmade live pictures look more engaging than polished staged footage.
3. Integration with wearable devices
Since people spend more and more time with smartwatches or something like that, the ability to connect the app anywhere is a highly desirable feature.
4. Off-the-white
The typical white isn’t fashionable anymore: only diverse shades of it: gray, vanilla, ivory, creamy, cinerary, etc.
5. Typography: clean and bold
Some intricate fonts are outdated: the right way forward is to respect the user’s time and attention and offer solutions that depict simple forms and lines. No heavy ornaments or decorations: any excessive elements look annoying and outdated.
6. Cross-device user journey
Most users make boards between various types of devices while surfing the app. So, in projecting user flow, the expert should take into account the task to make the user experience uninterrupted.
For example, the user is selecting the tour on the iPad, but when he has chosen the one he needs his smartphone with an e-wallet for paying. How to provide effective and continuous experience without losses of information, effort and time is a challenge for the project team.
7. Video and augmented reality
This is still one of the most effective ways to involve users in a space where the items can be explored all around and be available for interaction. Video is also trendy since it increases the trust from users’ side to the products, services, and other users’ personalities.
If we are talking in bare outlines, the most trendy design presupposes inviting users into a futuristic universe with advanced technologies. But selecting your own style for the interface, look up not to the propagandized trends but to your own values and vision.
If you appreciate human values and achievements, your product should reflect this uniqueness. The most advanced way is to combine wisely the most suitable trends with unique features of your business.
Attaching significance to the uprising trends, don’t lose common sense: ask experts whether your business can win with definite innovations.
How to estimate UX design cost
There are two parts to this equation: the amount of time that your project will take and the hourly rates of the UX design team. The hourly rates are explained by the team’s location and qualifications.
The same level of quality in services will cost two-three times more expensive in the USA than in eastern Europe and five-six times higher than in some Asian countries.
This fact entails a gaining popularity trend for offshore outsourcing services. If you’re wondering how to calculate approximately an adequate price of UX design for the project, figure out how much time it will require to create a clickable prototype and compare various hourly rates in diverse agencies.
The Purrweb team has estimated that the minimum average time for projecting interface and visual architecture is about 120 hours. If we multiply the number by the $50 hourly rate in the agency, we’ll see that the minimum average cost of UX design equals $6000.
The wise way to find out how much this part of the development will require is to ask for estimations from different companies in order to compare the offers.
Be aware: there are often some nuances like the number of experts in the team or some agencies lowering the price at the initial stage in order to receive your project and add some additional bills later. Try to clear up the system of work before you sign an agreement.
Regardless of the scale of your business, don’t underestimate the significance of a masterfully performed product and select the contractor leaning not on the lowest price in the market, but in accordance with an unsurpassed portfolio, inspiring clients’ reviews and time-tested competencies.
