Digital Products Archives

Technology is advancing, changing how users navigate websites, digital products, apps and interfaces. The user experience has become more enjoyable and much more efficient than it used to be.

Although these changes have become widely accepted by users and the teams that design them, there are still hurdles that can impact your website. There are design elements that have the power to enhance user experience, but if overused or not used correctly, they can cause your users to feel cognitive strain in order to get what they are seeking. Cognitive strain occurs when users have to go through hurdles when they are navigating complicated interfaces, leading to difficulty enjoying an experience or making decisions. Cognitive strain becomes distracting and can cause your users to leave your website.

Let’s explore a few digital design advancements, and how to use them just right.

Use Your Animations Purposefully

Interactive web animations are one of the many common ways designers create visually appealing web experiences that feel immersive. Web animations add a delightful extra layer to a design. However, it is key to ensure that they are not overused, as then they can lose their appeal and overstimulate your users. The best way to incorporate animation in a meaningful way is by analysing how to use them. Is the animation propelling the user forward in their journey in any way through a transition to another webpage? Is the loading time of the animation interrupting the flow of the overall experience—potentially causing increased bounce rates? These are elements to consider when incorporating animations into your website.

Subtle but powerful ways to include animations can be hover animations that grow or pulse, scroll animations that offer a dynamic transition to the next part of a website without too much motion, or even a moving graphical element that offers visual interest without getting in the way of any content. Fast-moving animations or animations that overtake the page can overstimulate your audience if overused; therefore, minimal movement is usually the better choice.

Consider Your Chatbot

Chatbots have been around for a while. They are used mainly to help with the automation of customer support, answering questions and more. Chatbots are integrated into e-commerce websites for product recommendations or streamlining questions for customer support, while service websites often use them for tasks such as scheduling appointments. Although they are handy when it comes to enabling businesses to handle larger quantities of user interactions, do you really need them on your website if it extends beyond e-commerce purposes?

Depending on your target audience and demographic, chatbots can be hit or miss. According to a study that surveyed different generations on their thoughts about chatbots, 20% of Gen Zers prefer to start customer service interactions with a chatbot, compared to only 4% of baby boomers. The latter are particularly unaccepting of chatbots that pop up on websites automatically: “53% of Boomer respondents indicated that uninitiated chatbots ‘annoyed’ them, compared to only 28% of millennials and 24% of Gen Z consumers.”

To create an overall enjoyable user experience for all, make sure that all of your users can easily and painlessly use your website to do the things they need to do. If your brand caters more to older generations, consider alternative communication and calls-to-actions that lead to fillable contact forms or email and phone number options. If your audience is a mixed bag, including chatbots can be helpful, as long as they don’t completely overtake the screen or are presented as a pop-up. Therefore, consider whether your website benefits from having a chatbot, or whether you can opt out with alternative options.

Optimize Your Assets

Grabbing your users’ attention is one of the main goals for robust web design; your visuals can impact that. Regarding the photography and other visual assets across your website, ensure that they are optimized for the web. Images that are too large can impact the loading time it takes for users to see them—furthering the chance of users experiencing cognitive strain and ultimately leaving your website. Forty percent of people will leave a website if it takes more than three seconds to load. To decrease the loading time of your photo assets, make sure they are no more than around 150 kilobytes, and that you resize original photos down closer to that resolution.

Images that have not been properly optimized also might not fit well within the design of your site. They might be too large or too small, or their resolution might not match the display capabilities of the device users are on. These inconsistencies can be distracting, making it harder for users to concentrate on the main content.

Optimizing your assets can also mean what kinds of images you’re using and how you’re using them. Using stock imagery, for example, can be a great way to incorporate elements that help tell the visual story of a website, but including photos of your actual company or brand can help elevate your user-centric approach and carry out your brand ethos further. Users are more likely to trust and feel the authenticity of your brand if you include photos that are company-related versus stock photography.

Using photos in the right context is also important. If a stock image isn’t directly related to the content it’s paired with, it can confuse users. They might exert unnecessary mental effort trying to connect the image with the content, causing cognitive strain.

As you navigate the ever-evolving landscape of digital design, it is imperative to make thoughtful and purposeful design decisions to avoid causing unnecessary cognitive acrobatics for your users. By fostering an environment of simplicity, user-centricity and contextual relevance, you can ensure that your website not only captivates and engages users but also that it facilitates a seamless and intuitive journey.

Feature Image Credit: getty

By Goran Paun

Creative Director of ArtVersion, a Chicago design consultancy. We craft ideal user experiences for the world’s most innovative companies. Read Goran Paun’s full executive profile here.

Follow me on Twitter or LinkedIn. Check out my website.

Sourced from Forbes

By Pratik Dholakiya

2020 has been a tough year, especially for small businesses. We have all had many eye-opening realizations about financial stability. And the most prominent one would be the fact that relying on one income stream is not an option anymore.

To survive and thrive in the post-COVID19 world, having multiple income streams has become a necessity. For small business owners, building a couple of passive income streams can ensure that your business can stick through the toughest times too.

When the times are tough, passive income streams can help you fund your small business, with almost little to no effort. In this article, let’s see some of the top passive income ideas that will support you during these unprecedented times.

What is Passive Income?

Passive income is the process of earning money from a business in which you aren’t actively involved anymore.

Many people mistake passive income for money that is earned from get-rich-quick schemes. That is not true. It cannot magically help you earn money instantly. Otherwise everyone today would be successfully owning multiple passive income businesses today.

Most passive income streams involve you putting in the initial hard work for weeks, months, or even years before it turns into a consistent passive income stream. Or, in the case of investments in rental properties or shares, you need to invest time and money to turn it into a passive income stream.

Passive Income Ideas for 2021

Let’s look at some of the top passive income ideas that are most suitable for small business owners in 2021.

1. Sell Online Courses

The eLearning market has been booming ever since the pandemic outbreak. Since everyone is stuck at home, more and more people are investing in online learning. So, why not make this your passive income idea?

As a business owner, you must be an expert in an area or two. You can easily monetize your expertise by creating and selling online courses. You can use platforms such as Udemy or Coursera, or you can even sell online courses on your website.

The idea will need an initial investment of time and money in creating high-quality digital courses. But once the course picks up, you’ll be earning a consistent passive income on the side.

2. Invest in Peer-to-Peer Loans

Using investment marketplaces such as Swaper, you can invest in peer-to-peer loans for other consumers. This idea will require an upfront investment from you. But you need not be actively involved in the process as the platform offers you auto investment options too.

Investing in P2P loans can be a great way to earn a significant income on the side to help you generate steady income to fund your small business during uncertain times.

3. Affiliate Marketing

Affiliate marketing is a great passive income idea as it involves earning commissions by promoting and selling others’ products. So, you don’t have to put in the efforts to create your own products. You can simply sell others instead.

Affiliate marketing can be a great option especially when you have a website with consistent traffic or a good digital following.

4. Sell Digital Products

Selling digital products is, again, a great way to generate steady income after you put in the initial hard work. Since there is no active inventory and physical shipping involved as in the case of physical products, the income turns passive after some time.

Your digital products can be ebooks, guides, templates, or even mobile apps. You can also sell audio tracks or professional stock photos, and generate royalties for them.

5. Create and Monetize a Blog or a YouTube Channel

Creating blogs and producing YouTube videos is one of the best options to generate a significant amount of passive income. Lots of people today, earn 6 and 7 figures through these ideas.

Unlike the other options, the kind of hard work and time required here will be much more. But, the potential to generate a significant amount of income is the highest here.

6. Invest in Real Estate

Real estate investments are one of the oldest forms of generating passive income. The initial investment will be expensive, but if you’ve got the money, then this is definitely a good option.

A downside of real estate investing is that it will go down if the economy is not good. But if you are ready to be patient and wait for the industry to get back, then nothing like this kind of passive income.

7. Rent out your Car

If you do not have the capital to invest in a rental property right now, you can rent out your car through apps like Turo.

All you need to do is some initial set up and you are good to go. Instead of simply sitting in your garage, your car can make some passive income on the side. This idea is a no-brainer and you can use this as your second or the third passive income stream alongside others.

Final Thoughts

To conclude, we can say that after the outbreak of the pandemic, relying on just one income stream is not the best idea.

If you are worried about your small business going into a loss, plan for it beforehand by building at least a couple of passive income streams that can keep you going even during the tough times. Use the ideas in this article to start working on your passive income idea.

Feature Image Credit: Depositphotos.com