How persuasive design and impactful content builds great digital experiences

Usability is a great way to enhance the effectiveness of your site, but in an age where an alternative option is only a click away, is it enough to keep your users engaged?
Great content is the foundation of your website. The content you produce plays a fundamental role in marketing campaigns and needs to work in tandem with both code and design. It's also what your customers want.

Chris and Dan will explain the fundamentals of creating persuasive design and impactful content, then share tips on how the two should work together for your business.

In this webinar you will learn:
- Introduction to persuasive design
- How design can influence user behaviour
- The relationship between content and user experience
- How to define meaningful content
- Techniques to improve your website and services

Transcript

1. How persuasive design and impactful content builds great digital experiences Sigma & Siteimprove | December 2nd, 2020
2. Chris Bush Head of Design, Sigma UK Dan Sitner Digital Practice Director, Siteimprove UK Your Presenters:
3. - Introduction to persuasive design - Understanding user behaviour when engaging with content rich sites - The relationship between content and user experience - How to define meaningful content - Techniques to improve your website and services
4. wearesigma.com @wearesigma Introduction to persuasive design
5. wearesigma.com @wearesigma Persuasive design (or PET Theory) is a series of principles (based on cognitive biases) that help teams align usability, psychology and marketing principles with their digital products. ▸ Persuasion Principles used to encourage or discourage behaviours during a process. ▸ Emotion Principles used to encourage an emotional response such as satisfaction, achievement, empathy or surprise during a process. ▸ Trust Principles used to establish confidence during a process. For example, perceptions of security and credibility. Persuasive design
6. wearesigma.com @wearesigma Search engine optimised Usable Persuasive Capturing user engagement
7. wearesigma.com @wearesigma Search engine optimised Usable Persuasive Capturing user engagement Can do Will do Motivate Encourage Constrain
8. wearesigma.com @wearesigma How design can influence our behaviour in the real world
9. A USABLE DOOR
10. INTRODUCING PERSUASION
11. PERSUASION TO REDUCE ERROR
12. wearesigma.com @wearesigma Understanding how users interact with information online
13. wearesigma.com @wearesigma ► On average, most adults read about 190-225 words per minute when reading online content These are people whose first language is English, reading English ► People forage for information; they do not read whole sections or pages in sequence ► Users “hunt down” information based on its “scent” ► They scan each page looking for signposts and visual cues ► They are focused on specific information, goals and phrases How we read online
14. wearesigma.com @wearesigma ► What users notice when they get to this content ► Headings stand out ► Details fade into the background ► This helps them navigate (It doesn’t help them read) Scanning text-heavy content
15. wearesigma.com @wearesigma Usability specialist Jakob Nielsen analysed website access data to calculate the average time that users spend reading a web page: ► Average reading time = 25 seconds + (4.4 seconds per 100 words) ► Let’s consider three hypothetical pages. Nielsen’s formula predicts that, at 200 words a minute, a user will read the following amounts: Reading content Words on page Time spent reading Words read (maybe) 952 ~1 minute ~200 1,931 ~2 minutes ~400 14,341 ~11 minutes ~2200
16. wearesigma.com @wearesigma Which means…
17. wearesigma.com @wearesigma A 2018 NN/g study found that users spend: ► 57% of their viewing time on the first screenful of content ► 74% on the first two screenfuls of content Scrolling pages 1st 2nd
18. wearesigma.com @wearesigma Tips and techniques to improve your own sites and services
19. wearesigma.com @wearesigma Organise your content and navigation around user needs Consider focusing on the top tasks of your users
20. wearesigma.com @wearesigma Content summaries help users quickly build a mental model of the content in a section and decide a route forward (or back)
21. wearesigma.com @wearesigma Frame information so that it aligns with to your user’s needs and expectations
22. wearesigma.com @wearesigma Ensure your content is clear ► Establish a clear visual hierarchy that supports scanning ► Use headings correctly (H1 > H2 > H3 > etc) ► Check your contents readability tools like Siteimprove or Hemingwayap
23. wearesigma.com @wearesigma Break content up into smaller easily distinguishable chunks to aid scanning
24. wearesigma.com @wearesigma Quaternary action Primary action Secondary action Tertiary action Make sure you have a clear interaction hierarchy
25. wearesigma.com @wearesigma Ensure microcopy and calls to action are user centred and focus on the user’s expected outcome For example: • “Start my free 30 day trial” over “Start your free 30 day trial” • “Get information” over “Order information” • “Join now” over “Sign-up” / “Create account” • “Get 3 months free” over “Download now”
26. wearesigma.com @wearesigma For processes show users where they are in their journey and how much further they need to go
27. wearesigma.com @wearesigma ► Focus on user needs and their objectives (Top tasks) ► Provide a structure that supports scanning ► Ensure that calls-to-action are clear and easily understood Recap Useful links http://www.getmentalnotes.com/cards https://theteamw.com/#books http://goodui.com Next ► The relationship between content and UX ► How to define meaningful content ► How content changes across the customer journey
29. 500M 90M 70M
31. Data/Image Source: Havas
32. What people are looking for Content What brands want to say
33. Google Panda Update 2011 Google Penguin Update Update 2012 Google Hummingbird Update 2013 Google announce mobile-first index 2016 Mobile First Index Rolls Out 2018
34. Data/Image Source: Google
35. Data/Image Source: Google
36. Data/Image Source: Google
38. Define • What do you want to achieve? Plan • What data do we have about this topic? Distribute • How are we going to reach people?
40. Image Source: Apple
41. In the first month after launch, Virgin Media Ireland experienced: ✓ An overall 6% drop in calls to the Support team (exceeding the objective of 4%) Specific call drivers to the call center were drastically reduced, including: ✓ 63% drop in calls from the Moving Home page ✓ 22% reduction in calls from the Contact Us page ✓ 19% reduction in calls from the Support landing page Image/Data Source: Nomensa, Virgin Media
42. Image/Data Source: CopylBlogger, Pinterest ✓ 80% of people will read your headlines ✓ 20% of those people will read the rest of your content
43. Image/Data Source: SEMrush
44. Pillar content Cluster content Hyperlinks