With today’s need to gain a deeper understanding of user intent to create web designs that actually work for the user, it’s essential that UX web designers take macro and micro-design moments into account.
These moments identify user action and how users move around a website; they should be monitored and addressed to improve overall website performance.
Although there is much focus today on micro-moments and trying to gain a greater understand of what the user wants to do and enabling them to do it, UX web design services must not forget the simpler macro-design moments either.
Macro design issues are many times responsible for micro-moment problems.
Macro and Micro Design Moments - What Are They?
Modern web design incorporates various ideas and techniques, all of which are used together to create an effective website that allows users to accomplish what they came to the site to do.
In developing a user-friendly and functional environment, UX web designers must understand two related, yet very different concepts:
- Macro Design - This concerns the layout, appearance, and functionality of a website; it encompasses things like design consistency, site architecture, and on-site processes like page links, forms, search, and other function.
- Micro-Moment Design - This focuses on one specific task or form or page encountered by a user and the design basis of that one item; it is a make-or-break time for the user.
How Are Macro and Micro Moments Related?
While the concepts of macro design and micro-moment design themselves might seem a bit vague, the relationship between the two could not be clearer.
Understanding this vital relationship can help UX web design services gain a better understanding of the two concepts and how to use them to develop great websites.
Essentially, macro design is the big overall functions of a website, while micro-moments are just one thing - a form, a page, or a specific task a user encounters trying to navigate a website.
Users who visit a site with the intention of reading, researching, or buying must go through a certain set of actions to actually accomplish these goals.
Effective macro web design allows them to do so in easy and convenient ways by anticipating what users will want or need to do and then gives them a good on-site experience as a result.
When there are macro design website issues that affect those micro-moments, the user-experience is challenged, which can lead to frustration and users leaving the website before they accomplish their task.
Macro design issues are not the only reason why micro-moments fail, but it is a significant reason that many times is overlooked.
UX web designers dealing with poor results and micro-moment design issues should look back at the macro design process to address simpler and maybe less obvious issues with the website.
Macro and Micro-Moment Design Work Together
The takeaway for UX web design services looking to create user-friendly, effective web design is that basic design issues like inconsistent site look and layout, poor navigation, broken links, missing information, hard-to-use site elements, and others affect what users actually do on a website.
While it’s important to pay attention to and plan for user micro-moments, it’s equally important for UX web designers to consider how each micro-moment is decided and what macro design elements may affect that decision.
When macro design works, it creates effective micro-moments and a positive user experience!