Why is everybody suddenly talking about UX? What is UX? What is SaaS? Is it the short form for the so-called “millennial word” sassy? So many questions in your mind? You have come to the right place. Even I was completely blank like you before I actually understood it.
TRUST ME, after reading this blog, you would understand it like you invented these words. If you already know about them, good for you! I have something for you too.
Come, let’s get started!
What is UX?
In short, User Experience(UX) is the overall experience of a person using a product or service. It’s more about how you feel while using a website, application, or anything that cannot talk back. The measurement of how you communicate with them is the overall experience you feel about the product/service.
While talking about a product, what is it actually? A Product is a means by which an experience can be carried and made available to the users effectively. It need not be a tangible product, it can be something that cannot be touched, but can be felt/experienced by a person.
To understand UX in a product, Let’s take an example of your favorite food ordering app, let’s assume it’s Zomato. How did you feel while using it for the first time?
You installed the application, signed up, and logged in to start the application.
You were sitting at the comfort of your home, you saw different options available in front of you, saw many restaurants offering various food options, and then you came across your favorite far-away restaurant willing to provide you with your favorite food at your doorstep.
How amazing is that! Your favorite food + your favorite pajamas = HAPPINESS, right?
No, that’s not it. There’s more to it. You selected your favorite food and added it to your cart with just a click. You entered the billing page. And then, you came to know you were welcomed to various discount plans + FREE delivery! What more to add.
How did you feel? Satisfied, obviously!
It was easy for you to surf inside the app right? You got what you saw! It was simple to use. Okay, now tell me, who made you feel confident, comfortable, and smart while using this application for the first time? Is it the owner of zomato? The owner of your favorite restaurant? Or the kind-hearted person who delivered your food?
It’s actually the work of a UX designer. He knew how to make the application easier for you to order your favorite food. The placement of search bar, segregation of cuisines, ratings, fast delivery options, the quick add to cart option, the placement of the billing cart, you name it, it’s all the creation of a User Experience Designer.
The User Experience designer creates an experience in such a way to help the users and solve their problems. They plan how something looks/works to make the activity of using it easy and enjoyable. They are like our favorite childhood doctor, who solves our problems and makes us happy.
So, User Experience is the overall experience of an individual while interacting with a product/service. If the user is happy/content/positive with the website, application/product, or service, that means the UX is amazing.
So, now tell me, don’t you think the Zomato app is a product? We already know that a Product (Zomato app) is through how an experience is carried and made available to you effectively. So, to provide you an amazing experience, we need a product/service.
That brings us to our next topic: SaaS!
What is SaaS?
Software as a Service or SaaS is a way of delivering applications over the internet - as a service. One of the advantages of a SaaS is that it just needs the internet. You don’t have to download the whole program.
For better understanding, let's take a scenario. I run a fitness business and I created a fitness app for myself. And suddenly one day I felt like everyone else should use my app because it’s so healthy and useful. So, I planned to render my fitness app to other common people, for a fee, say a monthly subscription. Now that’s a SaaS product.
SaaS can be classified mainly into two: B2B and B2C.
B2B SaaS means a company selling their software to another company as a service, for a fee. Whereas, B2C SaaS means a company selling their software to the end-user/ the customers, as a service, for a fee.
Now tell me, Don’t you think our favorite streaming app Netflix is a SaaS product? Definitely. Zomato? Yes. Slack? Yes.
Try to analyze many other SaaS products and differentiate whether they are B2B or B2C.
It’s always fun to play with our brains.
UX in B2B SaaS
Okay, now let’s talk about User Experience in these SaaS products. Let me get this straight: It’s the most beautiful combo ever, especially User Experience in B2B SaaS products. I’ll explain why in a minute.
B2B VS B2C
B2B SaaS is quite different from B2C SaaS. B2B SaaS products will mainly focus on helping other businesses. These products are designed for making other business activities easier. They will be completely under the control of the manufacturing company, meaning the company is responsible for creating, hosting, and updating the application, while the users can access it from anywhere in the world via the internet.
“If we want users to like our software, we should design it to behave like a likable person: respectful, generous and helpful”
Perspective if a UX designer
A UX designer is not only designing for the end-user but also for the business itself. He/she should understand how a potential user thinks. He /she must consider what’s good for the users. Because providing a good user experience makes the customer happy, and the business automatically becomes successful. It sounds simple yet powerful.
User Experience for the designer is all about thinking of literally every aspect of the product in terms of the users - what, why, who, how, where, and when. They know exactly how the users think. That helps them to design the product in such a way that the user feels comfortable controlling the product.
UX designing can be done for a brand-new product or even an already launched product. Its main factor is to grab the attention of the user and provide extra features and functionality for them. It also helps to improve the poor usability of the product.
UX in B2B = Business Goals + User Goals
UX in B2B is the amalgamation of both business goals and user goals. Many businesses today make a mistake in choosing business goals over user goals. This impact could lead to even bigger problems. We should start thinking about what will make the user’s experience better so that it leads to the ultimate customer buying the product again and again.
Importance of user experience in B2B SaaS:
One of the main goals of today’s B2B market is to improve user engagement and their conversion. This success can be built only on the solid foundation of a great User Experience.
A good user experience is far beyond identifying and understanding what the users want. It’s about the seamless amalgamation of engineering, psychology, marketing, graphical industrial design, and interface.
But, designing a product in terms of User Experience is not a simple process. It’s a very long procedure that could take months to complete. The process begins not just when users are engaged, but way before the users are engaged. Since User Experience is user-centric, the team has to understand the frustrations and needs of the users and solve problems right from initial adoption of the product to making the user themselves recommend the product to their friends or family.
Various studies have shown that a good User experience can change the overall performance of the business. It helps to convert a good number of visitors into customers. According to Forrester, Every $1 invested in UX results in a return of $100. This is equal to a return of 9,900%. So, companies should start investing money and time into User Experience.
Let’s now understand how UX transforms and scales many businesses:
- CUSTOMER RETENTION - Customer retention is by far one of the most important factors that are required for a business. It increases conversions, increases more users in the application, and reduces churn rates. By working on UX, it easily converts just visitors into loyal customers in the long run. Overall, it focuses on providing a good experience to the users. Most studies show that 88% of people are less inclined to return to a site after a bad User Experience and 91% of unhappy clients who don’t complain just disappear without leaving any feedback.
- INCREASE REVENUE - Investing in UX automatically increases revenue. If the customer is happy with the product, he/she is more likely to purchase the product again and again. It generates Return on Investment and increases revenue multi-fold. In short, the design pays off.
- IMPROVES USABILITY - A good User Experience brings focus to the customer’s needs and expectations. So, it helps to understand the users by providing better features and functionalities. By upgrading the features, the user’s productivity automatically boosts up. In terms of the business, a good User Experience saves gains from making changes in the previous design lifecycle. It helps to improve the previous poor usability and brings attention to the current users. If a website needs more than 3 seconds to load, 40% of the people leave the website.
- ADDS VALUE IN THE LONG RUN - Another important factor of a good User Experience is it adds value in the long run. It keeps customers loyal to the brand. A good UX helps to restructure the brand. It brings clarity to the business goals as well as the organization. It also makes the users reuse the service again and again.
- REDUCE TRAINING COSTS - By providing a good User Experience makes the users handle the product comfortably. It results in fewer user errors. Since the product is designed to meet the user’s goals, it also decreases user support queries. It ultimately reduces training costs.
TL;DR:
- UX is about how you feel while using a website, application or anything that cannot talk back.
- A Product is a means by which an experience can be carried and made available to the users effectively.
- A UX Designer thinks all about helping the users and solving their problems.
- UX in B2B = BUSINESS GOALS + USER GOALS
- Every $1 invested in UX results in a return of $100. This is equal to a return of 9,900%.
- Investing in UX helps businesses to increase their revenue, improves customer retention and usability, adds value, and reduces training costs.
If you already run a business, Start considering a good UX designing team to improve the above-mentioned factors. Start building a brand by providing a good User Experience. To know more about branding and rebranding, catch up on our next blog. Let’s grow together!
