So you think you know your customers inside out? Think again. From misunderstanding their wants and needs to misinterpreting their behaviour, we frequently see our clients needing help to understand their users.
A common issue we come across is that companies tailor website content to what they think customers want to see. Here’s the thing: what you think they want and what they actually want could be very different. These assumptions can lead to a bad website experience and plenty of missed opportunities.
Here are four common assumptions and how you can avoid them:
You know what they want
It’s easy to assume you know exactly what your users want; it might be a pattern you’ve seen in the past or assumptions you’ve made after speaking to a handful of customers. For example, a SaaS company adding more features to their website (because hey, customers love features) could be a counterproductive UX decision. Solid customer research could show what their customers really want is something streamlined and easy to navigate, whereas additional features could lead to a website being cluttered and cause a drop in user engagement and satisfaction.
It’s super important to base design decisions on user feedback rather than assumptions. Conducting user testing sessions, gathering feedback, and iterating based on real user input can save you from mistakes that cost you money and help build a website that truly meets your customer’s needs.
Customers think the same as you
As a business owner, you’re familiar with your product and all its intricacies – and it’s easy to think your customers know as much as you do. Realistically, your customers probably won’t share the same level of expertise or enthusiasm. This assumption can lead to over-complexity and jargon-heavy content that alienates your customers rather than engaging them.
Take this example: an analytics platform assumes that its customers, like the team behind it, are well-versed in data science. They fill their website with advanced analytical tools and technical language, expecting visitors to appreciate the level of detail. However, many of their visitors are business managers who need straightforward insights and want a simple, user-friendly experience, not complicated statistical models. This disconnect leads to frustration and a high churn rate, as visitors feel overwhelmed and unable to get what they want from the website. Through simplification and offering clear, guided experiences, the company could have better catered to the actual needs of its customers.
Immerse yourself in your customers’ world; get out of your head and into theirs. Talk to your users regularly and watch how they interact with your site to uncover their true needs and pain points. Keep feedback loops open with surveys and support tickets, and be ready to tweak things based on what you hear. Empathy is your secret weapon here; find out what resonates with users and give them exactly what they are looking for.
All your customers are the same
It’s easy to design a website with a one-size-fits-all approach, but the reality is far more complex. For B2B companies especially, it’s important to recognise that the customers initially viewing your website might not be the final decision-makers. Therefore, although you might cater for one user, you are not covering all the needs of an entire buying group, each of which will have different needs from your website.
There are several ways to avoid this by segmenting your users based on different criteria. Identifying individual missions or goals based on their company roles or experience levels can help you map out their different journeys around your website. Where might they enter and how do they complete their preferred mission? You won’t be able to cater perfectly for every customer, but you can for a targeted selection.
Customers act rationally
We often see customers led by emotions and habits instead of logic when it comes to decision making. This can be frustrating when you’re trying to build a website that makes sense to users but, to avoid this, you have to embrace the unpredictability of human behaviour.
Keep your design simple and create clear, easy-to-follow paths that guide users along, even if they’re not thinking logically. Add elements that appeal to emotions, like reassuring messages during key steps. By understanding and rolling with the quirks of human behaviour, you can make a site that feels intuitive and user-friendly, even when your users aren’t acting rationally.
The truth of the matter is, making too many assumptions about your customers can throw your website off track. Thinking you’ve got them all figured out, assuming they think like you, or believing they’ll always act logically – these are all mistakes that can lead to your website not reaching its full potential.
Your users are the heart of your website, so understanding what they want is how you nail that killer user experience. Keep testing, keep tweaking, and most importantly, keep listening. That’s how you stay on track and keep your users – and your business – happy.
