Boston has been voted the nation’s most challenging city to navigate for newcomers. In comparison, most US cities are built on a grid pattern with main North-South-East-West thoroughfares anchoring these grids. Boston is different. Boston streets wind in all different directions, and while some areas are built on a grid pattern, the grid is often inconsistent from one neighborhood to the next. Ralph Waldo Emerson said of his hometown, “We say the cows laid out Boston. Well, there are worse surveyors.” While cattle aren’t actually to blame for the confusion, it’s clear that visitors to Boston could benefit from a little more consistency.
Make Yourself At Home
Whether driving through “Beantown” or surfing the web, consistency is critical to keep users from losing their way. When you achieve consistency, users don’t waste energy, wondering where they are or what might happen next. With consistency, users become comfortable and more likely to stay and engage with your content
Matchmaker
The homogenous appearance of elements throughout your site is critical to keep your users comfortable. Imagine if every button was a different shape or every headline a different font. That would be crazy, right? While those are extreme examples, that is what many sites do with design elements. Variations in headline position, font sizes, spacing, illustration style, and photography style can disorient an audience. In a good user experience, the user should never ask, “Am I in the right place?”
Find Your Voice
Consistency isn’t always visual. Another place to build alignment is in your copy through an established voice and tone. It’s critical that your digital experience’s words feel to the user as if they are coming from one singular voice. This rule is equally beneficial in large chunks of text as it is in the micro-copy. Carry consistent tone and voice through your headlines, button descriptions, and even your error messages.
United We Brand
Consistency improves user experience by adding familiarity at every opportunity. These approaches also benefit your branding efforts. When users understand they are in your environment because of how it looks, feels, and functions, that is a win-win. Users need to know they are on your site at every click, every scroll, and on every page. In addition to branding elements like colors and logos, things like your button style, fonts, illustration, photography, tone, and voice also improve your brand unity and recognition.
I Digress
Building consistency within your own digital experience is essential. It’s equally important to maintain consistency with other digital experiences. While creativity is always appreciated and often encouraged, creators need to ensure they don’t deviate too far from standards and norms. When design elements or functionality are very different from anything a user has encountered before, it will take them longer to learn how to interact with your digital experience and cause confusion. When a button looks and acts like a button, the user knows what to expect. If it seems like something else, they may not know to click it at all. In short, you can design with unique accents, but you want to be speaking the same digital language as your users.
In Summary
Consistency throughout your digital experiences not only improves user experience it also enhances brand recognition and unity. When your page elements match, users can quickly adapt to the environment, allowing more seamless engagement.
Happy Holidays and stay tuned as we countdown the 12 Days of UXMas!
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