UX mistakes matter because if your website, app, or software interface is littered with them, users leave fast and lose trust in your brand. They can also cost you. Bad UX means higher customer support costs\u2014and fewer conversions. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Now, we\u2019ve all made UX mistakes before. But knowing what they are is the first step to avoiding them. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
So without further ado, here are the top 7 UX mistakes to avoid for a smooth user experience<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n You may know your product inside and out, but your users don\u2019t. If you design with your own preferences in mind, your UX will almost definitely be unintuitive for others. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Take Monday.com<\/a>, for instance. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Every time I look at a Monday board, I want to scream. The UI feels like a color-coded spreadsheet had a midlife crisis. It’s overstimulating and cluttered even without<\/em> any real projects going on. <\/p>\n\n\n\n It throws so many buttons, animations, and views at you that finding what you actually need takes forever.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The screenshot below is what Monday looks like right after you set up your first workspace. <\/p>\n\n\n\n How is there already so much going on? <\/p>\n\n\n\n I don\u2019t know and I don\u2019t like it. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Instead of being intuitive for the average user, Monday’s UI looks like it was built to impress internal stakeholders. Or maybe project management pros that design overly organized Excel spreadsheets on weekends for fun. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Yet Monday\u2019s supposed to work for personal projects, work teams, and everything in between. Not just project management gurus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The end result is a tool that forces you to adapt to its noisy, over-engineered interface instead of adapting to your needs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Here\u2019s a list of UI cons from a Reddit thread titled, \u201cWhat Are Your Biggest Frustrations with Monday.com?\u201d<\/a>:<\/p>\n\n\n\n One user put it beautifully when they said, \u201cMonday should make workflows faster and improve project management, not be yet another thing that takes time away from actual project completion because of the pain of logging\/building\/monitoring.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Clearly, I\u2019m not alone in my dislike of Monday\u2019s UI. <\/p>\n\n\n\n So, can you truly avoid designing something that fits your <\/em>preferences instead of your users\u2019?<\/p>\n\n\n\n Yes! <\/p>\n\n\n\n Here\u2019s the fix: <\/strong>Run quick usability tests with at least 3-5 people outside of your team. Don\u2019t provide any instruction as you watch them navigate your software, because your users won\u2019t have you there either. Take notes on everything that frustrates your usability testers, and then change those things to be more intuitive. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Imagine you\u2019re looking for something crucial, like a pricing page<\/a>. A \u201ccancel subscription\u201d button. A way to save your work before exiting a software platform. <\/p>\n\n\n\n But you can\u2019t easily find it until finally, finally<\/em>, you find it hidden behind a hamburger menu or gear icon. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Sounds frustrating, right?<\/p>\n\n\n\n And it is. <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n The most important actions in your interface should be immediately visible, clearly labeled, and easy to access. No decoding icons or opening hidden menus required. <\/p>\n\n\n\n If someone has to hunt for a core feature, your design<\/a> needs updating. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Case in point? Gmail. I\u2019ve used Gmail and other Google Workspace products for years, and while I like them fine, I do not love the over-reliance on icons. <\/p>\n\n\n\n If I want to sign out of an account, I first have to click the red \u201cL.\u201d Only then will I see an option to sign in or out of one of my Gmail accounts. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Which is why, even after more than a decade of using Gmail, I still struggle to find the sign-out button.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Here\u2019s the fix:<\/strong> Figure out what your user is trying to do on each screen, and make that action impossible to miss. Use clear labels (not just icons), visible buttons (not hidden menus), and visual hierarchy like size or color to guide them straight to it. If they have to pause and think, it\u2019s not obvious enough. Bring in usability testers from outside your company and ask two key questions:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Take their feedback to heart and make adjustments accordingly. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Good copywriting makes for easy reading. Bad copywriting makes your interface feel like a thesaurus threw up all over the user\u2019s screen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Users don\u2019t want to \u201csynchronize onboarding modules to optimize stakeholder alignment.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n They want to get started<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n See how much easier that is to read?<\/p>\n\n\n\n When you fill your product with jargon, fluff, or corporate filler, you don\u2019t sound smart. <\/p>\n\n\n\n You sound like you\u2019re stuffing a bunch of words onto the page to try <\/em>to sound smart. But what\u2019s really happening is users are working harder than they should to understand your page.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This leads to frustration and lower conversion rates. <\/p>\n\n\n\n The best UX writing is invisible yet informative. It\u2019s not too short and vague to make sense, or too long and wordy to be readable. <\/p>\n\n\n\n (Looking at you, United States Internal Revenue Service website.<\/a> I mean, this sentence alone is wild: \u201cIf you fail to remain an eligible individual during the testing period, for reasons other than death or becoming disabled, you will have to include in income the total contributions made to your HSA that wouldn\u2019t have been made except for the last-month rule.\u201d)<\/p>\n\n\n\n Here\u2019s the fix:<\/strong> Write like a human. Use plain language that\u2019s specific, helpful, and action-oriented. Replace vague CTAs like \u201cSubmit\u201d with \u201cSend Message\u201d or \u201cCreate Account.\u201d When you write copy, avoid the temptation to make a heaping bowl of word salad. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Finally, test your copy by asking someone outside your team to explain what each line or button means. If they hesitate even for a moment, rewrite and refine.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Accessibility isn\u2019t optional. It\u2019s foundational to good UX\u2014and to making sure your website or product follows accessibility laws<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n A common mistake we see is when people design an interface that only works if you\u2019re using a mouse. Or worse, interfaces that break if you\u2019re using a keyboard, screen reader, or voice commands to navigate. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Common UX mistakes in this department include: <\/p>\n\n\n\n These are just a few of the many struggles the millions of people who use assistive technology face every day. When your interface ignores these users, it violates basic usability\u2014and, potentially, legal standards as well. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Here\u2019s the fix:<\/strong> Make sure your website follows the most current World Wide Web Consortium Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG)<\/a>. Use strong color contrast for text and UI elements, use semantic HTML so it\u2019s easy for assistive tech to interpret your layout, and test your interface with browser-based screen readers.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n You click a button to submit a questionnaire, place an order, subscribe to an email list\u2026and\u2026nothing happens. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Did your button-click work? Yes? No? How can you possibly know?<\/p>\n\n\n\n Without visual confirmation that an action was successful\u2014or failed\u2014you can\u2019t know. And this is a problem, because in the UX world, silence equals confusion. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Even when I signed up for TCG Player\u2019s newsletter\u2014TCG Player<\/a> being a trading card marketplace I frequent because I have an 8-year-old kid who loves collecting Pok\u00e9mon cards\u2014I got a small note of confirmation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Always <\/em>give users feedback on whether the action they completed was successful or not. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Here\u2019s the fix:<\/strong> Build in clear, immediate feedback for every user action, especially ones that matter. Use visual cues like loading spinners, success messages, and confirmation pop-ups to reassure the user that something actually happened. <\/p>\n\n\n\n If an action fails, say so\u2014and tell your users what to do next. No one should be left guessing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Back in the olden days, circa 2005, people didn\u2019t spend nearly as much time scrolling on their phones. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Megahits like the iPhone hadn\u2019t even been released yet. So it made sense to stuff all the content above the fold, or at the very top of a webpage or dashboard, because you might not have another chance to show web visitors All The Things. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Nowadays, scrolling is as natural and expected as drinking water or breathing air. People scroll, and you\u2019ve got to trust them. <\/p>\n\n\n\n The IRS\u2019s Electronic Federal Tax Payment System<\/a> is a classic example of above-the-fold clutter. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Here\u2019s the fix:<\/strong> Instead of designing panicked, overwhelming pages, design with hierarchy in mind. Put the most important actions or items at the top, and give users a reason to keep scrolling down. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Have you ever tried canceling a subscription and ended up in UX hell?<\/p>\n\n\n\n I have\u2014too many times. And it never fails to leave me frustrated. There\u2019s nothing worse than needing to cancel a subscription, hunting to find the right button on my phone, only to see a message saying I can\u2019t cancel on an app and must use my laptop instead, only to find that I actually have to send an email to the support team or\u2014shudder\u2014call <\/em>to cancel the subscription.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This mazelike purgatory is intentional, and it\u2019s bad UX. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Here\u2019s the thing: subscribers often unsubscribe when money\u2019s tight or they don\u2019t need to use a service. But there\u2019s a good chance they\u2019ll be back, as long as it\u2019s not impossible to unsubscribe. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Case in point: I once had a subscription<\/a> to the San Antonio Express-News\u2019 mobile newspaper. It was, of course, super easy to sign up for the service. But to unsubscribe, I had to call the Texas office and explain why <\/em>I wasn\u2019t continuing my subscription, and say \u201cno\u201d to about 5 different upsells. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Needless to say, I won\u2019t be back. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Even worse is when you do get a message to unsubscribe easily, but it frames your options like this:<\/p>\n\n\n\n This is called confirm shaming, and it undermines user trust in your product. No one wants to use a service that\u2019s so desperate it comes off as manipulative instead of helpful. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Here\u2019s the fix:<\/strong> Leave users with a smooth and respectful experience, and they may just come back. Their wallets will get plump again, or they\u2019ll need your service again, and if they unsubscribe with happy feelings instead of frustrated ones, they\u2019ll return.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I can\u2019t tell you how often I subscribe and unsubscribe from services like Netflix, CoSchedule, and even Ahrefs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n It\u2019s just part of life in a subscription-heavy world. No one can afford\u2014and no one wants<\/em>\u2014all the subscriptions, all the time. <\/p>\n\n\n\n The easiest way to keep UX mistakes from getting past your pre-release product is to catch them before your users do. <\/p>\n\n\n\n So, run usability tests<\/a>. You don\u2019t have to go wild with expensive tests, either. According to Jakob Nielsen of Nielsen Norman Group, 5 users can reveal 85% of issues<\/a>. You should run these tests well before the quality assessment phase of a product. <\/p>\n\n\n\n The earlier, the better.<\/p>\n\n\n\n You can also use heat map tools to spot rage clicks, dead ends, and scroll drop-off points. Studying user behavior goes a long way. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Finally, consider asking someone without deep tech experience, like your mom or grandpa, to test out your product. <\/p>\n\n\n\n If they don\u2019t get it, your users won\u2019t either. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Bad UX isn\u2019t just annoying. It\u2019s expensive.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Here\u2019s where it can cost you: <\/p>\n\n\n\n1. Designing for Yourself Instead of For Your User<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
![\"Monday](\"https:\/\/ceblog.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/01\/26182820\/UX-Mistakes-Testing-Monday.png\")
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2. Hiding Important Actions Behind Icons<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
![\"Gmail](\"https:\/\/ceblog.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/01\/26182916\/UX-Mistakes-Gmail-Account.png\")
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3. Stuffing Your UX with Word Salad<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
![\"Last](\"https:\/\/ceblog.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/01\/26183001\/UX-Mistakes-IRS-Rule.png\")
<\/figure>\n\n\n\n4. Assuming Everyone Can Use a Mouse<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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![\"World](\"https:\/\/ceblog.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/01\/26183037\/UX-Mistakes-ARIA6.png\")
<\/figure>\n\n\n\n5. Skipping Success Feedback Cues<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
![\"Email](\"https:\/\/ceblog.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/01\/26183129\/UX-Mistakes-Watch-Inbox.png\")
<\/figure>\n\n\n\n6. Not Trusting the Scroll<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
![\"Landing](\"https:\/\/ceblog.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/01\/26183203\/UX-Mistakes-EFTPS.png\")
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7. Using Patterns Designed to Trap or Trick Users<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
![\"Screenshot](\"https:\/\/ceblog.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/01\/26183241\/UX-Mistakes-Cancel-Anytime.png\")
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How to Audit and Identify UX Mistakes<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
The Cost of Poor UX<\/h2>\n\n\n\n