THE IMPORTANCE OF VISUAL EXPERIENCE (VX)

Websites have come a very long way since the 90s. Back then, most websites had clumsy graphics and disproportionate blocks of text; these websites were built without the users in mind. The website designers are not to be blamed as they had done the best they could with the tools they had. And as the years rolled by and competition stiffened, companies began to push the envelope and demand websites that were easy to navigate, intuitive to use and good looking. The ensuing advancements birthed the websites of this modern age.

As the bar for product usability continues to increase, more companies have begun to invest in design thinking and enhancing their viewers’ visual experiences. Apps like YouTube have proven beyond reasonable doubt how much visual contents are preferred, and this is an avenue that brands can leverage on to reach their target audience.

Here are some of the importance of quality viewer’s visual experience:

Perception is easily formed
Visual contents are a swifter means for shaping customer’s perception about a brand. These digital outposts can be intelligibly designed to create the right customer mood, attract more attention, build loyalty faster and control the action of the customers. Since videos are a blend of art and science with a mix of design and psychology, their details can be purposefully crafted to elicit a particular reaction or viewer perception. They are indeed an invaluable tool to marketers and brands alike.

Enhancing the brand
Static contents are not good enough anymore, and most brands are resorting on dynamic visual contents to promote their products and services. When done right, videos with rich content and accompanying visual cues can be used to enhance customers’ mental picture of a brand. Contents can be created specifically for guiding the customers’ journey and painting positive mental pictures of the brand’s character.

Greater Control
Techniques like A/B testing, eye tracking, focus groups and so on can be implemented to shape and reshape viewers’ visual experience until the desired objective is achieved. Such viewer-centered designs attain this high level of flexibility by answering basic questions like:

o Who their ideal viewers are?
o What do they want?
o What kind of visual contents are they most interested in?
o What device are they viewing the contents from?

It is the next big thing!
The same way UX and UI designs revolutionized the way consumers interacted and experienced contents over the internet, VX is positioned to be the next wave of change. The immense potential of this movement is obvious. Explainer videos, animation merged with UI elements, motion graphics, and self-generating visual contents are some of the means that brands can adopt to pass their message across to millions of people.

The introduction of VX isn’t without its challenges.

However, the agencies, marketers, and brands that will attain positive outcomes are those who constantly stay up-to-date with the trend and develop strategies to better disseminate their message without compromising on the viewers’ visual experience.

Like the preceding UX movement, brands will either ride the wave or become obsolete.

...Read More
  • Closeup of an eye