UX Redesign 101: How to Revamp Your App’s or Website’s UX
- Updated: Nov 14, 2024
- 9 min
User engagement is critical to any software’s success.
You need to continually engage users to keep your app or website in demand and grow revenue. Otherwise, you risk declining numbers.
Redesigning your website offers an opportunity to maintain its value for users.
Knowing how, when, and where to start the process is vital if you’re undertaking a UX redesign for the first time.
You may know you want to redesign your app, but do you understand how to do it right?
For example, Snapchat lost around 5 million users in 2018 after a significant app redesign that users did not like.
If you want clear answers to those questions, read on. We’ve compiled the key information you’ll need to successfully redesign your website or app UX.
Wondering how long it will take to launch? Check out the average time to create a website for a realistic timeline.
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Why Revamp Your App or Website’s UX
For the User
This is the first step towards the bigger redesigning project. Ask yourself, “how to redesign an app UX.” Find the answer to, what do the customers like or don’t?
By understanding their perspective, you will have clarity on the facets that aren’t working well on the mobile app or the website.
Here are some aspects that will help you know your customer perspective better.
Factor | Description |
Bad feedback | Sometimes funny, sometimes rude, and sometimes a tad straightforward. The customers may tell you about their dissatisfaction in a number of ways. Getting all the opinions should help you in visualizing the kind of redesign you should go for. Also, note that If a website isn’t updated or redesigned for more than five years, 88% of consumers may never come back. You may get an idea about this through the feedback. This makes it necessary to undertake the process of how to redesign a website UX. |
Low conversions | Positive feedback and reviews boost conversions. Statistics suggest that customers trust reviews 12 times more than descriptions provided by the company. If the feedback is bad, expect the conversions to be less. Features like on-page videos, readability, and speed of your website also affect conversions. Hence, you need to focus on all of these to boost conversions. Instagram is a perfect example of being in sync with the times. Over the years, it has been updated many times that has ensured its place among the top social media websites. As per stats, the conversion rate of Instagram is the highest (1.85 percent) as compared to other social media networks. |
Low retention | So, we have talked about bad feedback that affects conversions. When the conversions are low, it implies your customers are not staying for long on the website or on the app. The low conversion rates are the result of one of the following:
This way, the chances of retaining them are less. It is necessary to focus on these aspects and then undertake the process of how to redesign a website UX. |
For the Market
The market of your app or website niche will not always be the same. It will surely evolve with time. This is another reason to initiate the UX redesign process.
Here are some market perspectives to consider:
Perspective | Description |
New competitors with better UX | If a new competitor appears in the market, taking your share, it is imperative to consider redesigning. This becomes even more important if your website or mobile app is more than three years old. Telegram can be a great example. Since the day WhatsApp has updated its privacy policy, Telegram’s user base has passed the 500 million mark. Privacy is something that forms a great part of UX, thus making Telegram a perfect place of refuge for the users. |
New UX trends | It is crucial to stay updated with the latest UX trends. Every year, new UI/UX trends surface in the market. And app makers need to implement them to match up the competition. Here are some trends that are on the top for 2021:
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How to Redesign an App or Website
Before Starting the Redesign
You have gathered both perspectives – customers and the market. Use them intelligently in redesigning the app UX.
Before beginning your app redesign, it is necessary to align your app goals.
It is essential to note what you want from your app. You wouldn’t know how to redesign an app UX until you have a clear idea about your aim. So, understanding them is a crucial step. While doing so, keep in mind the user’s needs.
For instance, if you want to boost the conversions via your app or website, it will be best to work on UX writing and CTA placement.
On the other hand, if you want to serve your users with 24×7 support, go for including a chatbot in the mobile app or website.
Looking to enhance your site? Here are some examples of good web design to follow.
Analysis Stage
So we are clear about the business goals. What’s next?
The UX redesign process would be incomplete and may be incorrect without analyzing the current app, its working, the competitors, and the prevalent trends
Consider hiring expert UX/UI design consultants to establish a solid vision and strategy for your UX redesign.
It is important to note that the existing app has many features that are doing well, and these must be retained in the new design. If you ignore them, the chances are that you will end up losing users who like your app for these.
Thus, it is important to understand the steps of a design process as well.
In addition, when you decide to monitor your competitors, you ensure you don’t miss anything that the users are liking.
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1. Analyze Existing Solution
There are two ways you can analyze the existing solution, aka your mobile app.
- Analytics
- User research
Let’s understand the analytics first.
Analytics:
What are your strengths? What are your weaknesses? If you want to evaluate this, check analytics. But, what should you check?
Below are some key metrics to check your app’s performance include the following:
Metric | Description |
Goal completion | Have clear goals. You can use tools such as Firebase or Google Analytics with Google Tag Manager. |
Activation rate | Take an example. Your app provides onboarding. Once it is over, check the number of people who are using the app and compare it with the downloads. A drop from the previous analysis hints towards redesigning. |
Drop-off rate | A lot of people dropping off indicate that the users are getting stuck somewhere. Find out where, why, and how for the hindrance. |
Active Users | Check Monthly Active Users (MAU) and Daily Active Users (DAU). If you see any slide, when compared to the previous month, calls for a redesign. |
User Research:
Consider the likes and dislikes of users while analyzing the existing solution. In this, you can visualize the expectations and requirements of a user. And with a clear understanding of the user flow, you can find a possible solution.
Your user research should embody all the following.
Factor | Description |
Online Surveys | It involves a questionnaire.
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Behavioral analysis | Understand traffic patterns with software installed on the users’ devices. |
Sample methods |
You will get answers to these points. |
Logging activity | It helps in knowing how people use your app. Automated logging or not. |
This research will help you further in finding an answer to how to redesign an app UX that clicks with the users. You will be able to build a user persona based on your research.
We at Spdload worked on a similar task. The client needed a telemedicine application, Dockids.
In our research before designing the app, we found out that the customers had to wait for really long even if they needed a short consultation. Also, they could not find a doctor without family or friends’ consultation.
To overcome their problems, we ensured that the users could find a doctor within three clicks.
2. Analyze Competitors
For UX redesign, look at what your competitors are doing. Ask yourself these questions.
- What is unique?
- What do you think might be working for them?
- Is there anything you can include in your solution?
- Would you like to avoid something that they are using?
If this is not enough, you can try conducting a study to see the response of the users on competitor apps. Download the competitor’s app and get the answers to all of your questions.
Note their interactivity with the interface and the navigation. What are the good points? What are the pain points? Make a checklist.
For instance, the stories feature of Snapchat was a remarkable success. Following this, many apps like Facebook and Instagram implemented this idea in their apps. This is what keeping up with the competition means.
3. Analyze Global and Niche Trends
The UX trends die out really fast with more and more business owners adopting them. This is also one of the reasons you must consider redesigning your app or website with time.
Apply the best practices in UX redesign and maintain the freshness of your digital product.
To keep how to redesign an app UX process easy and fast, you need to analyze various apps operating in your niche. For that matter, these could be from another country, from another territory.
Write down all the plus and minus points from these. See what can work for you and incorporate the same in your mobile app.
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Design Stage
The UX redesign process involves several steps, each of which should be performed comprehensively with validation.
Here are some of them:
1. Create New User Flow
Users may have gotten bored of the existing flow of your app, which could be the reason your user base might be shrinking. Hence you need to create a new user flow to retain them.
Study the table below to design a new user flow for the redesign UX process.
Define Users | Research forms the basis of a user flow diagram. Ask some pertinent questions:
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Determine user path | Where are the users coming from determines their behavior? They may come from:
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Create an outline | Draw it on paper or a whiteboard. Write down what people will do on each screen. |
User flow diagram | Once the sketch is ready, build it. You can use a wireframing tool for the same. |
Consider user flow diagrams in the initial level of the redesign UX process.
2. Prototyping
Once you have created personas of the targeted audience, move ahead with prototyping.
Prototyping is of two types:
- Low fidelity prototype
- High fidelity prototype
Low Fidelity Prototype:
In low fidelity prototyping, a designer can visualize the design solution even before it is ready and thereby improve and innovate further. It is mostly paper-based and doesn’t allow user interaction.
High Fidelity Prototype:
The high-fidelity prototype, the design solution, is almost what you would get finally. It is computer-based and allows user interaction completely.
We at Spdload designed the UX of the app SwiDate by analyzing all the achievements that the app competitors had. Based on that, we ended up providing our client an awesome dating app.
It took our professional team a total of 150 hours to design the UI-UX of the app.
3. User Testing
You cannot launch your redesigned mobile app without user testing. There can be many flaws that might not be visible to you as of now. But, if you use tools to test its working, you might find some.
The testing phase can be carried out in two ways:
- Moderated user testing
- Unmoderated user testing
Moderate user testing:
The tester and the facilitator are at the same place. In this, while the tester is finishing a task, the facilitator has a keen eye on it and writes down some points showcasing how a tester performs the test.
Unmoderated user testing:
The tester performs user testing in the absence of a facilitator. The entire session is recorded, and comments are added to each section completed. This is later sent to the facilitator to deduce his results.
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Want to Increase Your Web or Mobile App Conversions?
A successful UX redesign requires carefully analyzing your users, market, and business goals to inform impactful design changes.
If you have additional questions or need help on your UX redesign project, contact our team at SpdLoad.
Our expert UX/UI designers specialize in app and website redesigns that boost usability, engagement, and conversions.
We offer UX strategy, research, wireframing, prototyping, and testing services. Our customer-centric approach maximizes your investment.
Schedule a free consultation to learn more about our design services and how we can create a stellar UX that accomplishes your business objectives.
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