3 min read

The internet’s quality has improved immensely these past few years, it goes without saying. The sites we frequent, the content we digest – everything is simpler, easier, and faster. Websites, brands, and designers are putting the user, the customer, first. This user centered approach isn’t new, but finally hit the mainstream with force.

CEOs are realising the profit potential of happy customers. Great user experiences = Happy customers = $$$. A simple equation.

This user centric focus has ensured online experiences are only improving. We’ve talked at length about the growth of the UX designer, but what are the causes & consequences?



Improving experiences

Companies and their websites aren’t standing still, they’re moving faster than ever. No one can afford to offer an average experience. Each company, website, and individual has to keep improving and pushing boundaries to ensure their experience supplants their rival’s.

Data from our own users justifies this. In 2014 alone, the average user experience improved by an average 2%. No mean feat in a land of scathing critics and impossible expectations.



Feedback given via the Usabilla feedback button is on a scale of 1-5, representing the user’s emotions at the time of giving feedback.

Also note how emotional trends differ dependant on the time of year, though that’s a subject for a different time.

Innovation fueled by innovation

2015 will only see this trend continue as the battle for the best UX becomes more intense. The bar for both new and current websites is raised, continually driving better experiences to out do the old.

How does this affect web users?

For our customers, the outcome is only positive. Customer happiness and satisfaction is at the forefront of the designer’s mind.

This is replicated in our data: We can see that both negative experiences have reduced in number, whilst positive ones have increased. Web users – our customers – are enjoying the internet more than ever.

Feedback given via the Usabilla feedback button is on a scale of 1-5, representing the user’s emotion at the time of giving feedback

These emotional brand experiences an extremely powerful tool. Emotions have a significant say differentiating branded products.

What does this mean for us as UX & CX professionals?

This trend both raises, and will continue to raise, expectations across the board. Once users get more, they expect more. We increase our users and our own expectations. Forcing ourselves to match or better that 2% figure each year. How else are we to outdo our rivals and maintain our users endless expectations?

This creates a perpetual loop – the more we invest in UX, the more we need to invest in UX.

Thus into the future it is only inevitable that we see a continued emphasis on UX and CX as the arms race intensifies.

We’ve already seen great examples of this in the past year; As Facebook ‘acquihired’ the top brass of the esteemed Teehan + Lax, and Capital One snapped up Adaptive Path – one of the original UX consultancies.

Expect this land-grab to continue into 2015 as the world’s top companies compete to become customer experience leaders. Companies such as Deloitte and Pricewaterhouse Coopers are wiping away their traditionally boring image with investments in emotional branding.

Exciting times for the industry? Or a stifling of brains under corporate roofs? Only time will tell.