Web & UX 

In layman’s terms, the user experience (UX) is how a person interacts with your brand or your product – particularly via your website. Measuring UX involves looking at user behaviour and finding out what works and what doesn’t work for them, and (ideally) making improvements based on these findings. Some businesses pay a small fortune to conduct research and create website wireframes, testing the UX again and again. In most instances we don’t think that’s necessary.

At Thirdegree we’re experts at website design. We have developed dozens of sites for happy customers and are always happy to advise prospective new clients on the best approach for their business needs.

Truth be told, most people are not overly web savvy. That’s why it’s very easy for business owners to be hoodwinked into paying over the odds for website design and web development services. But there are a few things that everyone should know before they build or redevelop a website, and we’ve laid them out below.

The three second rule

No, we’re not referring to the moment when your sandwich or snag hits the dirt – although we absolutely adhere to that principal. What we mean is this: the online environment is a monumentally busy and noisy place. If you manage to lure a first-time user to your site, you need to ask yourself: “What do I want them to get out of it in the first three seconds?”

The sad truth is that a lot of users will flick past your site if it doesn’t inspire, engage or give them the information they need almost immediately. So it’s vital that you know from the get-go exactly what it is that your user wants from your site. At Thirdegree that’s one of the first questions we’ll put to you if you speak to us about your website design. And if you don’t know, we’ll swiftly help you figure it out.

Responsive websites

April 21, 2015 was a red-letter day in the world of responsive (i.e. mobile-friendly) websites. That’s the date Google started penalising non-responsive sites in searches made on mobile devices. It meant that even established websites with a high Google ranking could suddenly cease to be visible to the casual mobile web surfer.

We actually think this is a good thing. Users are a fickle bunch and if a site isn’t giving them the user experience they desire, then why would they stick around? Would you in their shoes? If they can’t view the information on your website on their iPad on the commute home, or if they can’t simply touch a phone number and make the call from their smartphone, the user will swiftly head to another site where they can.

There are millions of non-responsive sites in operation. So making yours responsive – and gaining that Google boost in the process – is an absolute must. And at Thirdegree we only develop responsive websites. It makes no business sense to do anything else.

CMS – manage that content like a boss

Remember the days when it was really easy for web developers to rope businesses into expensive custom software builds so that they could have access to a Content Management System (CMS) for their websites? And this was seen to be a cost-effective alternative to having to pay the developers to manage the content on behalf of the business?

No wonder, then, that the business would essentially be locked into that CMS (and therefore the developer) forever because of the perceived difficulty and expense of starting anew elsewhere?

While such CMS practices ought to be old hat, sadly they remain all-too common. And for the businesses locked into these loveless marriages, paying an arm and a leg for an often inferior CMS experience is no laughing matter.

At Thirdegree we only use open source platforms to build sites. Why? Because we believe that your site is your asset. And even though we like to think that every client will be with us for the long haul, if push comes to shove we still feel that you should be able to walk away from us anytime you like and have the ability to have your site edited easily, by whoever you choose, without having to pay through the nose.

If that all sounds like your cup of tea, contact us today to find out how we can help with your website design.