Designing online services that wow members
In 2020, we have seen a surge in membership organisations offering new or updated online services to their members - and the trend is still holding on. As a natural extension to traditional, offline member services, great online services have the potential to elevate and future proof your member value proposition.
Digital opportunities are ever evolving and so are your members’ expectations. But what makes a “great” online member service? In this month’s design takeover we have been sharing insights and top tips on how you can improve your online presence.
Inspiring members and making them want to come back is a key focus for Pixl8 when working with clients. Using design well elevates how your members experience services.
Making digital feel human
Membership organisations are often uniquely placed to create an emotional connection with their membership base. Making sure that positive emotions are at the forefront of digital experiences is business critical.
With the right messaging and design, online services can feel very human, warm and welcoming. Just because a process isn’t emotionally engaging in itself, doesn’t mean that the supporting messages can’t be. When members interact with your online services, you want them to feel that somebody put thought into the messages they receive. Don’t let your services feel cold or robot-like.
Help - people aren’t using our services as they should!
If you find that your member services aren’t gaining as much traction as you expected, it’s worth taking a step back and reassessing their design. Getting a fresh set of eyes to review the service can provide a valuable outside-in perspective and help to identify pain points.
Is every element of your service understandable?
Processes can seem easy and straightforward to the people that developed them but there may be a key piece of information missing for others. For every interaction that’s possible, there should be a clear visual indicator as to how to achieve it, e.g. through the use of contrasting colours or subtle animations.
Following design principles, you can guide your members’ attention in the right direction to help smoothen their experience:
Design tips
1. Guide, don’t overwhelm
Having too many options can keep us from taking an action all together. Making the next steps clear can improve your conversion rate. Focus your Calls to Action (CTA) on one key interaction that you want your user to complete on a page.
2. Consider your visual hierarchy
For key landing pages, it’s important to assess what information users need to know before they convert and to present this information upfront. Anything that’s not essential may be better placed below your key CTA so that you don’t rely on your users scrolling all the way down to the end of a page to find it.
3. Use colours wisely
Colour is a powerful element to bring attention to key areas on your page. If you want your users to click a certain button or watch a certain video, colour can give those elements standout and identify them as the primary point of interest.
Design vs functionality, what’s more important?
When great functionality aligns with great design - that’s when the magic happens. Your members will expect your services to run smoothly but whether or not they enjoy their experience using them can have much to do with design.
To create a great user experience, design and functionality need to go hand in hand. One without the other won’t impress your members and ultimately it won’t do your organisation justice.
What good or bad design can mean for your business
Whilst good design can elevate your members’ experience, bad design can have a detrimental effect and lead to frustration. When people feel confused or disappointed by an online service, chances are they won’t want to come back.
Every minute a member spends with you should count. That’s why every minute spent on figuring out how to use your service is a missed opportunity. Online offerings should be as intuitive and straightforward as possible so members can focus on what matters most; why they are a member.
At Pixl8, we work with our clients to provide that outside-in perspective and share our experience of creating outstanding membership experiences. This way, we support our clients to develop online services that truly wow their members.
