Your palms are sweaty. You’re about to walk into a job interview to make a first impression — a good one, you hope. So you do all of the things that you’ve been taught to do: direct eye contact, a firm handshake, a smile, comfortable conversation. All of these actions are part of a larger process. Together, your body language, social cues and perceived personality marry to create an impression.

Just as you give a first impression to other people, your product gives a first impression to users. If it’s not a good one, your user won’t be eager to give it a second chance. The truth is, users are unforgiving. If a product doesn’t help them reach their goal in a way that comes like second nature, they’re likely to jump ship and look for an alternative solution. Can you blame them? Think about a time you’ve been frustrated with a product. Did you rush back to use it again? Probably not.

The good news is that you can avoid usability disaster. You can bet with confidence that your first impression is a good one by investing in user experience. Treat it as a natural part of developing a product, equally as important as user interface design and coding. User research and testing expose shortcomings and blatant errors before you blow your first impression. We get that it’s scary to invest in something that seems intangible (the first time). Here are some statistics that show the enormity of the effect a positive user experience has on customer satisfaction. Stand-out usability: 

  • Increases willingness to pay by 14.4%
  • Increases probability of users switching to your product by 15.8%
  • Boosts likelihood to recommend a product by 16.6%

And that’s just customer satisfaction. Goal-oriented user experience positively impacts everything about the product. We like to live by the mantra “actions speak louder than words.” Investing in a first impression built on user experience shows you’re willing to put your customers’ goals first. You’re willing to make it all about them. What does that say to your customer? That every impression will be as good as the first.