What is an interface?

In simple terms, an interface is a type of signpost or navigation. The goal of the interface is to help the user navigate the website and find what they came to your website looking for. An interface can be a signpost, for example, but it can also be a button on your website. It is important to understand what conventions your target audience understands and that the interface gives the right expectations. Therefore, we need to understand what codes the user is looking for in each segment. "The right codes" create the right expectations but also credibility.

Codes and conventions

It is important to understand that codes and conventions are learnt and dependent on the segment and where in the world we are. An example could be the sign on toilet doors in public environments, the sign usually does not say toilet but it is a man or a woman. Despite this, we know immediately when we see such a sign that inside that door there is a toilet, because we have learnt that.

Another example could be that there is a green and a red button when the phone rings. We have learnt that the green button means answer and the red one means reject. So even if we have a brand new phone, we immediately know where to click to answer when it rings.

By using the 'right codes', we build credibility. By the right codes, we mean that the codes are right for your target audience and for the segment. For example, imagine you're googling for a good café to go for a coffee, and you click on a website for a café you see in the search results. But, when you get to the website, they have exactly the same codes as a dentist's website. You won't think that this seems like a cosy coffee shop that serves good pastries, but at first glance you'll probably wonder if you even came to the right website and start looking for another café instead.

If the interface does not work

If the target audience does not understand the interface and cannot find what they are looking for, frustration starts to build up. If the user experiences frustration, there is a high risk that they will leave your website and communication will break down.

For example, if we go back to the phone I wrote about before again. We know that you answer with the green button and reject the call with the red button. Imagine you buy a new mobile phone and on it it is the other way round. You would most likely click the wrong button many times and get very frustrated on the phone before you learnt that it is now the red button that means answer and the green reject. You might even have switched back to your old phone again just to avoid fussing with the new one.

Sometimes laws and regulations can be an obstacle to a good interface, an example of this is the Swedish Social Insurance Agency. It is a government agency and they must therefore follow rules for what things should be called even though the target group uses other names in their everyday speech and therefore may have difficulty finding what they are looking for.

Technical simplifications can also be an obstacle to a good interface, an example of which could be using Google translate to translate your page and having something go wrong in the translation, making it difficult for the target audience to understand the content.

Relevant content

The main task of the interface is to solve the user's problem. It can be to solve a real problem or to simply entertain the user. For example, if you have an e-commerce, your customers come to your site to look at goods and shop. It should be easy to find your products on the website and easy to order them. It is important not to take advantage of your customers' trust by giving them information they do not want.

A good website can be compared to a customer service centre. It solves the customer's problem and offers only relevant information or content. It's fair to say that every time a customer has looked for the answers on the website and had to pick up the phone and call customer service instead, the interface has failed.

Hope you enjoyed this post!

If you need help to get the right interface on your site, you are welcome to contact us