January 20, 2026
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1 – Simplify navigation to support commercial goals
One of the first things I assess is how easily users can find what they came for. Clear, logical navigation reduces friction and moves customers more quickly towards conversion. Overly complex menus, unclear labels, or competing pathways create confusion and cost revenue. My focus is always on guiding users to key actions — whether that’s purchasing, signing up, or requesting contact — with as little effort as possible.
2 – Make calls to action obvious and intentional
CTAs should never be an afterthought. I ensure they’re visually clear, placed deliberately, and written in direct, action-led language such as “Get Started” or “Buy Now”. On high-intent pages, CTAs should be impossible to miss and aligned to what the user is ready to do — not what the business wants to push.
3 – Design mobile-first, not mobile-friendly
In almost every business I work with, mobile traffic outweighs desktop. That means UX decisions must start with mobile, not be adapted to it later. A responsive layout, clear hierarchy, and thumb-friendly interactions are critical to reducing bounce rates and improving conversion on smaller screens.
4 – Treat site speed as a growth lever
Site speed is a core UX and commercial metric. Slow load times damage trust, increase abandonment, and reduce conversion — particularly on mobile. In high-performing businesses, speed isn’t a nice-to-have; it’s part of the DNA.
In one organisation, we embedded global load-time targets of two seconds across all teams. This focus alone materially improved engagement and conversion, without any major redesign.
5 – Use social proof to remove hesitation
Trust signals matter, especially for new or returning customers close to conversion. Reviews, testimonials, secure payment indicators, and credibility markers reduce friction at key decision points. I prioritise placing these elements where users naturally hesitate — not just where they look good visually.
6 – Start with real user needs, not assumptions
Every effective UX improvement starts with understanding what users actually want to do. I typically begin with targeted surveys to identify primary tasks, using simple, clear language and limiting options to avoid noise.
Surveys give direction; interviews provide depth. Speaking directly to a small, relevant group of real customers consistently delivers more value than broad, unfocused feedback.
7 – Validate with usability testing
Usability testing is one of the fastest ways to uncover issues. Even testing with five users can reveal the majority of UX problems. My approach is always structured:
Build lightweight prototypes
Test with the right audience
Set clear tasks
Observe where users struggle, hesitate, or abandon
This keeps decisions grounded in evidence rather than opinion.
8 – Prioritise what moves the dial
Not every idea deserves attention. One of the biggest risks I see is businesses trying to please everyone — which usually leads to clutter and diluted impact.
I prioritise UX improvements based on commercial value, feeding insights into a clear backlog focused on conversion and revenue. In one case, this meant isolating the checkout experience as a dedicated improvement stream, where focused changes delivered measurable gains.
9 – Simplify relentlessly
Less really is more. Over-engineered experiences slow users down and reduce confidence. My goal is always to strip back complexity and make the next step obvious.
In one example, an outdated, manually managed homepage was acting as a blocker to high-converting product pages. We tested a simplified UX approach ahead of a wider DXP rollout and achieved a 12% reduction in bounce rate — results that were later scaled globally.
10 Simple ux strategies for small businesses
1. Simplify navigation to support commercial goals One of the first things I assess is how easily users can find what they came for. Clear, logical navigation reduces friction and moves customers more quickly towards conversion. Overly complex menus, unclear labels, or competing pathways create confusion and cost revenue. My focus is always on guiding users to key actions — whether that’s purchasing, signing up, or requesting contact — with as little effort as possible. 2 -
Optimising site speed is a core part of UX and should be a focus for any business - ensuring that all users regardless of device can experience the optimal journey.
This business was firmly focused on improving site speed globally and this was embedded in the core DNA of the business - with core load time targets of 2 seconds.
5 - Highlight Social Proof and Trust Signals
Add customer reviews, testimonials, trust badges, or secure payment icons to your website. These features help establish credibility and reassure potential buyers, increasing the chances they'll follow through with their purchases. By showcasing positive experiences from others, you can inspire confidence and boost conversions.
6 - Identify Users' Primary Needs & Engage Directly
To truly understand customer needs, it’s essential to ask them directly. Every effective UX strategy begins with user research.
Surveys are key for identifying top tasks, where you can list product features you plan to develop in a simple checkbox format. Use clear, concise wording and a verb-object structure (e.g., "redial a missed call"). Limit choices to a manageable number for more focused results.
After analysing survey results, move on to customer interviews. While surveys provide general insights, interviews allow for a deeper exploration of customer needs. Focus on a select group of customers from your target audience—feedback from random individuals or friends won’t offer valuable insights.
7 - User feedback
User feedback is essential in UX design, and usability testing is a valuable way to gather insights and identify issues. Research suggests that usability tests with just five users can uncover 85% of UX-related problems.
For effective usability testing, follow these steps:
a - Build prototypes based on the information gathered from your target audience.
b - Focus testing on your target audience.
c - Set clear tasks and goals for each test.
d - Measure task completion time and identify challenges users encounter.
8 - Prioritize Key Tasks and Avoid Distractions
In UX design, attempting to accommodate every feature request or satisfy every client often leads to failure. Prioritization is key to success. Although small businesses may encounter differing feedback, the focus should remain on the needs of the broader audience, as reflected in survey and interview results. It’s important to avoid allocating resources to secondary tasks that may appeal to a few but don’t provide significant value to the majority of users.
Prioritization can be looked at in many ways - from a simple end to UX model to breaking the customer experience into different trading elements of the website.
In this example, UX feedback was gathered from a variety of sources and this was all fed into a backlog of possible improvements to move the dial on conversion rate - the exaple here is a product backlog specifically for improving the checkout process.
9 - Simplify the User Experience
The “less is more” principle is particularly relevant in UX design. The fewer elements users have to process, the quicker they can make decisions, leading to higher satisfaction.
UX professionals often overcomplicate interfaces with unnecessary tweaks, making simple actions difficult to find. The key is to avoid clutter and keep things intuitive. For example, a red button in the corner of a screen may be overlooked if surrounded by too much visual noise.
In a world where simplicity and ease are highly valued, UX designers should embrace minimalism. Keep scenarios simple, text concise, and visuals impactful.
In this example, the homepage was very out of date, clunky, not intuitive and manually populated. The business had decided to invest in a DXP however before this implementation, we decided to start looking at some initial design changes to get more traffic through to the highly converting product pages.
The end result after initial testing was that the new homepage UX led to a bounce rate reduction of 12% which was then subsequently rolled out across the wider Global Websites.
10 - Connect with Your Audience Personally
At its core, UX is about creating a genuine connection between your product and your audience. Success doesn’t always require massive investments or complex sales strategies. True growth comes from understanding and relating to your users, showing that great UX is about people, not just technology.
By embracing these strategies, small businesses can create user-friendly digital products that enhance the customer experience, boost satisfaction, and drive success.
Dominic was a breath of fresh air when he joined Avnet and was pivotal to driving the digital transformation that propelled the business to over $1 billion online sales and over 70% of orders transacted on the web. Highly commercial and articulate, Dom was able to navigate across a complicated global matrix structure and was recognised as the guy who could get stuff done - whether as a Product Owner for the Personalisation squad where he significantly increased cross-sell revenue.
Dominic is a resilient and determined Digital eCommerce expert who strives for success in the business he’s working within to ensure that KPIs are set and profitability enhanced. I’d strongly recommend Dominic for any business wishing to exceed its online capability.
Dominic brought both an insightful perspective along with energy to deliver it, a great combination. He will help get under the skin of what’s working and what’s not along with the priorities.
