May 25, 2018

What is UX?

Share the goods.

YES! We love acronyms. WTH. BRB. CTA. TLC. VIP.
You’ve probably heard of one of our digital team’s particular favorites: UX. But do you know what is means?
User Experience! (Okay, so marketers don’t always like to play by the rules, we realize technically, the acronym would be UE. But who wants to say that?)
All jokes aside, UX is the most important concept when it comes to your online experience. According to the Nielsen Norman Group (UX masters), UX encompasses all aspects of the end-user’s interaction with the company, its services, and its products. Essentially, this is the experience that someone has when interacting with you online.
When your website is built with UX in mind, your users enjoy themselves when they spend time on your site. It doesn’t matter what you do, sell, or offer, your website visitors want to have a pleasant experience and easily find what they are looking for on your site.
UX goes far beyond just design; of course you want your site to look awesome, but it also has to perform and create results that support your overall strategy.
So, what does this look like in practice?
Here are some examples of what we mean:

Does everything work as it should?
Are there visual cues that tell my mind what’s going to happen when I take an action, such as clicking on a button or image?
Can I hit tab to navigate through a form?
Do buttons and links look clickable?
Do your buttons and links use language that helps me understand where they’ll take me?
If I click somewhere, am I able to get back to where I was if I need to?
Do I receive a customized ‘thank you’ message after I sign up for your email newsletter?
Is your website easy to read?
Does it load quickly?
If I’m just looking to contact you, is it difficult to navigate there?
If I land on an interior page that you shared on social, is it clear where I’m landing, and how to continue my journey from there?
Is your website content laid out in a way that makes it easy for my eyes to navigate and for my mind to consume?
Do your form fields have tips for helping me understand what you want me to do with them?

When your audience can use your website without having to think about it, they are able to navigate throughout the site smoothly, and that creates a good experience. As a result, your users will come back again, they’ll share your site with their friends, and they’ll take actions, such as subscribing to your email newsletter, contacting you, or buying something.
Who doesn’t want that?!
If your website doesn’t check off the list, we would love to help! Let’s connect and get your UX on point. Our digital team is awesome, and we can’t wait to work with you so your website crushes your goals.

Recent Musings

People standing around talking to each other upstairs.

Building What We Needed for Women-Owned Businesses

The Current State of PR

Something on Your Mind?

A little rain didn’t slow @bodespeaks down.

Kim was in Washington, D.C., this past week for #AUSA2026 - three days where Army leaders, industry partners, and the defense community come together for innovation, insight, and connection.

We can’t wait to hear some of her takeaways. Stay tuned for more soon.

@ausaorg #DefenseIndustry #Leadership #AUSA

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A little rain didn’t slow @bodespeaks down.

Kim was in Washington, D.C., this past week for #AUSA2026 - three days where Army leaders, industry partners, and the defense community come together for innovation, insight, and connection.

We can’t wait to hear some of her takeaways. Stay tuned for more soon.

@ausaorg #DefenseIndustry #Leadership #AUSA

Who made all these rules anyway?

Don’t wear color. Don’t share your ideas. Don’t put yourself out there. Don’t talk about your family.

We’re told to follow them, but @bodespeaks says question every single one. Then uncover your big hairy audacious goal, throw out the rulebook, and build a personal brand that actually works for you.

Thank you to Aggie and Cristy for having Kim on the @badass_women_in_business Podcast and, well... for being total badasses.

Listen to the full episode in bio.

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We had some fun in the office this week and asked some of the 8THIRTYFOUR team what “square up” means.

Surprisingly, the Gen Z of the group got it, but one of our Gen X’s did not (not saying any names…)

How do you “square up”?

#trending #fyp #squareup #agencylife

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We had some fun in the office this week and asked some of the 8THIRTYFOUR team what “square up” means.

Surprisingly, the Gen Z of the group got it, but one of our Gen X’s did not (not saying any names…)

How do you “square up”?

#trending #fyp #squareup #agencylife

The 834 Learning Hub is where we throw fun shindigs, where cool people come to work, where Big Deal Energy gathers, and where we push you to get uncomfortable.

It’s not your typical event or coworking space - and we like it that way. The lighting, colors, wallpaper, layout, and yes, the dogs, are all very intentional.

If you need a spot to host your offsite team training, leadership quarterly, photo shoot (dogs can be included), or you just need a space to network or cowork - reach out.

We got the goods:
- A sweet sound system
- State-of-the-art digital whiteboard
- A really big T.V. Like it’s big.
- Your own private entrance
- Free parking
- A dog (or two) if you ask nicely

Drop us a line at hello@8thirtyfour.com or click the link in bio to rent the Hub today.

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The 834 Learning Hub is where we throw fun shindigs, where cool people come to work, where Big Deal Energy gathers, and where we push you to get uncomfortable.

It’s not your typical event or coworking space - and we like it that way. The lighting, colors, wallpaper, layout, and yes, the dogs, are all very intentional.

If you need a spot to host your offsite team training, leadership quarterly, photo shoot (dogs can be included), or you just need a space to network or cowork - reach out.

We got the goods:
- A sweet sound system
- State-of-the-art digital whiteboard
- A really big T.V. Like it’s big.
- Your own private entrance
- Free parking
- A dog (or two) if you ask nicely

Drop us a line at hello@8thirtyfour.com or click the link in bio to rent the Hub today.

We love Dr. Karen May’s mission.

What if we taught our daughters AND our sons about women’s health, hormones, and pregnancy? Not as a whispered “talk” or a one-time awkward conversation. Just normal dinner-table stuff.

The girls deserve to know what’s coming (perimenopause shouldn’t be a surprise party nobody wanted). And the boys? They’ll be partners, dads, coworkers, and bosses to women going through all of it.

Thank you, Dr. May, for sharing your best practices to keep the women’s health conversation going at our Uncomfortable Conversations | The Pause event.

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We love Dr. Karen May’s mission.

What if we taught our daughters AND our sons about women’s health, hormones, and pregnancy? Not as a whispered “talk” or a one-time awkward conversation. Just normal dinner-table stuff.

The girls deserve to know what’s coming (perimenopause shouldn’t be a surprise party nobody wanted). And the boys? They’ll be partners, dads, coworkers, and bosses to women going through all of it.

Thank you, Dr. May, for sharing your best practices to keep the women’s health conversation going at our Uncomfortable Conversations | The Pause event.

Showing up to an interview with an iced coffee? Not the move… unless it’s for @bodespeaks

#icedcoffee #agency #PR #trending #grandrapids

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