How do you know when it’s time for an interface redesign? This is a question that SaaS businesses all need to ask themselves at some point. Perhaps you are wondering if your SaaS UI needs an upgrade and aren’t sure how to tell if it’s necessary.
A lot of businesses push the update back as far as possible, which is understandable. Giving your interface a facelift is time-consuming, and expensive, and can result in some downtime or technical glitches while you make the necessary updates. There’s also the fear that users won’t like the new updates.
Sometimes though, businesses wait too long to make necessary updates, which ends up hindering their software’s performance. Customers can become dissatisfied with your product and opt for another product if the UI is lacking.
So how do you know when it’s time to update your interface? Let’s take a look at the six most common instances that indicate it’s time for your interface to get a redesign.
1. You Want To Add Significant New Features
If you’re ready to expand your software’s capabilities and add significant new features, there’s a chance that you should update your interface as well. Whether this means you’re adding a significant number of features or just a few features that could change how your tool is used, you’ll almost definitely need at least a minor interface redesign.
Many of these features, after all, may actually require an interface redesign so that users will be able to locate the features. It also may be necessary so that the features will function properly and fit into the tool in an intuitive way instead of seeming like they were tacked on as an afterthought.
2. Users Tell You Your Interface Is Not Intuitive
This should be a no-brainer. If users are telling you the interface is complicated or confusing, it’s working against you and not for you. Despite this, many businesses ignore it, saying “They’ll get the hang of it!” and users cancel their memberships instead.
If users tell you that your interface is confusing, try to get more detailed feedback about what specifically makes it difficult to use. In many cases, the actual organization is at fault. Because of this, a major redesign of the interface is often needed, which can simplify the display and accessibility to different features.
Most SaaS tools have some immediate competition. Right Signature competes with DocuSign, HelloSign, and E-Signatures by Adobe, for example. While price will influence customers, the interface and ease of use will be a big part of the buying decision.
3. New Users Struggle To Learn The Software
Your users should be able to get the hang of your product relatively quickly. If they can’t get the hang of it, that’s a sign that your interface needs to be adjusted. When new users are requesting a lot of assistance with how to use, access, or find specific features, it could signal a problem with the organization or a lack of onboarding guidance.
Some interfaces will be much stronger in design than others, and much easier to navigate. Creating an intuitive interface is imperative to the success of your product. Users can quickly lose trust if your product gives them a negative impression, such as being too complicated, not valuable, or confusing. A great example of this is Trello. It is often used for project planning and management mostly because it’s so simple to use.
4. You’ve Rebranded
If you rebrand, your interface needs to be redesigned to match it. This rebranding could include:
- A shift in prioritization of use cases (like transitioning from just invoicing to accounting as a whole)
- Stylized rebranding, including colours and style of copy
- Targeting a slightly different audience
Rebranding can be a small or potentially large upheaval in the rest of your business, and your interface should always reflect that. All businesses will evolve over time and will require some rebranding -it’s just a matter of when.
5. Your Technology Needs An Update
The pesky thing about technology is that it advances at a lightning-fast pace. To continue offering top-of-the-line software to our customers, we must adopt new technology when possible.
A great example of this is the ability to integrate with other popular software. Any eCommerce software, for example, should be able to integrate with the most popular payment options. Slack is a great example of a SaaS tool that offers a ton of integrations with other popular software. If your interface doesn’t work well with new technology, it’s time to give it an overhaul.
6. The Interface Looks Out-Of-Date
Stylistic trends that were extremely popular even five years ago look out-of-date today. You likely wouldn’t wear the same on-trend outfit from a decade ago to a business meeting; keeping your interface stylistically updated is just as important. The best SaaS products are always making updates and improvements, even if they’re not drastic.
Breaking-edge technology is always top of mind in the zeitgeist. For this reason, you want to stay on top of the latest trends and opportunities to make your interface top quality. Otherwise, your perceived credibility and professionalism can drop and you’ll lose sales, no matter how great your software is.
Final Thoughts
Maintaining an up-to-date, modern interface that functions like top-of-the-line software should is essential to keeping and expanding your client base. It’s best to keep an open mind and remain open to your technology evolving with new features and improved technology. Your UI should evolve with your product and you should be constantly looking for ways to improve and add value for your users.
We’re passionate about creating insanely great SaaS products. If you would like to take your UI/UX design to the next level, book a 15-minute call to speak with a product design expert. Finally, if you enjoyed this article, head over to our YouTube channel to find more great content!
