The “My Account” section of any website serves as a bridge between the user and the website. You need this bridge fully intact, otherwise any small blemish may erode your relationship with you and the consumer. These blemishes include lack of privacy settings, lack of an intuitive layout, and more, that could have your customers complaining, thus reducing the value of your business.
You can avoid these blemishes and perfect your bridge by understanding the core value of a My Account section. A stellar My Account section should be task-oriented and easy to navigate, with users clicking the account section with a goal in mind. These goals range from changing passwords to updating their credit card information.
Keep in mind that it takes customers 50 milliseconds to form an opinion about any website. You want your My Account section to impress them as soon as they open the page. So here are a few tips to make the best “My Account” section.
It is important to display each topic related to the user’s account as intuitive as possible. For instance, when a user clicks on the icon for user settings, create a drop-down menu that shows a list of topics they can select.
Other ways include having users click on an icon for their account settings, then directing them to another page where each of their topics is listed horizontally on top of the page. You want users to see all their options clearly. For example, you could also have each topic relevant for the user on the left of the page vertically.
Accessibility goes a long way in making your customers feel happy with using your app. But of course, there’s more that goes into the design of a “My Account” page and other web pages. We go into detail about all the ways that you can change your design and attract more customers in another article.
Beyond ease of access, account security matters for your users when they are accessing their private information. Hackers can easily access your clients’ information if there are no proper account security measures in place. Users may want specific privacy settings that will make them feel much safer when using the website. Thankfully, there are a few solutions for both situations.
Lastly, make sure that users can easily access their account security options without delay. Display this topic as “Privacy”, “Security”, or any other phrase that means account protection. Let them change anything they want in this feature, but first, ask them their password before they access the privacy settings.
The most successful websites always prioritize their users’ concerns above all else when establishing security measures for their accounts. Remember that they are trusting you with their private information. Respect their privacy and implement measures that will ensure their security.
There are multiple ways for your website to organize contact details in a way that pleases your customers. The best way to nail this format is having your users compile contact information such as addresses, emails, and phone number details on your website.
For instance, include an “edit shipping address” option if your business delivers products directly to customers. You can also make a “billing address” option as well and separate it from the “shipping addresses” topic so as to not confuse users.
Furthermore, give your users an opportunity to change their email addresses as well. It will help them in allocating certain emails for certain products.
One more option is having an address book feature in which you can save various addresses. This is for customers who have more than one place to which they want their goods delivered.
Lastly, include a “contacts preferences” option. Let your users change how they want your website to contact them. These methods vary, from email to phone number details.
Remember, only give options that your customers will benefit from and do not have features that will waste the customer’s time. We have a great article concerning what you shouldn’t do when making any web page.
Along with contact details, your users will want to access and change their payment information or billing information without any frustrations. The simplest way to have users access this information is having a category on their “My Account” page listed as “Payment Details” or something to that effect.
In this section, allow your users to change their card without hassle. Make the process easier by letting users have multiple cards on file. You can have them check which cards are saved to the account through the topic “Saved Cards”. Then, enable a way for users to list a credit card as their primary one, meaning that every purchase they make will use that card.
Next, have consumers connect their accounts with other money-based applications, such as PayPal. In integrating PayPal, think about other payment methods: Google Pay, Apple Pay, Samsung Pay, and other phone-based applications.
For example, take a look at how many payment options we offered when redesigning a utility website, Otter Tail Power Company:
Lastly, if your business gives out gift cards, give consumers the option to check the balance of their cards at any time. Place this option as a separate topic from “Payment Details”.
As you can tell, there are many ways to build your website. If you want more help, know that you can always contact OnSharp for more help in building your “My Account” section. We are more than happy to help you build the best possible user interface for your customer base.