Does Your Website User Experience Pass The Mom Test?

Does your website user experience pass the mom test? What is the mom test? Honestly, it’s not even something formal but it’s a test that I’ve come to do with almost all of my websites and I think it’s crucial for an amazing experience for every user. So what is the mom test? Let me break it down with a quick story time. First off my mom has no ‘real’ design experience and isn’t well versed in the UX world BUT she is still a user andher experience on the web is valid. I tend to ask my mom for her opinion, thoughts & feedback on designs that I work on. Although I don’t always like listening to her, she does have a lot of good advice & input that I do believe have made my designs a lot better. I think I get in my design bubble sometimes and when I go to her, it reminds me that people can’t read my mind, that they may have different challenges or needs than I do and that I should keep those things in mind to have a better design. The idea of the ‘mom test’ is to see whether or not things are clear, user friendly & easy to understand. So below are a few things that always come up during these mom tests that you should definitely keep in mind!

Affiliate Disclaimer: Please note this post contains affiliate links. If you go through them to make a purchase, I will make a commission at no cost to you. Thanks for your support!

Make your font legible!

Whether it’s the size or the actual typeface, make sure it’s legible!! You don’t have much time to make a good impression and if someone can’t actually read your copy or is spending too much time trying to figure out what the f*ck you’re trying to say, then you have a problem.

Anytime I show my mom a design, she will point out whether or not she can actually read the copy. She’ll either say to make the font bigger (almost always) or say that she can’t read the font at all. If that’s the case, then I adjust it as much as I can.

The truth is, my mom is not the only person in the world who may have issues reading something so it’s important to consider the user experience. Don’t make your font size super tiny unless it’s supposed be a disclaimer or notice type thing – but even then. So when you are designing, realize that people of all ages & visual capabilities may be visiting your site or seeing your work, so make that sh*t legible!

Make call to actions clear

So as of today (April 2021) my website has a marquee banner that scrolls and tells people click for free goods. Initially it just said ‘Free Goods’ and I asked my mom if she would know to click there. She said no. I was bummed but I changed it and at the end of the day it made that call to action so.much.clearer. That’s a good thing!

If you are a designer or really just a business owner in general and you think your customer journey or call to actions are clear, make sure to ask someone. Just because you know how things are supposed to work and what people are supposed to do, doesn’t mean everyone will.

Make it clear and then make it even clearer. And keep making things clearer as much as you can. Less confusion = more sales and a much better user experience.

Keep things simple

This kind of goes hand in had with making everything as clear as possible but it’s also important to keep the process & customer journey simple. If my mom says she doesn’t know what to do or if she can’t figure out how to check out or where get in touch or anything, I work on fixing that.

The last thing you want to do is to deter potential clients or visitors from getting in touch or making a purchase. Now I wouldn’t say that my mom isn’t tech savy but I also wouldn’t say that she is, however, she is not the only one in the world like that. So when you are designing or creating or running your business – make sure you’re going through you customer journey and keeping it as simple as possible. Don’t add any unnecessary barriers if you don’t need them.

At the end of the day, I think it’s important to design keeping the user experience front of mind, whether you’re a UX designer or not. Simply getting feedback from others, including your parents, loved ones, friends, etc is imporant. It’s also important to remember that online your audience can be a broad range of ages, genders, abilities, knowledge, etc. so don’t limit those people from being able to use your site effectively. I’m honestly always grateful that my mom will look at my designs and provide feedback when I need it. And when I know my designs pass the mom test, I feel way more confident putting it out into the world! So does your website user experience pass the mom test?