User experience is the backbone of how people interact with your brand. From the moment someone lands on your site, every detail matters. Major Tom builds seamless, user-friendly websites that guide users where they need to go—and keep them coming back for more. In this Q&A, we spoke with Olu Osunrinde, our Senior UX/UI Designer, to dig into how we create websites that drive engagement and deliver real results for our clients.
At Major Tom, our approach to UX/UI is distinct because we focus on creating websites designed to last for ten or more years. This long-term mindset means we conduct thorough research and strategic planning to ensure the website evolves with the business and its users. We see our client relationship as a partnership, almost like a marriage, where we're an extension of their team.
Every client's needs are unique, and even brands within the same industry have different goals and challenges. That's why we reject a one-size-fits-all approach to UX/UI. Instead, we use a highly customized and contextual strategy. We consider every aspect of a client's business goals and customer's needs, ensuring our solutions are tailored specifically to them.
Our strength lies in our approach to research. We don't scratch the surface; we conduct 'research from the ground up.' We have a robust process for documenting and translating research findings into actionable insights. It's easy to claim you're doing research, but the effort is wasted without converting that into tangible actions. For our clients, this means they get a solution that perfectly aligns with their goals and is built to adapt over time, maintaining its effectiveness long after launch. This contextual, research-driven approach is what sets us apart from typical UX/UI methods.
One example where the traditional UX/UI approach didn’t work well was during a competitor analysis. Competitor analysis is a common method, but the problem is it often leads to reactive decisions—you’re just copying what others are doing. If you base your strategy on a competitor’s current website, they could already be working on a redesign, which would make your insights outdated before you even start.
So, in this case, we took a different approach. Instead of just looking at competitors, we started benchmarking by talking directly to users. We asked them what other tools or websites they use and what they think could be improved on those platforms.
By focusing on user experiences across different platforms, not just direct competitors, we could design something that resonated more. For example, if we learned users spend a lot of time on visually engaging platforms like YouTube, we’d take inspiration from that and create a website that captures that same visual appeal. This approach ties into Jakob's Law of Internet User Experience, which states that users spend more time on other websites than they do on yours. Essentially, users bring their expectations from other sites—like layout, design, and functionality—to your site, whether or not they are directly related to your industry.
A good example of when we rebuilt a website based on user-experience needs is our case study for IPEX.
In the end, it all comes down to understanding users' habits and tailoring their experiences accordingly. Benchmarking with user experiences from different contexts helps our clients build and maintain a website experience that engages and retains users.
One of the best ways to enhance user experience without breaking the bank is simple: talk to your customers.
Getting direct feedback from the people who actually use your website or app is invaluable. It gives you a clear sense of what’s working and what could be improved, all without the guesswork. It also reduces risk since you’re basing decisions on real insights from the people you’re trying to serve.
Customers’ needs are always evolving, and staying in tune with those changes helps keep your brand relevant. A lot of companies rely on personas—those fictional representations of users—to guide their decisions. While useful, we always remind clients that personas should be treated as living documents. People change over time, and so should your understanding of them.
By regularly engaging with your customers, you can be more proactive and make decisions based on current data instead of assumptions. This approach not only helps you manage your budget more effectively but also allows you to deliver an experience that truly resonates. The right partner will find creative, cost-effective ways to meet your users' needs and keep improving without having you take on too much risk.
One important question that clients often miss is:
“How do we measure the success of our user experience, and how do we keep improving it?”
This question matters because it highlights the need to keep evaluating and improving, even after the design and launch.
At Major Tom, we handle this by setting SMART goals—Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-bound—right from the start. These goals are built into our Website Feature Inventory, which is basically a roadmap for the project. It outlines every page of the website, the features each page has, and how they align with the user’s goals. It also highlights which features are considered the MVP (Minimum Viable Product) for the initial launch and which ones will be added later.
This approach allows the website to grow and adapt as users' needs and market trends shift. We see it as an ongoing process, not just a one-time project. We recently wrote a whole article about Harnessing the power of website maintenance and optimization.
When clients ask how success will be measured and maintained, they’re positioning themselves for a UX/UI strategy that’s both strategic and flexible. This helps their investment deliver value well into the future.
When it comes to UX/UI, there’s no such thing as a one-size-fits-all trend. Context matters—your user experience should align with your business goals and what your users truly need. If a brand sees another company roll out a new feature and jumps on it without fully understanding why it works for them, it’s setting itself up for trouble.
Every brand is unique, with its own identity and audience. Copying what someone else is doing—without knowing the reasoning behind it—can lead to a disjointed user experience and weaken your brand’s individuality. Good UX/UI starts with understanding your users and designing experiences that fit their needs and behaviors.
If you’re constantly chasing trends, you risk losing what makes your brand stand out. For enterprise clients especially, standing out in a crowded market means focusing on creating an experience that’s not just trendy but genuinely valuable to your users. Instead of following trends, the goal should be to create experiences that resonate with your audience and build on what makes your brand unique.
Creating a great user experience starts with understanding your users and your goals as a business.
At Major Tom, we help you build tailored, intuitive designs that keep your audience engaged. Check out our UX/UI services page or contact us today to get started.