Creating a good digital experience is hard work. Online, there’s more competition than anywhere else. You’re competing with everyone who offers the same service as you, rather than just those in the same area.

This means you have to use all the tools in your arsenal and consider every aspect of the experience if you want to create something users choose above all other options.

While there are lots of factors to consider, much of it boils down to a few key cornerstones. Without these five pillars, you won’t be able to stand out against this competition. These are the most important things to consider when thinking about delivering the perfect digital entertainment experience!

Security

It all starts with security. This should be your top priority. While security might not be the first thing you think of when you think of entertainment, you can’t build trust with an audience if the experience isn’t secure. And you won’t be getting anywhere else with an audience that doesn’t trust you.

Not only do you have to ensure your experience is secure, but you also have to communicate it effectively to your audience. That doesn’t mean you emphasize how secure your platform is all the time – that would seem out of place for an entertainment platform. Instead, you’ll want to express yourself during moments of disclosure, such as when you ask your audience to provide their email address, personal information, or payment details.

Accessibility

Just like security, accessibility is a basic requirement to attract users in the first place. If your users can’t access your platform, nothing else will matter. Accessibility is both about ensuring your visitors can access your experience no matter what device they’re on, and also about ensuring people with visual and auditory impairments can enjoy the experience to whichever degree possible.

There is a good reason that offshore casinos accepting US players have taken off, often beating casinos catering to a specific country. For those traveling, for example, it’s frustrating to be cut off from their usual casino due to geo restrictions. By being open to all players, offshore casinos establish a loyal customer base that will return again and again.

Responsiveness

While speed is essential, responsiveness is even more important than speed. A user not seeing that something is happening is a pitfall you don’t want to fall into. It should always be visible that any action – like the click of a button – has been registered. Once a user gets visual feedback and knows something is happening, they’ll have a lot more patience than if it seems nothing is happening.

Generally, all interactable elements should show some type of responsiveness both when hovered over and when interacted with.

Consistency

One thing that quickly becomes frustrating for users is a lack of consistency. A user wants to be able to quickly and easily learn how to navigate the experience, and this isn’t possible if there isn’t a level of consistency in what links and buttons look like, for instance.

Don’t reuse button colors for elements that aren’t clickable, and generally strive to create an experience that resembles the competition. If a user is accustomed to a particular way of navigating, it can be annoying to have to learn a whole new way just for your platform. If it feels strange, the user may end up simply abandoning your platform in favor of one they already have a grasp on.

Simplicity

Finally, the principle of simplicity. One related law that helps you understand the importance of this principle is Miller’s Law. This law states that the average person can only keep seven plus or minus two things in their working memory. If you exceed someone’s capabilities, they’ll easily feel confused and frustrated. That’s why it’s important to focus on simplicity and keep a limited number of things in focus at any given time.

A trick that makes this easier to accomplish is chunking. If you group a number of items together, the user can process the group as a single unit, preventing cognitive overload.