One of the most neglected components when designing user experiences is the privacy issue. In this information driven era, website designers and developers who work on the web sacrifice privacy and submit the end-users to privacy violations. This article discusses some of the privacy related concerns and the ways it can affect the overall user experience.

Why is privacy being made an issue? The best website design companies would agree to this era's thirst of information. Local social media channels like Facebook, has made insurmountable amount of data available publicly. The data is sold without the knowledge of the user. It is visible because security breaches are increasing. We as the site developers are therefore responsible for the transactions and activities that occur in the website.

Most developers use PayPal to guarantee the security of the user's data. The predominant concern for the users is when websites require information than they actually need. There are websites that require logging in to access some information even if it is actually not required. Most websites are guilty of this and it is time to address the problem. One of the best examples is Twitter where the user does not need to submit a ton of information. Other than the amount of information being harvested by the websites, there are concerns for storage in the website, and the way the website would deal with the information once they process it.

Business and end users form a relationship based on trust and respect. It is important that all visitors are treated appropriately and barriers like spam mails are removed. This would improve usability of the website and develop the brand presence all the time empowering the audience in the process.

We as viewers provide our information to whosoever requires it. Grabbing small details like the IP address, we try to grab all the available information. Getting these details of the users without their consent is cheating. We should ensure that the information submitted is secure. No user should be manipulated to provide their details. Since trustworthiness is rare, it is a valuable asset. Tracking the habits and preferences of visitors is a debatable issue, but it does help in improving the experience of the user.

The harvested data enables us to deliver a purposeful website; we can still restrict ourselves in generating minimal data (the personal details). The logging of IP addresses and detection scripts are advantageous but the privacy of the user should be respected. If as the reader, you are wondering how value and trust is related to user experience, it is because it is the indispensable component for the brand. Helping in the conversion of customers, if the business lacks trust, the users would be wary of using the website.

If as best website design one wants to deliver a hassle free experience, the most simple way to attain this is to satisfy the privacy concerns and eliminate all the barriers. Following the principle of progressive disclosure, i.e. asking for details only when necessary, the website owners would ask for minimal information. As different users interact with the website, and it asks for information only when necessary, the users would continue lingering there. The website should not be asking for all the data upfront.

For example, if the visitor is registering for a forum, the data should not ask for contact details. If the end-user is purchasing something, there is no need to know the sex, marital status or tax brackets. It is important that the date be divided according to the need. Being sensible is the key.

People fumble through long forms. The idea is to generate information by being sensible and smart.