Design your way

The creation of a good-looking and usable design is a challenging task which relies on many techniques and principles.

What does user interface design actually mean? It means that while apps/websites are being designed, designers focus mostly on building proper interaction with users.

As a result, users will have a pleasant experience; and such is the key to functionality. Excellent interface design means excellent experience, and such will keep users on your side.

It’s not an easy task, so we prepared a list of essential tips for improving UI design.

Consistency

Image source: Prakhar Neel Sharma

Personally, we believe consistency is the key to a successful design. If users are used to double-click on an item to perform an action, they should be able to repeat the procedure for other actions too.

Consistency is also important in terms of placement, familiar labels and messages, and a universal color palette. Being consistent means that you’ve enabled your users to create a stable mental strategy on how your app works. It is a win-win case, since you’ll also be able to do savings on training and support.

Simplicity

Image source: Justin Greene

Great user interfaces are not supposed to be visible. They would consist of simplicity and clearance, and they would guide the users without explanatory labels.

High-quality content is a must, but it will mean nothing to you if you don’t make it interesting. Your users don’t need large text blocks with no images to refresh the page and to make it engaging.

You may not be the most stunning balancer ever, and you might not have enough means for professional illustration, but you can always find a way to make content more eye-pleasant.

Contrast

Image source: Flatstudio

You should use contrast to help users focus on a particular link. This tip is especially recommendable for heavily content-armed sites, such as news providers, blogs, forums, etc. When dealing with a lot of information, you should look for a way to help users scan through it and find what they really want to read. Still, don’t go as far as to not sharing important factual information.

Refreshing white space

Image source: Emily Richard

It’s not wrong to say white spaces have been seriously neglected in UI design. Designers make the mistake to perceive them as ‘useful space’ and to fulfill even the tiniest corner of their design (especially those working with limited space).

Dear mobile interface designers-we understand you’re tempted to push information on your apps, but you should also consider the importance of white spaces. They leave some ‘air’ for your users and they give importance to contrasting headlines, images, or other elements you want users to see. They also create a feeling of cleanness, and they encourage users to access as much of your content as they can.

Easiness

Image source: Miklos Barton

Users come first and functionality should always focus on them. Remember that they are neither as knowledgeable nor experienced like you, and they will have a hard time understanding some of the ideas you’re trying to convey.

Think what your product means to them and how they’re going to use it. Consider some additional explanations and regular feedback. Provide visual and intuitive cues for their actions and make sure they’re not struggling to accomplish their goals.

Divide content in an effective manner

Image source: Wojciech Zieliński

There must be a logical connection between elements. It is a way in which you communicate with your users and you help them find/associate things on the screen. You can either divide elements in groups, or leave enough blank space to point different categories. Detailed menus are one of the best strategies you could employ.

Use icons

Image source: Zulal Ahmad

Icons are good for both navigation and content, and they are recommendable for every type of website/app. You can use them to add depth to your site and to make your brand more interesting. In addition, icons are cute and they make pages look livelier. You can also attach textual labels to avoid confusion, or to group interrelated icons to draw attention towards a specific action.

Similar patterns

Copying a pattern is not a sin! Even the most popular websites/products work in this way. It is not an accidental choice-designers use patterns which are familiar to users and are therefore comfortable to include. This doesn’t have to mean you’re copying someone design, since the only common things are layouts and flows.

Communicate with verbs

Image source: CYRA

We all tend to ‘follow the flow’ when it comes to message and labeling. It may be the right moment to rethink our strategy-maybe there is a way to save users time and effort and to communicate in a more effective manner.

Take errors as an example-when such occur to a user, he receives a message providing ‘Yes’, ‘No’, or ‘Cancel’ options. It may sound natural to you, but it is confusing for the user. Imagine, he has to reread the message each and every time, so that he could be really sure of what he is doing.

Image source: Azís Pradana

Why not including verbs in the button labels? We would make responses faster, effortless, and more accurate. Instead of ‘Yes’, we could use ‘Save’, while instead of ‘No’ there could stand ‘Don’t save’. The user would understand immediately and he would lose no time to respond.

As a result, dialogues between you and your users will become more usable for both sides-for the user, as he would have all the information to perform an action properly; and for you, as you could monitor his behavior and learn something from it.

Communicate in every other way

Make sure your users are always on board with what’s happening. Inform them on every error, state change, location, or successful action. There are many UI elements and strategies which can help you do this.

Don’t forget defaults

Defaults should be considered on an early stage, while users are still revealing the goals they brought on your website. They are especially important for sites proposing registration forms, where a field can be ‘checked’ as a pre-chosen or already filled one.

Final remarks

Image source: Arron Hunt

Functionality doesn’t exclude beauty. They are interdependent. It is not rare for more to be less, and for simple stuff to be stylish. However, if you find yourself in a situation where you have to choose between them, choose functionality.

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