Designing an app is one thing, but creating an app that’s functional, visually appealing and delightful to use requires much more than just a creative designer. The user interface (UI) and user experience (UX) of your app are fundamental to its success – they’re what sets your product apart from the competition and makes users enjoy using it and recommend it to others. The best way to achieve these results is by following proven principles of UI/UX design that have been honed over years of practice by skilled designers. Here are eight of the most important ones.
Principle #1: Create Clean, Consistent Interfaces
Create clean, consistent interfaces that are easy to navigate and understand. This will reduce user frustration by making it easier to find the content they need and avoid having to go through extra steps in order to complete a task.
- Create clean, consistent interfaces that are easy to navigate and understand.
- Use design patterns as much as possible for common tasks – this reduces cognitive load on the user because they only need to learn one standard interface for an entire system or app.
- Keep your design simple, but not too simplistic – there should be enough visual cues for users to know what is clickable or selected without having them read any text labels or instructions first.
Principle #2: Give Intuitive Feedback
Making sure that feedback is clear and immediate after a user interacts with your design will not only make the user feel more in control, but it will also give them confidence that they are using the right interface. This principle ties in closely with the Principle of Consistency: when you use clear and consistent feedback across your design, users will know how to interact with your product without having to figure out what each button does.
Principle #3: Provide Visual Priority
Color is one way to prioritize objects, but it can be difficult to understand the difference between highlighting and background colors on a screen. To make things easier for your users, use size and position to make certain elements stand out. For example, if you want a button that says Save to be more visible than another button that says Cancel, then place the Save button at the top right corner of the screen and position it so that it takes up most of the space.
Principle #4: Keep Users in Control
Users don’t want to feel powerless, so it’s important that you allow them to be in control of their experience. Offer choices for customization and avoid placing all the options at the top level of a hierarchy. Studies have shown that when people are given fewer choices, they’re more satisfied with their selection than when given too many options.
To make people feel in control, limit the number of choices they have to make at any one time and give them an option to revisit decisions later if need be.
Principle #5: Avoid Mental Overload
One principle that is not often discussed, but can be very important is the principle of avoiding mental overload. When designing a user interface, it is important to keep in mind how much information will be on the screen at any one time. A good rule of thumb is to avoid having more than five items on the screen at once. This allows people to focus and stay engaged with what they are seeing.
Principle #6: Organize Information Hierarchically
When you’re designing a website or app, you want to make sure that the information is organized in such a way that people can find what they need quickly and easily. This is done by organizing your content into logical sections on your site. The more often someone needs to use your site, the more information should be accessible via one click or tap. For example, if I’m running an online store and want to offer discounts for my customers, I might have a section on my homepage called Discounts with links to all of the discounts available in one place. Organizing your content logically will make it easier for visitors to find what they need without having to search around on your page or click on every link they see.
Principle #7: Don’t Hide Important Information
A crucial part of the design process is to make sure that the information you want users to see is easily accessible and not obscured. This can be accomplished by drawing attention to it with color, placement, or size. For example, a product page on an e-commerce website should have large images and prices prominently displayed. If your menu has a Sign In button, it should be placed at the top left so that it’s not overlooked.
Principle #8: Differentiate Required Information from Optional Information
Differentiating required information from optional information is an important principle in user interface and user experience design. The user should know the difference between these two types of content in order to provide a good experience, such as with search engines or forms. If the user is on a website and they are looking for contact information, it’s not necessary to include every bit of contact information that might be available at the same time. Instead, only show what they need to see when they first land on the page so that there’s no confusion about what actions will take them where.
Final Note
While it is possible to do UI/UX design on your own, it’s a lot easier and more efficient to hire an experienced UI/UX design company in India. A good UI/UX designer will have knowledge of all the principles mentioned above. They can also analyze your current site and offer suggestions for improvement as well as help with hiring decisions for designers, developers, and other staff members you need for your company.
