The user interface comprises a significant part of any digital platform's performance. If it is done well, users feel comfortable when accomplishing their tasks and surfing through the platform. Whether UI is poor, users struggle with numerous problems that deteriorate their experience and urge them to leave. And to increase success when crafting a UI for your website, it's recommended to follow some principles and rules. That will help you to unleash the potential of your web platform and deliver an excellent user experience.
What is UI design?
Before plunging into the UI design best practices, it's critical to understand what makes up UI and what is essentially a UI design. For instance, when we speak about the website, one should understand that a website is not a mere set of pages connected by links. It is a vast concept that serves as a space where the communication between the user and the digital platform happens. In other words, it is an interface where users and the company's web presence interact, communicate, and affect each other.
That interaction creates an experience for the users. And UI design is aimed to make that interaction as smooth and consistent as possible. Thus, UI is the space where the interaction appears – while the UI design stands for the aesthetics element by which that interaction goes on.
As for the websites, User Interface design refers to the look and feel and interactivity of a web platform. It’s all about considering every visual, interactive element the user might encounter while surfing the web platform. It concerns icons, buttons, typography, imagery, color schemes, and responsiveness. And the goal of UI design is to maximize an intuitive experience, guiding users through a digital product.
Also, UI design is aimed at transferring the brand’s essence to an interface, making sure everything is consistent and coherent. In other words, UI design requires multifaceted knowledge, including graphic design and branding.
UI design principles
Most user interface design companies and individuals know and use four staples of UI design. These are the UI design principles that ensure the user interface be as smooth and high-quality as possible. Let’s consider them:
1. Place users in control of the interface
Excellent UI should always keep users in control while they accomplish their tasks on the web platform. That sense of control makes users feel comfortable and deprives them of fear of making something wrong. For that reason, UI design focuses on the predictability of the actions. It also should provide additional visual cues that help users to predict the result of their actions.
For instance, take a button with an envelope sign. When pressing on it, users already know what to expect from the web platform. It will probably take them to the Contact Us page or open up a form to contact a company. Thus, they feel in control of it and can easily decide their steps.
2. Make the interface easy to interact with
When stuffing the interface with irrelevant or too sophisticated information, it can confuse or irritate users, significantly deteriorating their experiences. For instance, too bright typography or the color of a button can impede its functionality. Users can simply not notice it and spend much time searching before taking any further actions. Also, when using tiny buttons, you can irritate users because they can't press on them, especially on mobile resolutions.
What is more, too many elements on the interface can lead to disorientation. Users will have to search for the right button or icon to continue their journey. Thus, it's also critical to keep the interface clean and avoid using unnecessary elements that only create additional noise. All this makes up the principle of ease of use and interaction, helping to support users' tasks but not impede them.
3. Lessen the cognitive load
Essentially, cognitive load is the amount of mental processing required to perform a task on a digital platform. And to craft an excellent UI, it’s critical to avoid making users think or work too hard to perform a basic action. In other words, UI design also intends to keep the cognitive load low. For that reason, it’s important to escape any implicit meanings, visual clutters, and complex set of actions to complete one task. The clarity of form and meaning is what you need here.
4. Keep to the consistency
Consistency is key. It helps to present the information clearly and facilitate the user experience when dealing with the web platform. If everything is consistent and holistic, there will be no obstacles on the way to the desired action. If the interface contains many elements that are disorganized and irrelevant, there will be no consistency, and users will have to struggle with numerous problems before they get where they need.
UI design tips
Building an efficient UI takes time and effort. However, if you keep in mind the above-mentioned principles, the work becomes much easier. To improve your skills even more, there is a set of UI design best practices and tips:
- Use visual hierarchy
When dealing with fonts, it’s critical to employ visual hierarchy for better readability and clarity. Visual hierarchy means using different font sizes. For instance, you use a bigger font for headings and subheadings, and smaller ones for the body copy, and less significant things. The order of the text styles should always start from the largest to the smallest. That provides consistency and significantly cuts the cognitive load.
Also, a visual hierarchy might be applied by means of color. You may employ contrast to highlight some important elements. It is the best way to make the interface well-organized and comprehensible.
- Keep font styles minimal
Avoid using more than two fonts in one project. That practice simplifies the perception of the product and significantly facilitates further interface development. When there are too many styles in one interface, it might be hard to spot the needed item for the users. In other words, that sea of inconsistency may urge them to take more time to get across the interface, meaning a higher cognitive load.
- Use comprehensive visual cues and signs
Everyone knows the icon of a trash bin. Users don’t have to spend time figuring out what this or that symbol means. And when pressing on it, they know where it will take them. When using icons with symbols users might be unfamiliar with, you compromise clarity and evoke confusion. To escape that, try to use internationally approved signs that everyone knows. It lessens the chances of disorientation and keeps your interface clear and direct.
- Employ a grid system
Clarity is the first step toward an intuitive interface. And it’s paramount to keep to the grid when crafting that one. What is more, it helps you to create balance and eliminates any significant inconsistencies in further interface development.
- Collect a UI kit
At the end of the work, you can prepare a UI kit with all text styles, icons, illustrations, and other elements that have been used. That will help developers to start working immediately, saving their time. And designing with the development process in mind is the best way to streamline future work and build consistency.
Wrapping up
Whether your UI is poor, there will be no communication. Although users would interact with poorly designed UI, they will feel uncomfortable, and their experience will be extremely low. That is one of the reasons users leave websites.
The goal of UI is to make the interface user-friendly, encourage communication, and help the interaction between the user and the platform. And all these UI design principles and practices are aimed to make the interface intuitive, enticing, and predictable. Ultimately, if done well, UI design can leverage your website performance, including better speed performance, higher user acquisition, and better website usability.