Although creativity in UI design is king, there are some fundamentals that designers should keep in mind when creating a UI strategy or a product itself. They use certain rules that allow them to successfully design stellar digital products.
In this article, we will look at the Top 5 Golden Rules of UI Design in web or mobile development.
The science behind color shades
All the web elements and interfaces must match in color shades.
Knowledge of the basics of compatibility, as well as a map of colors, is what designers pay huge attention to. Sometimes the client wants to apply specific corporate colors to his product. In this case, designers work hard to convey contrast and depth as accurately as possible.
The colors of the brand are the foundation of its visual story. Their combinations, as defined by brand strategists, are paramount and should be translated through any graphics, created by the company.
In addition, UI designers use colors to indicate the different states of the interface. They match colors for different page elements and differ them from the main theme.
Information messages, success states, notifications, checkboxes, and navigation elements: all use different colors to differentiate interface elements from one another and simplify navigation.
Logic and structure
All interface elements should be logically structured and placed.
A clear visual hierarchy grabs the user’s attention to the most important elements on the page.
Logically structured elements on the page help users understand what to pay attention to.
It can be done with the help of color and contrast, scale, and grouping.
For example, if it’s an online store, users should be able to easily access the shopping cart or add a product they like, and if necessary, quickly move back or open an order form.
Typography in UI design
Can you imagine a web design without text elements? It would be weird, wouldn’t it?
Nevertheless, simply pasting randomly designed text is not enough to develop an effective user interface and a positive experience. Text and its appearance must be thoughtful, otherwise, it can ruin the design.
Basic knowledge of typography can help designers understand the visual presentation of a font and its impact on user perception.
To create aesthetic and harmonious typography, designers learn the fundamentals of text representation in UI.
Font and typeface, baseline and mean line, white space, symbol size, tracking, typographic hierarchy, and an avalanche of other terms and concepts are essential for designers as these concepts influence the final perception of text and its structure.
Style continuity
With the abundance of UI/UX styles, it is easy to get lost in the variety of options. Therefore, UI-designer should know the main UI styles as well as their areas of application. That way, it will be easier for the team or the client to decide which style to choose for a particular product.
Although there is a plethora of trends in UI/UX design, designers should be able to determine what style will suit a particular business.
What works for the website of the brutal barbershop could ruin the whole thing for companies producing hydraulic equipment.
As for the trends, they come and go every year and every style derives from another one. That is why it is important for designers to know the main styles in UI design and adjust them depending on the type of product. For example:
- Classic: for small-sized online shops that do not need to stand out from their competitors
- Minimalism: for those who want to present an expensive product, attract attention to photos, reflect technologies and ecological friendliness
- Drawing: for creative companies – souvenir stores, and music groups.
- Organic: this is widespread among corporate websites, nature-themed websites, online stores, such as flower stores, clothing, grooming cosmetics, any eco-business, etc.
Convenient navigation
In addition to the above-mentioned rules, UX/UI designers pay attention to macro and micro-interactions.
As for the macro-interactions, Fitz’s Law is widely applied when designing web pages or other interfaces.
Fitts’s law was first applied in 1978 for designing computer interfaces.
Nowadays it is used in the design of interfaces.
When designing a website, the law helps determine the optimal size and placement of active elements on a web page and identifies optimal areas for interaction with clickable elements.
For example, the bottom bar in Windows is designed according to Fitts’ Law.
The start button is placed on the bottom left corner of the screen. Users can click it instantly by moving the cursor at any speed.
When it comes to micro-interactions, these are small changes in the interface that help users navigate a website or application. Usually, these are visual or sound effects that show users what happened, what is happening, and what will happen next.
Animated interactions breathe life into the design and help engage users. Attention to every detail is a key for UI designers because it can lead to a positive user experience.
Micro-interactions should help navigate through pages or apps, explain their functions, and easily introduce them to new users.
Wrapping up
To summarize, UI design encompasses a wide range of graphic elements that determine the “feel” and perception of the digital product.
In addition, UI designers pay close attention to the main trends that are relevant at the time of product development and put them into practice.
All of these rules are the backbone for any designer and help them to develop strategic interfaces for different platforms and improve the user experience for the end-users.
About the author:
Janet Polson is a graduate of George Washington University in International business. She is an unspoken expert in the study of science and philosophy. Janet is also a blogger, author of tech articles and she works as business analyst at Computools. Follow her on Twitter.