For the graphic and web designer, the user interface will form the basis of the designer’s most important work. The user interface requires a more defined vision with unique design elements to create a successful user interface.
So what is a user interface, and how to make one?
The user interface is an interaction between the users and the web domain. It forms the user’s experience to successfully interact with web applications and their attributes.
As a web designer, there are many nuts and bolts to achieve that. It is not enough to have these features accessible, but it is essential to know when and which tools to use for a specific purpose.
One example is the use of buttons on designs. Knowing when and how to use them is essential to not disturb the overall user experience.
That’s why web designers must follow a set of guidelines that ensure the desired outcome, so let’s explore the most essential user interface design guidelines.
The most important User Interface Design Guidelines for Web Applications are as follows:
1. Consistency Of The Design
The design that the web designer makes should always be seamless and consistent.
This means that different parts of the web application should use the same elements. When users are familiar with one part of the user interface, they can easily interact with other features with the initial understanding.
When users detect similar patterns and become familiar with them, it helps them navigate the interface with ease.
2. Clarity of Layout and Design
Clarity can be achieved by choosing the proper typography, clear images, and a proper layout.
The fonts you decide to use for your web application should be legible, properly laid out, and consistently color-coded.
All the images should be of the best possible quality. When combined with the text, there should be enough space between them to be skimmed, and pictures can “breathe.” This can easily be achieved by understanding the use of white space in the design. Too much of and the different elements will float with any connection. The lack of it will result in the users extracting information with difficulty.
Let’s not forget that the size can also emphasize the importance of various aspects.
3. Responsiveness
Responsiveness is the most crucial aspect of modern design, and without it, the whole user experience falls apart.
The main aim of responsiveness is to ensure that a user has a seamless experience across multiple devices. This means that they can access the web application no matter their screen size. So the information must be displayed regarding the device they are using.
4. Familiarity
It is important to use design elements that most people will be familiar with. This means that even if users are new to the web application, they can easily interact with familiar segments effortlessly. So don’t use too many different components across the application.
An example of this is the use of Call-To-Action buttons. Although some can vary in shape depending on the design, they should never differ so much that they confuse the user with what to do. Because they are essential things on the web, you should predict where they should be placed.
As you can see, familiarity is one of the most important elements because failing to do it right can lead to a design that limits the user’s interaction with the interface. Therefore, when planning a design, you should focus as much as you can on familiarity and create an end design with a flawless user experience.
5. Aesthetics
Web aesthetics are also important if the user experience focuses on smooth navigation. They add the final outlook to the site and communicate brand values. It also gives users trust in the website, which might light in higher conversions.
This means the proper selection of colors, layout, and style that appeal to the user to the designer. Creativity and experience are what separate the best from the average.
The aesthetics deeply interact with the function of the site. So designers need to be mindful that they don’t use too many different fonts, sizes, and colors. In that way, the design doesn’t override the planned user experience.
Not only that, but the right UI design approach will also reduce the pages load time, which is what users and Google care about.
While familiarity allows users to easily interact with your website, the aesthetically pleasing design will give the site the necessary credibility and make users convert to customers quickly.
6. Error Recovery and Prevention
The best way to deal with errors is to avoid them from the beginning. It is essential to analyze the web application initially and understand activities that might raise potential errors and eliminate them.
If there is something you can’t prevent, perhaps due to the technology limitation used for the application, try to solve the problem so that the user still has an effortless experience when interacting with sites.
Some errors might run in the background, but they should never surface at the user level.
Sometimes you can predict some of the errors that might happen. Some might occur when you update the application or because of the server malfunction. At that time, it’s essential that you can recover all the information that runs the application.
So be sure that if something goes wrong, you have a backup that you can run so that users won’t notice any errors when visiting the site. Users may overlook poorly designed UX or not unstylish UI, but they will definitely leave the page if the site doesn’t run as it should.
7. Ease of Access to Help and Documentation
It is never a good thing to have a site where users continuously send you emails to get the information they are looking for.
If your site has a search page, check all users’ search queries and add it to the FAQ page, which visitors can easily access.
When listing everything that can help users navigate and find the correct information on that page, you have to put it in the right places on the website, usually in the site’s footer.
Nowadays, many sites offer immediate help with click-in chat boxes and sidebars. In that way, users can contact the support eminently, leading to high website visitor retention.
