4 Important rules for UI Design



The UI Design is said to be a critical and essential part of any type of software product. When it is performed the right way, the users do not tend to notice it. But when it is done the wrong way, the users cannot get past the same to effectively utilise the product. 

For the increment in the chances of triumph when formulating the UI, most of the experts follow a definite UI Design principle. The UI Design principle generally delineates the high level particulars which are utilised to guide the design of the software. In this article the fundamental concepts of the UI Designs are well illustrated. 

The top principles of the UI Design are: 

• You must place the users in control of interface. 
• You must design it in a comfortable manner so that the interaction with the product becomes swift. 
• You must reduce the cognitive load. 
• You must make the UI consistent. 

1. You must place the users in control of interface. 


The effective interfaces infuse a brilliant sense of control within the users. Keeping the users within control makes them relatively comfortable, they tend to learn much faster and gain a brilliant sense of mastery. 

You must make the action forgiving or reversible: 


This is a simple rule which the users must be able to backtrack no matter what they are performing. This enables the users to widely explore the product without any kind of constant fear regarding failure – as the users do have an idea that the mistakes or errors can be rectified, this basically encourages the various exploration of unfamiliar options reliable. Conversely, if the user is required to be careful extremely with the actions, then it might lead to an exploration phase which is slower and nerve racking which no one demands for. 

Perhaps the common interfaces are the options like redo or undo. While creating or writing a particular text, undo enables the users to change and go back to the previous step. While redo allows the users to undo the undo, this means as they go back to their previous step, they can move forward through various changes made by them. 

You must generate an interface which is easy to navigate: 


The navigation must always be self-evident and clear. The users must be able to relish the exploring interface of various software products. Even the complex of the B2B products must not intimidate the users that they feel scared of pressing the button. You must make the users very much comfortable and provide them with few of the context where they presently are, they have been there and where they can move on to the next. 

• You must provide them with visual cues: Visual cues are such which serve as a reminder for the users. This enables the users to feasibly navigate through various interfaces by providing reference points as they swirl through the products. Highlight for the presently selected options for navigation, page titles and various other visual aids endow the users with an immediate over view of exactly where they are in the process of interface. 

• Predictability: The users must be provided with the cues that can assist them to predict the outcome of the action. A user must never be left wondering, what he must press to move with the task ahead? Or why is this button present here? 

You must provide a feedback which is informative: 


Feedback is generally associated with basic points of action for every user based action; the system must display a clear or meaningful reaction. A system endowing a particular feedback for each and every reaction assists the users to attain the aims without any friction. For most of the frequent actions, the response must be modest. 

You must reveal the visibility of the system status: 


The users are forgiving when they have relevant information regarding what is exactly going on and if they are endowed with regular feedbacks regarding the process status. 

Accommodate the users with distinct skill levels: 


The users of distinct levels of skills must be able to communicate with the product at various levels. Do not sacrifice with the professional users for easy to use interface for casual or novice users. Instead you must design for requirements of distinct users set; therefore it does not matter if your user is a professional or a newbie. 

Including features like explanations and tutorials are extremely useful for the novice users. 


2. You must design it in a comfortable manner so that the interaction with the product becomes swift. 


You must eliminate the elements which are not assisting your users: 


The interfaces must not contain the information that is not relevant or required. Not relevant information in the UI Design competes with relevant information, diminishing its visibility. You must simplify the interfaces byways of removing the not necessary contents or elements which does not support the task of the users directly. You must strive and design your application in a way that all the information displayed on screen will be relevant and valuable. You must examine and analyse every element. 

Do not ask for the users for data that they have already entered: 


You must not propel your users to repeat the same data which they have entered previously. The users get agitated easily byways of tedious data entry sequences, especially at the time when they have catered with all the relevant information from before. The effective applications perform maximum amount of work byways of taking minimum amount of content or data from the users. 

Avoid usage of jargons and system related terms: 


When you design a particular product, it is essential that you utilise the language that can be read and understood. The system must speak the language of the users with phrases, words and various concepts familiar to user, rather than utilising jargons or system related terms. 

3. You must reduce the cognitive load: 


A cognitive load refers to the amount of the mental processing power which is required to utilize the product. It is better to avoid make the users work or think too much to utilise the product. 

You must promote visual clarity: 


A good visual organisation, ameliorate the legibility and usability enabling the users to swiftly figure out the information which they are searching for and utilise the interface in an efficient manner. At the time of designing the layouts: 

• You must avoid displaying a lot of information at once on screen. This might result in a visual clutter. 

• You must keep in mind the basic principle of ‘form follows function.’ Make the things appear like they can work. 

• You must apply the generic principles of organisation of content like grouping of similar items together; number the items and then utilising of the prompt text and the headings. 

4. You must make sure that the UI Design is consistent: 


A consistent design calls to be an intuitive design. Consistency is said to be one of the boldest contributors to learnability and usability. The basic consistency idea refers to the idea to transfer knowledge. Let the users be able to transfer the skills and knowledge from one portion of the UI app to the next and from one kind of app to the next app.

Sanjay Dey, a Freelance Web Designer & UI+UX Designer in India with over 16 years of experience in Web design, UI Design, Web Development and Digital Marketing

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