Common UX Design principles
“People ignore design that ignores people.” — Frank Chimero, Designer
User experience (UX) design is the process of design teams use to create products that provide meaningful and relevant experiences to users. User experience increases the chances of customers recommending your product by 16.6%. [1] Actually UX can be created with continuous improvement in designs with regards to usability and customer’s perceived quality. UX Design relates to the user’s feelings and product developments.
In general, User Experience is simply how people feel when they use a product or service. A design may be good looking, but, if users are bothered by this design, then the design must be changed and it is useless anymore.
Let’s walk through these basic and common user experience design principles.
Focusing on the user and the user’s need
This principle sits at the core of UX design because it helps to combat very common issues found in website design. The main goal of any business is to make the end customers happy so then UX designers have to focus on the real users. We have to understand their needs, expectations, motivations, and frustrations. Designers should have design for their users, not for their selves. Most of the designers tend to design product considering himself/herself the only user of the product. Using common user research methods such as interviews, focus groups, contextual inquiry, and shadowing may help to gather user requirements and needs.
Have a clear hierarchy
UX principle should ensure the smooth navigation throughout a design. Normally we consider about two hierarchy called “information architecture and visual hierarchy.” Information architecture is how content is organized across the app or site.
Visual hierarchy, which allows users to navigate easily within a page or section. To create a visual hierarchy, more important content should stand out. For instance, headings are typically larger than body text and frequently use a different font and weight (like bold)
Consistency
Users expect products to share some similarities with other products they regularly use. This makes it easy for them to become familiar with the new product without any additional learning costs. Users expect products to be consistent with similar products they’ve used in the past. Because of this consistency, users will come to your site with a pre-existing idea of how things “should work,” and it’s important to respect this. Research shows that users respond positively to pages that look familiar. we can use common design language for our designs to keep the consistency . As a way of keeping your designs consistent: good examples of design languages include Apple’s Human Interface Guidelines and Google’s Material Design Guidelines.
Focus on Context
When designing, you need to take into account the user’s context. In context designing we have to mainly focus on Location. Location is a commonly understood contextual factor. Not only the location but also Designing in a contextual way means paying attention to a wide range of other factors including the time available with the user, her emotional state, the device she is using, the people who influence her, and more. There are two primary ways to bring a contextual approach to your design process. They are user surveys and “ethnographic” research (by using your web pages in the same context as your users.)
Accessibility
In simple words, accessibility means a designer’s responsibility is to make sure that his design is usable for as many people as possible. Designers should make their designs easy for everyone to use, including people with disabilities. For example, you can use contrasting colors for the text on the background. This helps visually impaired users (as well as users in low-light settings) read the content on the screen more easily. A unique part of the UX designer role is the focus on removing obstacles for people when they use the product.
For more on accessibility guidelines, check out w3c’s accessibility on the web and mobile accessibility guidelines.
These are common used 5 UX design principals and there are many more things to pay attention on. If you want to create a memorable product experience for your users, then focused on design principals.
[1]. 8 UX Design Principles That Ensure Seamless User Experience Of Your Product by YUJ Designs.
[2].16 Important UX Design Principles for Newcomers by Masooma Memon.
[3]. 7 UX Design Principles to live by Nahla Davies.
