Material Design & Human Interface Guidelines: A Guide to Building User-Friendly Interfaces
Human Interface Guidelines (HIG’s) are a set of design principles and best practices that provide a common ground for creating user-friendly interfaces across various platforms and devices. These guidelines aim to ensure consistency in the design, layout, and behavior of a user interface, making it easier for users to understand and interact with digital products.
HIG’s provide a comprehensive guide for designers and developers, covering everything from typography, color, and spacing to navigation, accessibility, and animation. They ensure that the product is not only aesthetically pleasing but also functional and accessible to users with different abilities.
Material Design was introduced in 2014 by Google as a comprehensive design language for all its products, including Android, Chrome OS, and the web. The main aim of Material Design was to create a unified user experience across all of Google’s products, providing consistency and familiarity to users.
Material Design is based on the principles of material (a metaphor for a 3D space with physical objects). The interface elements are designed to look like physical objects, with depth, shadows, and animation to create a sense of movement and interactivity. Material Design also emphasises the use of color, typography, and imagery to create a cohesive and attractive design.
Google’s Material Design has been a major influence on the design of many other companies and startups digital products, including websites, mobile applications, and operating systems.
Material Design &/or Human Interface Guidelines are a critical aspect of digital product design, providing designers and developers with a common ground for creating user-friendly interfaces — by following one or both of these guidelines, designers and developers can ensure that their products are not only aesthetically pleasing but also functional and accessible to all users across a multitude of devices and platforms.
To learn more about Apple’s Human Interface Guidelines visit https://developer.apple.com/design/human-interface-guidelines/guidelines/overview or Google’s Material Design at https://material.io
If you’re on the lookout for UX/UI designers or a digital product design company you can reach out via HITORI (my digital agency in Melbourne).
