6 Basic Principles Of UX Design

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November 8, 2021 Web development

In website design, UX stands for user experience and is focused on creating products that offer a meaningful and relevant experience to users. UX makes a website enjoyable and easy to use as its branding, design, function, and usability are aimed to satisfy users’ needs.

UX design is crucial in web design because it provides a positive experience, allowing you to acquire more customers and foster brand loyalty. Having a good UX design also improves conversions on your website, creates credibility and trust, and increases your revenue over time.

Reap the benefits of UX design by paying attention to these basic principles:

1. Focus On The User

High-performing websites created by UX agencies in Manchester and similar companies have one thing in common: these platforms focus on the user. Focusing on the user is an essential principle in UX design because when you know what users need and want, you can create a website that keeps them happy—and happy users bring countless benefits to a business.

The process of creating a UX design should always start by acquiring information about your users—who they are, what their common dilemmas are, and what they’re expecting from your website. You can elicit these pieces of information by using common research methods, namely contextual inquiry, focus groups, and interviews.

2. Digestibility

Aside from the quality, you should also pay attention to the length of the content you publish on your website. No matter how informative your articles are, if these are presented as long pieces of content, users will likely feel overwhelmed and stop reading after the title.

Another element to consider in UX design is digestibility. Ideally, you shouldn’t provide users with too long content as this can cause them to become unfocused and abandon your site. Instead, you should divide large content into smaller pieces.

For example, if you want to present well-researched and engaging content on your website, make sure that it’s divided into several subheadings. Subheadings make your content easier to follow and help users find the information they’re looking for quickly.

Alternatively, if you’re going to ask for information from users, use a shorter form and categorize information (personal info, job info, or marital info.) In this way, users won’t be frustrated in seeing long forms of content on one page.

3. Familiarity

Creativity is essential to achieve UX design, but you should know where to draw the line. Being too creative to the extent that your web design becomes confusing to the users will only hurt your business. Experienced UX design services always work with familiar concepts that users are used to and understand. This allows companies to create unique designs that are still easy for users to navigate.

Familiarity is important in UX design. This means that you should use icons or commands familiar to users so they won’t have any problems navigating your website. For example, since ‘X’ is often used to signify the close button, don’t use the same symbol for another command on your website. Other familiar design elements to include in your website are the use of the bell icon for notifications and social networking icons to share content.

4. Feedback

Not getting any feedback or response to your action is frustrating. For example, when you talk to a friend but receive no response, you’ll likely stop talking, look for another person to talk to, or simply leave the conversation. The same can happen to your website.

When users don’t get any feedback or response from their action on your website, they’ll hit the close button and look for another website. This can significantly hurt your brand and the profit you can earn for a certain period.

Another principle of UX design is feedback. When designing your website, you should make sure that any action made by the user triggers a response. For instance, when a user clicks a button, they should see loading bars or animation.

Visual feedback in web design confirms a user’s action and is an excellent way of improving user experience. This also allows your business more trustworthy as users know where they are and what is happening on your website.

5. Clarity

Your efforts to create a well-designed website will be useless if you neglect clarity. How can you convey messages if your content isn’t clear enough? Do you think your users will revisit your website if your homepage is confusing?

To achieve a good UX design, prioritize clarity and don’t let your users think too much. Make your texts as clear and simple as possible so users can easily understand what you’re trying to say. This will also prevent any miscommunication and ensure that your users are on the same page as you.

For example, if you’re offering a free trial but require a credit card, indicate the information on your webpage. You can add a ‘Get Started For Free’ button with a note that says, ‘Credit Card Needed’ at the bottom to set the users’ expectations. Users who don’t have credit cards will save time from clicking promos they’re not eligible for.

6. Hierarchy

Hierarchy is a powerful tool in web design that helps users move through the website with ease. Hierarchy talks about the arrangement or representation of different design elements to show importance and influence the order in which users perceive what they see.

In UX design, you need to think about two hierarchies, namely:

Information architecture: This hierarchy relates to how content is organized in your website. Generally, the top level of the hierarchy is the primary navigation menu that contains several sections. As users hover over each item on the main menu, they’ll be taken to secondary menus where they can access specific pieces of content.
Visual hierarchy: Visual hierarchy makes it easier for users to navigate within a page or section. To create an effective visual hierarchy, emphasize more on important content. For example, your headings should have a different font size, color, and weight than the body of text. Interactive elements, namely buttons and links, should also have different colors than the rest of the page to grab the user’s attention.

Always Remember The Importance Of Good UX Design

Now that you know the basic principles of UX design, start planning with your team. By incorporating the principles mentioned in this article, it’ll be easier for you to create a website that’ll give the best experience to your users!