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Ayesha Sahar
Ayesha Sahar

Posted on • Updated on • Originally published at ayeshasahar.hashnode.dev

15 Useful Tips for Creating a User-friendly Interface

Business owners create a digital presence in form of a website to increase engagement, revenues, and brand awareness. But, these things can only be achieved if the visitors to your website have a positive user experience. With the growth of e-commerce and digital services, user experience has become more important than ever

Just think, if you're looking for some product online, would you buy it from a website that offers a useful UI design and allows you to quickly get what you’re looking for, or from one that is unresponsive, has bad user flow, and takes forever to make the purchase? This one is a no-brainer, you'd choose the second one (unless you're a pyscopathπŸ‘€).

So, for all the web designers out there, here are 15 useful tips for creating a User-friendly interface:

1. Keep it simple

πŸ‘‰ A cluttered interface can be overwhelming for users.

πŸ‘‰ Try to minimize the number of elements on each page and use white space effectively to guide the user's eye.

πŸ‘‰ But always make sure to not hide the "necessary" and "important" information from the user!

2. Consistent design elements

πŸ‘‰ Using elements, such as fonts, colors, and icons helps create a "cohesive" experience for the user.

3. Responsiveness

πŸ‘‰ Make sure your interface functions properly on all devices, including desktop, tablet, and mobile.

4. Appropriate colors

πŸ‘‰ Choose colors that are appropriate for your brand and the purpose of your interface.

πŸ‘‰ Avoid using too many colors, as that can be distracting.

5. Hierarchy

πŸ‘‰ Use headings, subheadings, and bullet points to help the user understand how the content is structured and navigate the interface easily.

6. White space

πŸ‘‰ Use white space to separate different sections of your interface and make it more visually appealing.

7. Typography

πŸ‘‰ Choose fonts that are easy to read and appropriate for your interface and go well with your branding.

8. Clear and descriptive headings

πŸ‘‰ Headings should clearly describe the content that follows and make it easy for the user to understand the structure of the page.

9. Iconography

πŸ‘‰ Always use icons that are clear and easy to understand, and consider using text labels in addition to icons to help clarify their meaning.

10. Microinteractions

πŸ‘‰ Microinteractions, such as hover states and tooltips, can help make your interface more interactive and engaging, but they should be used appropriately and should not interfere with the user's workflow or be too annoying.

11. Accessibility

πŸ‘‰ Make sure your interface is accessible to users with disabilities, including those with visual, auditory, and motor impairments.

πŸ‘‰ This includes using appropriate color contrast, alt text for images, and semantic HTML tags.

12. Appropriate button text

πŸ‘‰ Use action-oriented button text that clearly describes the action that will be taken when the button is clicked.

13. Clear and descriptive link text

πŸ‘‰ Use descriptive link text that clearly explains the destination of the link.

πŸ‘‰ Avoid using "click here" or "more info" as link text.

14. Form field labels

πŸ‘‰ Don't think that just using placeholders only would do the trick.

πŸ‘‰ Use form field labels that clearly describe the content that is to be entered in the field.

15. Test, test, test

πŸ‘‰ Make sure to test your interface with a variety of users to get feedback and identify any issues before launching.

Conclusion

These are just some of the many things you can do to make your designs awesome! If you guys know some more tips, share them in the commentsπŸ˜‰

Hope that you all liked this article :)


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Top comments (4)

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lexlohr profile image
Alex Lohr

Rule #1 can actually lead to worse UX, as is it used as an excuse to hide things. One of the worst offenders is the select element. You have to open it to see its available options. The worst is if the list of options is longer and needs to be scrolled. Menus with more than one level are also really bad.

So please add Rule 1a: but don't hide necessary information from the user.

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iayeshasahar profile image
Ayesha Sahar

Added that one in, thanks for sharing this!

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kachiic profile image
Kachi Cheong

This is a lovely article, I've struggled with UI for my personal projects and this definitely points me in the right direction!

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iayeshasahar profile image
Ayesha Sahar

So glad to know that!