Recently I was asked this question, and to be honest, there was more to unpack than I expected. You don’t have to be a designer to care about UI/UX, but if you're building anything that real people will use, understanding the basics is a huge advantage.
These aren’t textbook rules - they’re things I’ve seen make a real difference in projects, whether you’re building a dashboard, a landing page, or an entire SaaS product.
1. Clarity Over Cleverness: It’s tempting to create flashy UI elements or unique user flows - but clarity always wins. If users are confused about where to click, what a button does, or where they are in a process, the interface has failed. Your code might work perfectly, but if the UI is unclear, the experience will feel broken.
2. Consistency Is Comfort: Keep colors, spacing, typography, and element behavior consistent. Users shouldn’t have to re-learn how things work on every page. Use a design system or component library whenever possible. This also makes development faster and cleaner.
3. Feedback Is Everything: When a user clicks a button, uploads a file, or submits a form, they expect something to happen. If there’s no feedback - loading states, success messages, errors — users feel lost. As a dev, build in those tiny interactions. They matter.
4. Mobile Isn’t Optional: Responsive design isn’t a bonus feature - it’s essential. Always think about how your UI behaves on smaller screens. Test your work on mobile early, not just at the end.
5. Speed Feels Like Quality: Even if your app works, if it feels slow, users will bounce. Optimize loading times, reduce unnecessary animations, and lazy-load where you can. A fast UI often feels like a better-designed one.
6. Accessibility Matters: Not everyone uses your site the same way. Keyboard navigation, contrast ratios, screen reader support - these aren’t just checkboxes. Build with inclusivity in mind. You don’t need to be an accessibility expert, but you should care.
Final Thought: As developers, we’re often deep in code — but that code translates to a user experience. The more we understand UI/UX, the better products we build. It’s not about being a designer — it’s about being a thoughtful creator.
At Info-Polus, we work closely with both devs and designers to build interfaces that not only work, but feel right. If your team could use support on the UX or frontend side - we’d be happy to help.
Top comments (1)
Some comments may only be visible to logged-in visitors. Sign in to view all comments.