4 UX Design Principles You Should Consider Adopting

4 UX Design Principles You Should Consider Adopting

The user experience of your application is the most important thing that your business has to offer. Poorly designed websites and apps can create a negative experience for your users and therefore a negative impact on the bottom line. In this article, we will examine some of the key UX design principles you should consider adopting.

Consider Your User First

Many businesses start with their own needs in mind, rather than the needs of their users. For example, the business might want the website to look a certain way that matches a branding idea, but does not really serve what the user needs.

Whether you’re designing a website, an app or a physical product, it should be with the user in mind. What are the problems that the user is facing? Once you identify the problems, you can begin to solve them.

Note: If you’re designing a website, remember that it must also be really mobile-friendly! This seems like a no-brainer, but it's important to remember.

Do Your Research

We all make assumptions about what people need or want. As a designer, you will probably do the same with your users. But if you don’t challenge your own assumptions, you are setting yourself up for failure.

Do some research about your target audience. If you’re working on a project where the product already exists, ask some of the existing users to provide feedback. Focus groups, 1-on-1 interviews and other backend data collection will help you gather useful information from your users.

Carefully record the data from your research into story-boards and wireframes. Create a user persona and refer back to it frequently during the design process. We highly recommend this idea because it keeps all of your research fresh in your mind and helps you understand your user.

Keep It Simple

In the world of tech-savvy, information-hungry consumers, more is NOT more. Be sure to keep the design simple and uncluttered. Remove any unnecessary images or diagrams that could take away from the ease of use.

Images and graphics are great. Just don’t go overboard. Use images to entice your user and capture their attention. Use graphics or charts to explain lots of complex data in simple form.

Remember Hick’s Law

The more options you give someone, the longer it will take them to make a decision. They don’t want to sift through tons of content or options to make a decision. This goes back to keeping it simple. Your application might have 200 different features, but the majority are not likely being used.

You really only need to give your user 3-5 options in various categories. If they want more, they will dig around and find more. But you don’t need all 200 of them on display.

Conclusion

In UX design, it is really about the user and not about you or your business. Put yourself in their shoes and consider their needs. The user experience is made up of three components: Usability, Usefulness and Desirability.

Give your users something useful, usable, and desirable and it can be a home-run every time!