The Importance of UI/UX Design and Best Principles
Every dollar you invest in UX will give you a return of 100 dollars! We aren’t making this fact. Forrester, in its report, had mentioned it with several other insights.
No wonder every top online marketplace, content platform, and news portal gives UI/UX so much importance.
Let’s understand what UI and UX development refers to.
User Interface(UI)
The User Interface refers to the graphical and interactive elements through which users engage with digital devices, software, applications, websites, and various other platforms. The aim is to make your user’s interaction more effective and strong.
User Experience(UX)
By user experience, we mean offering the best possible experience to your user when they visit your online platform (app or website).
Both these components of web development are crucial to a site’s/app’s success. Through this blog post, we’re going to touch on this topic in detail. To make it easier, we will talk about three major elements of UI/UX design here:
- Visual Design
- Information Architecture
- And Usability
We will introduce these elements, tell you why they matter, and what are the best principles you need to follow around them. The best web development agencies in India take all three elements seriously. And that’s why it is crucial to know about them in detail.
Without further ado, let’s begin.
1. Visual Design
Visual design is all about a visual representation of your app or website. All the visual elements that a visitor sees come under it. Those elements include images, typography, color scheme, videos, icons, and spacing.
Why it Matters:
- Positive emotions
Your users experience positive emotions when seeing lovely images, typography, and other beautiful elements. They tend to stay longer on your app or website when you give them such reasons to feel good.
- Aesthetic-usability effect
As per this effect, your users will forgive some minor usability issues if the interface is aesthetically appealing. No wonder the top brands put so much time and effort into the UI of their web platforms.
- Brand identity
Every top marketer agrees: visual design helps build brand identity. The users develop a perception of a brand based on what type of visual elements they notice while scrolling through a site or app.
- Task success rates
Perhaps you want your users to purchase or simply subscribe to your service. The chances of success increase when your customers are comfortable with layouts that are easy on their eyes.
Best Principles:
- Hierarchy:
The hierarchy helps the users identify the importance of different elements on a web page. A designer uses different sizes for different objects to form a visual hierarchy. The webpage title is usually in bold letters and large font sizes, whereas the subheadings are smaller. The size of the regular text is further reduced, and the footer elements are often presented in the smallest size. You can showcase the hierarchy also by using different scales, colors, placement, and other signals.
- Gestalt:
These are principles that the twentieth-century Gestalt psychologists developed. They talked about how individuals perceive the images. One of the principles – the law of similarity – says different elements look related when you combine them with a similar visual appearance. Don’t worry; you don’t have to learn psychology or these principles. An experienced web development company in India will use them to create an appealing design for your business.
- Contrast:
The designers use contrast to emphasize that the objects on a page are distinct. This helps the users identify that a set of elements have different functions or are from different categories. The role of color becomes crucial while using this principle.
2. Information Architecture:
In simplest terms, information architecture (or IA) is creating a navigation structure on a website/app to allow users to find and understand information easily. Many UI/UX experts feel this is the foundation of any website. The IA lets you decide how a business will layer and structure a website’s content.
Why it Matters:
- Finding a product/info:
When a person visits an online platform, they find a piece of information or a product/service easily with a proper IA. They will either type a keyword(s) in the search bar or reach a specific category easily.
- Exploratory search:
Some users explore a website to seek inspiration. For example, you plan to order something from a food delivery app but are unsure what will satiate your taste buds. A delivery app with a nice architecture will help you find the best options that match your mood, budget & delivery location.
- Savings on marketing spends:
When your IA is strong, your website will rank higher in the search results than those with poor architecture. Plus, when the customers reach the desired page or section without challenge, you can save a lot on paid marketing. Especially remarketing and paid ads for certain categories and products.
- Less dependency on customer support:
Many users connect with customer support when they don’t find something on a website or app. If the architecture of your platform is right, you can reduce your dependency on customer support.
Best Principles:
- Reduce the number of choices:
The more choices, the more confusion your customer faces. Reduce the number of choices to a minimum to ensure seamless navigation.
- Show examples:
When giving a description of a category or a subcategory, use examples to help users understand what they will find inside.
- Every page is your front door:
Many users will open a product page directly, whereas others will visit your blog section. Treat every page as your portal’s front door.
- Ensure the website is scalable:
If you plan to expand your business, your website will also grow. Keep this in mind while planning the architecture of your website.
3. Usability:
In simple terms, usability refers to how user-friendly a website or an app is. We can also call it a measure of how easily a user can complete a task on an online platform.
Why it Matters:
- Low bounce rate:
The users will leave your website if it is confusing. They will then choose another website that makes it easier to do a particular task: booking tickets, buying a product, signing up for a membership, or anything else. That’s why it’s crucial to work on usability and decrease the bounce rate:
- Search engine optimization:
When the bounce rate is less, and your website is easier to use – the search engines will put your website above your competitors. Conversely, Google or Bing might penalize your site if it performs poorly.
- No worries about poor online reputation:
Today’s customer is quite active when posting reviews about an app or a portal. They might write negative reviews if your platform is tough to use, which hampers your reputation. Safeguard yourself by making it a piece of cake to use your website.
Best principles:
- Reduce the loading time:
Every user hates it when the loading time is high. Reduce the loading time by using clean code and by reducing the usage of heavy images. The web development agencies in India have expertise in this area.
- Use simple commands and CTAs:
Avoid technical or highly creative language. The commands, CTAs, and categories should be simple. Make sure even a fifth grader understands their purpose by reading them.
- Think from a customer’s point of view:
While creating the website, consider how customers will navigate it. Note down every possible journey they will take on your portal and analyze their difficulties. It is always helpful to involve your employees and other relevant people in this process. Their valuable feedback will help in making your website more user-friendly.
- Have a well-designed FAQ page:
This page should have all the answers about the usability of your website. Ensure the link is available on each page.
- Create a responsive website:
A responsive website is one whose content and other design elements adapt as per the device’s screen size. Whether your customer uses a smart TV or a smartphone, they won’t face a challenge while using it.
The Bottom Line:
If you want to be customers’ favorite brand, you can’t ignore UI/UX when working on your website. Well, you don’t have to become a designer, marketer, or coder. Our UI/UX team comprises all of them. These experts work together to create a website that’s easy to use, visually appealing, well-structured, responsive, and SEO friendly.
Are you ready to take your business to new heights and leave a lasting impression on your users? Look no further! Contact us now for UI/UX Designs, we are here to revolutionize the way your customers interact with your products and services.
