User Interface/User Experience
UX stands for user experience while UI refers to the user interface. The two components collaborate to establish product design and features. Although both work together as one, UI and UX have different functions in the design process.
User interface design
The UI is the graphical app layout. This involves the buttons that end-users click on, the text that they view, text fields, images, sliders, and other elements that the user works with. Other components include screen layout, interface animations, transitions, and each micro-interaction. All elements should be created like visual elements, interactions, and animations.
UI elements
UI is focused on any element that a user employs when interacting with a digital product or service. It incorporates several elements such as:
- Content (e.g. images, texts, and videos)
- Form (e.g. buttons, checkboxes, labels, text fields, and graphic design)
- Behavior (e.g. typing on a text field, clicking, and dragging an item)
The UI designer’s task is developing an engaging interface that will assist the user in his journey toward the digital product or service and seek a response from the end-user to create the product or service that is appealing to the users. A UI designer should effectively build your brand for your product or service.
UI designers are generally graphic designers. They are focused on aesthetics. They ensure the app’s interface is appealing, visually-stimulating, and best themed to fit in the app goal or personality. They assist to create a sole visual element that makes it consistent, both aesthetically and in purpose.
User experience design
Dentifying the functionality of the app’s UX can be evaluated by how the user takes advantage of the app. Is his experience worthwhile and uninterrupted? Does using the app user-friendly and logically developed?
A good app’s UX design helps the users to efficiently complete their tasks, minimizing the challenges, and setting out the goals and objectives. UX is measured to make things easy when interacting with available UI components that are created by UI designers.
A closer look at offshore UI design
The UI design is an extensive field. Essentially, UI is an integration of content, form, and behavior. This service can be done offshore.
When outsourcing UI design, a skilled offshore UI designer has an eagle eye to details, with the necessary expertise and diverse years of experience to provide quality apps. As a reliable UI designer, your job is to develop a user interface that is enterprising, appealing and brings an emotional user response to provide engaging and beautifully designed products.
An overview of design
Learning about design is not focused on using the design software. Certainly, it is an essential factor. The software works like the designer’s weapon. You need this tool to overcome your challenges. However, it is not the only thing that you should learn.
In all your endeavors in product development, you need to master strategies, tricks, tips, and processes to succeed in your plan. In the UI design process, your users’ preference is your priority. With your team, there should be brainstorming, evaluation, testing, and learning more about your users in their journey toward using your product. A well-designed product provides a higher user retention rate.
Considerations in creating engaging UI
Viewing options
When viewing the screen, users will always notice first the brightest, biggest, and boldest. This is common to human nature. People’s attention span is organized to notice what seems visually appealing to the eyes. Afterward, it shifts to look at the smaller, not-so bold, and less bright items. When designing, you can use this principle to provide an improved user experience.
The role of alignment
Alignment is a basic element of UI design. As part of the design principle, always reduce the alignment of lines. This enhances readability and brings a more appealing design.
Generally, there are two alignment types such as edge alignment and center alignment. At edge alignment, all the elements are at one side or at the edge lined up in one line. In center alignment, you arrange all the elements using their midpoints. Between these two alignments, edge alignment is frequently used. Align elements is quite handy by using design software (e.g. Photoshop). For most design software, they provide a ruler or guide in edge aligning all the elements.
How to grab the user’s attention
This may be interpreted in two ways. First, you need to catch the user’s attention through your design. Second, you need to be keen in every detail in your created design. A skilled designer can deliver both. These two ways work hand-in-hand. The main function of an effective UI design is to provide the best user experience for your customers by leading their attention toward essential things you want to highlight in a product.
Attracting the user’s attention via text
- Use which size is better: Larger vs. smaller.
- Decide whether to use bolder or brighter color. Otherwise, you can make it muted.
- Consider taking a typeface using a heavy weighting against a thin or light design.
- Use variation. Italicize some words or use capitalization or lowercase.
- Consider taking a typeface using a heavy weighting against a thin or light design.
- At times, increasing the distance of the letters makes an impact on the overall word size eating up more space.
Don’t forget to evaluate what you created the designing process. Ensure you experient different things like angles, colors, fonts, alignments, and layout. Try out new designs so you can create an enjoyable user journey with different strategies of grabbing user attention
Factors that make UX product design successful
UX design is focused on providing pain-free and engaging experiences for your customers. Below are seven factors that identify if the UX of your product meets its expectations.
Usability
The user is fully aware of what the app is for. He is informed about the app’s core functions. The user takes the necessary steps to use the app properly. In terms of usability, some steps may be skipped to achieve the user objectives of using the app. The UX designer considers the main purpose of creating the app and how this can assist the user smooth, quick, and enjoyable experience with the app.
User profiling
The UX designer identifies the potential app users are and what they can achieve with the app. This is usually done by facilitating user profiling. Careful planning is part of the process of understanding the target market. During the design planning stage, this is where the trimming of your app target/users occurs. The critical factor here is to identify the app’s core functionality. What is its main objective and who are the intended users?
Inquiring user
Do not overwhelm your user with so much permission notification that he does not need upon launching the app. Whether your mobile app provides push notifications, seeks location services, integrates with social media or emails, ask user’s permission through an alert message that may pop up on his screen when using the app. Ask the necessary details in batches and not all at once. Start with simple questions while slowly directing the user in a particular direction. The app should send the permission notification in case the user will select a certain feature and not during the app launch.
Form vs. function
Design is not merely providing the best form like appealing color schemes, different fonts, stylish layout, and the like. It promotes the app functionality. In any app, always prioritize function over form.
Be consistent
In the app development, it is highly advised to be consistent. Your app should be consistent with your brand. Otherwise, app design and functionality can create confusion for the user. In the end, this leads to an unhappy user. Consistency is an integration of the app physical appearance and its functionality.
Keep things simple
An app should always be user-friendly to many potential users. Ideally, your app should be grandma-proof or even seniors can easily understand how it is properly used. A confusing app has too many buttons to use or employs different unnecessary colors with a tightly packed user interface. Don’t make things difficult for the user when opting to use your app. Many people hate hard-to-understand software.
In programming, the goal is to make the code as lightweight and efficient as possible. During the design process, UX designers ensure that the interface is clear and easy to understand. Use simple words in the instructions so users can instantly know what you want them to do.
What makes a great UX
- Tutorials at app launch are simplified when citing the app use. Considering providing your users with pieces of information as needed. Provide contextual assistance. Create tips and hints. Develop a design where the user can instantly use the app within an extensive guide. This is where intuitive design principles apply.
- For basic operations ingrained among app users like pull to refresh or pinch to zoom — strictly follow these rules. Don’t swap them with other tasks. Ensure instructions are easy to follow to avoid confusion.
- Never consider your users like idiot boxes. Avoid popups or alerts for frequent actions. Asking confirmations should only be applied for risky actions like deleting files or purchasing a product.
- Popups and alerts that are not needed may interrupt the workflow and cause bad user experience. Avoid letting your users feel stupid.
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