5 No-Stress Design Principles That Will Revolutionize Your UX
Praxent Designer Nick Comito shares simple UX design tips that will make a huge difference for the users of your product.
I’m an interactive designer, which means I do a lot of user interface design. Lately I’ve been exploring this idea of creating enjoyable experiences by building personality into my interfaces: bringing them to life, humanizing them.
As I’m doing this, I’m thinking, “Man, it feels good to be doing this kind of work.” I’m also realizing that the humanistic details behind simple UX design principles can set one mobile app or online payment system far above the rest. I’ve become passionate about this creative direction within custom software development because I know it helps people. It both makes their lives easier and makes them smile. Wouldn’t it be great if people felt happier because of the experiences we’re creating?
Let me sketch a quick picture of how I see the future: The Internet is everywhere. It is completely pervasive, intertwined with our lives so seamlessly that it’s invisible. We expect instant communication, always. Everything in our world that has form is connected to the Internet: our homes, our cars, our furniture, even our bodies. Developers will be abundant and their skills will be commonplace. Software will be everywhere.
I don’t think this fictional future is too far away. While the business argument for enjoyable software and simple UX design has already been tested and proven by companies like Apple, I’m not so concerned with it. What drives me is the human argument, or creating user experiences that make human life delightful, connect people, improve lives, and change humanity in a positive way. It’s why I do what I do, and it’s also why many businesses create products in the first place.
5 Simple UX Design Elements That Make a Big Difference
I am so passionate about this design trend that I want to help others create and appreciate enjoyable software that helps make positive and memorable virtual experiences. The good news is that incorporating good UX design that really makes a difference can be both easy and accessible. These 5 happy-inducing user experience design tips will make a huge difference for customers, without breaking your bank.
Making Something Tedious or Difficult Easier
Through some kind of programmatic voodoo-magic, a boring, buzz-killing form is filled out for me. Voila! I’ve been surprised and delighted with some easy checkout forms I’ve used recently. I can often check out on the page I’m shopping on, and the forms sometimes automatically detect my credit card type. It’s nothing crazy, but it’s convenient and comfortable, and every time I use forms like this, it makes me a little bit happier.
Getting The Laugh
I have a fitness band that tracks my movement and my sleep. Recently I downloaded an extension to track how caffeine affects my sleep patterns. I can’t help but smile when I read the messages that deliver the news on my daily caffeine intake – the app uses fun messaging to keep me engaged and using the features. Creative copy can make all the difference between a forgotten app and a memorable one.
Baking In Personality
An artist and designer’s website I recently visited provides visitors four different themes to choose from on her personal website. The themes are visually entertaining in themselves, but what I actually want to point out is that even the names of the themes show personality. Subtle, probably unnecessary, but these are the kinds of little tips that make a user experience really fun and memorable.
Adding Animation
Animation can completely elevate the process of virtual payment systems. We buy everything online these days, which means we fill out the same fields all the time! Simple animations introduce delight and satisfaction into the mundane.
Creating A Beautiful Visual Design
When I’m working on creating an enjoyable interface, I first consider how users will interact with the application and what task they’ll be trying to achieve. The initial goal is to make the application simply usable. Stunning photography, beautiful typography, great content, available on any device. Once any interface is usable, the next focus should be to make it beautiful.
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As a business owner or entrepreneur, it can be hard to know where to focus your attention. The importance of UX cannot be understated, and I additionally encourage you to seek out enjoyable details in your custom software projects. Small and simple changes in UX design can really move the needle on customer experience and set you apart.
The next time you plan a project, I challenge you to consider: How can a satisfyingly simple UX design make users’ experience happier?