7 Guidelines on User Interface Design on Websites

If you are a web designer, most likely you are also a user interface designer. This is applicable whether you are a graphic designer, freelance web designer or full time web designer. Web pages these days are very easy to navigate but with new technology, web designers need to create a more dynamic and customized web experience.

User Interface Design focuses on the user or customer’s experience with the product. It’s goal should be making the user’s interaction as easy, simple and efficient as possible.

There are 7 things that you need to remember about designing a user interface website.

1.       Everything should be clear – Every user will avoid or gear away from elements or icons they don’t know. It is human nature that people will ignore things they are not familiar with. When designing a website, stay away from things that will make people ask what that thing does or people will most likely ignore because no one will bother finding out.

2.       Preferred action – Each user would feelcomfortable if they know and understand what to do next in a certain website. Everything should be clear and the next step that the user is supposed to do next should be obvious. The website will be a flop or will receive assistance requests if the users are not familiar with how to navigate the page.

3.       Context – Users expect to see elements or icons that they use close to each other. If not close, then, they should be somewhere visible on the page.

4.       Default settings – Default settings can be and will be very powerful.  All default values of the website you are designing should be as useful and practical as possible. Most people don’t change the default settings of their phone, TV even their fridge.

5.       Guide for the action – Users don’t usually do something unless they are asked to. If you designed a pop-up question every now and then, then that’s the only time the user will follow your instruction or answer your question. If you want the users to do something, then ask them to do it.

6.       Feedback – Users want to be in control of the page they are navigating. Create elements that will make users in control and in return they will use the product or program again.

7.       Ease – Make your website less complicated and more engaging. Show the users the step by step process of whatever it is that you would want them to do in your website. Remember that users hate boring, hard and overwhelming things in a website.