5 Best Practices to Follow When it Comes to Good User Experience Design
When it comes to web design, there is one important component that designers can often overlook — good user experience design (aka UX).So what is user experience design? UX design is the process of designing a website with the user in mind, as well as their overall experience in using it.
In order to build customer trust and boost sales, designers need to go beyond basic visual elements and incorporate good user experience design.
Here are 5 best practices to follow to ensure websites include good UX:
1. Be Consistent With Design Elements
While it may seem visually appealing to add a variety of different navigational elements,it can cause confusion for users navigating the site. By providing consistent design elements (shapes, color) such as navigation icons, scrollbars, and call to action buttons site users are able to easily identify navigation elements.
2. Include Whitespace
Just because there may be some extra space available on website pages does not mean it should be filled up with content. By keeping some whitespace, site pages will appear cleaner and more organized, all while reducing the chances of overwhelming website visitors with too much to view.
3. Use Simple Animations
Incorporating animations can be an effective way to provide good user experience design, given that they are simplistic in design. Animations which are too quick in movement, or are overstimulating visually, can be overwhelming for website users.
4. Focus On Functionality
Websites that include a focus on functionality, such as being designed for mobile access, easy user login, clickable calendars, etc., keep people coming back, because it enhances the user experience.
5. Provide Room For User Error
Nothing can be more frustrating for website users than not being able to reverse or undo actions of their own doing on websites. People make mistakes, and in order to exercise good user experience design, web designers need to provide an undo function for their users.