User Interface Design

User interface (UI) design is the art and science of maximizing the usability of a digital product or service. With the advent of web applications, responsive design, and mobile development, UI design has grown into a field of its own.

Overall, users have less and less tolerance for a text-heavy UI, especially on smaller devices. Poor UI leads to a poor user experience (UX), and many people flee at the sight of a poorly designed screen. As a result, many sites and apps invest a lot of time and effort into making their UI responsive with visually appealing and easy-to-use functions.

Design Rules

While a cutting-edge discipline, UI design still adheres to rules and principles. Designers strive to increase software usability and reduce the learning-curve. They also ensure all the interfaces within a system or technology are consistent.

Borrowing from Adobe’s Four Golden Rules of Design, users must have the following capabilities when interacting with the UI:

• The user controls the navigation and can undo their actions.
• A minimal amount of steps are needed to perform a task.
• There is sensible feedback for certain user actions such as gestures, taps, and button clicks.
• Indicators of page loads (progress bars, percentages, etc.) should be present.
• There should be visible help guides and other functions for users of all skill levels.