I’ve written an article on the 3 UX design principles every designer should keep in mind. Let me know your thoughts!
1 Like
From my totally untrained and self taught point of view; your guidelines are vague and non-specific.
I’ve always been put off by buzzwords like “intuitive” and phrases like “structuring it in a way that resonates with users” unless specific and detailed examples or definitions of exactly what is meant by such things are prominently displayed.
To me, that is all just extremely general stuff with no real clue about how to implement such lofty goals.
Suggest examples of “good and bad” versions of each of those, perhaps a mockup site done with the same content but presented in many ways while explaining the pros and cons of each.
Otherwise the only people who will understand what you’re saying will be those who already understand it before seeing your advice.
Hope that makes sense. Good luck with it!
2 Likes
Thanks for your feedback @Rodak. I’ll definitely look to create a follow-up article at some point with more concrete examples, but the main message of this article is to humanize the dev/design process. There are many resources online that tell you how to make a good UI, but few talk about how you should actually make your users feel.
1 Like
Not sure giving vague and extremely basic advice in an article, then referring readers to other people’s work for the critical details is considered good practice, let alone best practice, for writing.
It comes off as the introduction to a basic “101” course and isn’t at all helpful to a beginner or possibly others.
I look forward to seeing it fleshed out rather than writing another article. But you may have a specific target audience in mind since it doesn’t seem to work for a general audience as it is.
Maybe go into what design elements generate which specific feelings you are referring to.
It’s a great idea for a resource, but it’s not the resource it claims to be in it’s current form.
Universally inclusive
It might not be possible to reach every user in every language, in every country, with every accessibility requirement. But striving to target as many users as possible is the way to go.
I don’t entirely agree. The UX should primarily cater to the needs and expectations of the target audience.
Trying to please a broad, generalized audience results in an awkward, bloated product that caters to no one in particular yet frustrates everyone. For example, an app specifically targeting financial analysts might appropriately use dense jargon and data visualization conventions, but it shouldn’t be bloated and diluted with compromises to address schoolchildren.
Even so, the UX should still be designed to include those adjacent to the target group so they can use it without frustration. In other words, the app that targets financial analysts might benefit from being understandable and navigable by general investors.
A public library website, on the other hand, needs to cater to a much broader audience, and the UX should be designed to accommodate the expectations and needs of this broader, more inclusive group.
1 Like
I fully agree with targeting a specific audience. I was mostly coming from an accessibility standpoint. Maybe the ‘target as many users’ wording sounds too broad.
However, I believe there will be users in every target audience with different needs. In the example of an app for financial analysts, there should always be a carefully-placed tooltip or detailed help guide explaining the jargon for people who don’t understand what every term means. Not doing this risks excluding those users, making them feel overwhelmed (the classic case of imposter syndrome). Of course, if your app isn’t designed for children, you don’t need to write at an elementary level.
So I’m definitely not saying you have to be WCAG AAA complaint or have your app in every language, but just to take a moment and consider are you actually making an experience that every one of your users can feel a part of.
I think the strongest point in the discussion is the gap between describing a principle and showing someone how to apply it.
“Make the interface intuitive” sounds useful, but a beginner still needs to know what that actually looks like in a real interface. Even a simple before-and-after example could make the principles much more actionable—show the original screen, identify the specific problem, then explain what changed and why.
At the same time, I like the idea of focusing on how users feel, because UX can become too focused on rules and patterns. The two approaches probably work best together: explain the principle, then demonstrate it with a concrete example.
1 Like