20 road signs leading to excellent UI designers

Introduction: interface designer Joshua Porter posted this article in his blog, which lists 20 user interface design principles, these principles need to be followed by designers in their design work. They can provide good guidance to designers.

　　Interface to promote interaction

The interface makes the interaction between users and our world more interactive. They can help users clarify, clarify, and enable display relationships. They not only make us work efficiently, but also manage our applications and access related services. The behavior in the design field is not art, but rule-based. An excellent design interface can inspire, inspire, and enhance our connections with the world.

　　Definition is a very important task.

Definition is the first and most important step in interface design. To make sure that the interface you designed is effective and liked, you must fully understand what the interface is? Why do people use it? You must be clear about the interaction between the interface and the user. For example, when the user is using the interface, you can predict what happens and successfully interact with it. Some interfaces are not designed to be too clear. Although they can meet users' temporary needs, there is no future to look at their obfuscated interfaces. A clear interface can stimulate people's information and facilitate further use.

　　Protect users' attention at all costs

We live in an interrupted world. In daily life, there are always many things that distract us, making it difficult for us to concentrate on reading quietly. Therefore, attracting attention is critical. So never distract yourself from the mess around your important application design ...... Remember the importance of keeping the screen clean to attract attention. If you want to display the advertisement, please finish the display before the user reads it. Protecting and respecting users' attention not only makes users happier, but also makes your ads better. Therefore, to design a good interface, protecting users' attention is a prerequisite.

　　

 

　　Ensures User Control

Humans are often happy with being able to control themselves and their environments. Software that does not consider others' feelings takes user control and forces users to enter unplanned interactions, which not only makes users uncomfortable, but also has unexpected consequences. To ensure the user's control capability, let the user decide the system status, with a little guidance, I think you will achieve your desired goal.

　Direct operation is the best

When we can directly operate on physical objects in our world, the best interface design is nothing. But this is not easy to implement, because the icons we add are often not necessary in the interface design. For example, we use buttons, graphics, options, attachments, and other tedious things so that we can ultimately manipulate the UI elements rather than the important things. What is the initial goal? Is to simplify and directly manipulate ......, Therefore, we should try our best to reduce the number of interface encapsulation and learn as much natural human gestures as possible. Ideally, the interface design should be concise, giving users a direct sense of operation.

　Each screen must have a topic.

Each picture we designed should have a single topic, which not only makes it easier for users to use its real value, but also makes it easier to learn and use, it is easier to add or modify data when necessary. Screen. If two or more themes are supported, it will become messy. Like writing an article, there should be a single topic and a strong argument, as should our interface design, which is the reason for its existence.

　　Secondary action

Screens and single major actions can have multiple secondary actions, but they need to be replayed! The reason for your article is that people can share it on Twitter ......, Therefore, many things exist for people to read and understand them. Therefore, secondary operations can improve the visual performance and help major actions.

　　Natural transition

There are few interactions that can last, so the well-thought-out design should take into account the next step of interaction. Consider what the next interaction is and use the design to support it. This is a bit like a conversation, which provides a topic for deep conversations. When the user has completed the steps, do not confuse them. Give them a natural way to continue to achieve their goals.

　　Real name

People are most comfortable with the expected behavior. When the behavior of others, animals, things, or software is always in line with our expectations, we will feel a good relationship with it. This is also the design for dealing with people. In practice, this means that users should be able to predict how interaction elements behave without thinking too much. If it looks like a button, it should look like a button. Designers should not be smart on basic interaction issues, but be creative at a higher level.

　　Differentiate key points

Then, if the behavior of visual elements is different, their performance should be different. If the behavior is the same, the behavior is the same. These two points are also important. In order to maintain consistency, primary designers often use the same visual effects (often reuse code) To differentiate key elements. In fact, differentiated treatment is appropriate.

　　Clear hierarchy

If visual elements have a clear browsing order, they should be clearly hierarchical. That is to say, if the user browses the same things in the same order every time and has an unclear hierarchy, the user cannot tell him where the focus is. In the end, the user will look messy and confused. When the design is constantly changing, it is difficult to maintain a clear hierarchical relationship, because the relationship between all elements is relative. If all are emphasized, it is not emphasized. To add a particularly important element, the designer may consider resetting each element to reach a clear level again. Most people do not pay attention to the visual hierarchy, but this is the simplest way to enhance the design.

　　Proper organization

As John Maeda said in his book "Simplicity", properly organizing visual elements can be simplified and simplified to help others better understand your expressions, such as content inclusion relationships. The relationship between elements can be expressed naturally by means of the orientation and orientation. Properly organizing content can save a lot of users' thinking, and they don't have to worry about the relationship between elements, because you have already shown it. Do not force the user to make a distinction, but the designer shows it in an organization.

　　Use color with caution

The color of the physical world changes with the light. When the sun shines and the sunset goes down, the scenery we see is very different. The color is easily changed by the environment. Therefore, colors in the design should not be the decisive factor. The color can be eye-catching and act as a guide, but it should not be the only element of the difference. In the case of long reading or long computer experience, a plain or dark background color should be used in addition to the content to be emphasized. Of course, readers can also use bright colors.

Sequential display

Only the required content is displayed on each screen. If you need to make a decision, the user will show enough information to choose from. They will find the required details on the next screen. Avoid over-interpreting or presenting all at once. If possible, place the selection on the next screen to display the information step by step. This makes the interaction clearer.

　　Embedded "help"

In the ideal user interface, help is unnecessary because the user interface can effectively guide the user to learn. Similar to the "Next", the "help" is embedded in the context, and appears only when the user needs it.

The task of the designer is not to create a help system where the user has a need, but to shirk the obligation to discover the user's needs to the user, so that the user can find the answer to their questions in the help system. Instead, make sure that you know how to use the interface you provide, so that you can get guidance and learning from the interface.

　　Critical moment: zero state

It is very important for users to experience an interface for the first time, which is often ignored by designers. To help users quickly adapt to our design, the design should be in the zero state, that is, nothing happens. However, this status is not a blank canvas. It should provide you with directions and guidance to help you quickly adapt to the design. There will be some friction in the initial interaction process. Once the user understands various rules, it will be a great opportunity to succeed.

　　Valuable questions

People are pursuing solutions to existing problems, rather than potential problems or future problems. Because, do not design interfaces for hypothetical problems, observe existing behaviors and designs, and solve existing problems. This is really not an exciting thing, but it is the most valuable thing, because the user is using your interface.

　　Ignored great design

There is a strange property in a great design, that is, this design is usually ignored by its users. One of the reasons is that the design was so successful that its users focused on achieving their own goals and ignored their own interface. Finally, they reach their goals perfectly, so they do not need to respond to any situations. As a designer, this goal can be achieved. When our design is excellent, we will not be flattered. Great designers will enrich themselves with excellent designs, because satisfied users are often silenced.

　　Multi-Domain Design

Visual, graphic design, layout, text, information structure, and visualization. All these fields of knowledge should be part of the design. Designers should be involved in or even specialized in learning this knowledge. Don't look down on this knowledge, and you need to get a lot of things worth learning from it to improve your work ability. Designers should be able to learn from seemingly unrelated things over the long term, such as publishing, programming, binding, skateboarding, firefighting, and even karate.

　　The design must be used.

In most design fields, the element of successful interface design is that users are using it. It is like a beautiful chair. Although it is exquisite but uncomfortable to sit in, the user will not use it, it is also the design of failure. Therefore, the interface design is not only to design a use environment, but also to create a worthy work of art. Interface Design is not enough to satisfy the vanity of its designers: It must be useful!

Source: HTML5 China