Simple and practical user interface Design 10 principles

There is no great mystery to design a really great user interface, so keep it simple and easy to use.

' Keep simple and easy to use ' means not to distract the user. On the contrary, a good UI allows users to achieve goals. How did it turn out? Your training and maintenance costs are reduced and you get happier, more satisfying, and more efficient users.

When you face a brand new interface design, don't forget these principles.

Editor's notes: Kyle will continue to explore the content of user interface design in the Web design trends in New York.

1. Know Your users

"Focus on the User: If you are looking for a competitor or a choice between users, the answer is always the latter." The job always starts with the user first. "--jeff Bezos

Understand the user, because the user's goal is your goal. Try to restate the user, understand their skill level and experience, and what they need. Find out what kind of interface the user prefers, and see how they operate in the interface. Don't be obsessed with updating design trends or adding new features. The first task is to focus on your users so that you can create an interface that allows users to achieve goals.

2. Focus on the model

The user spends most of their time in the interface, not on their own (Facebook,myspace,blogger, Bank of America, school/university, news sites, etc.). We do not need to gild the lily, the user in the interface you are creating is what those (already) interface has been solved the same problem. Using the established UI model, you will make the user feel as familiar as at home.

CoTweet uses a well-known UI model in messaging applications.

3. Maintain consistency

"The more users expect to be properly validated, the more they will feel that the system is in their control and thus more likely to love it." "--jakob Nielson

Users need consistency. They need to know that once they learn to do something, the next time is equally feasible. Language, layout and design are several interface elements that require consistency. A consistent interface gives users a better understanding of how to operate, thereby improving efficiency.

4. Use visual grade

"Designers can find unity in chaos, and they can communicate design intentions clearly by organizing and manipulating words and pictures." "--jeffery Veen,web design artist and researcher

Design, let the user focus on the most important place. The size, color, and position of each element provide a common path for understanding the interface. A clear hierarchical relationship will play an important role in reducing the complexity of the appearance (even when the behavior itself is equally complex).

5. Provide feedback

Interfaces must always be communicated to the user, whether or not their behavior is right or wrong. Prompt the user's behavior at any time: status change, error, or exception information. Visual cues, or simple text reminders, can tell the user whether his or her actions can achieve the desired results.

bantamlive provides an embedded loading hint for most behaviors in the interface.

6. (to user) tolerance

No matter how clear your design is, users will make mistakes. Your UI should allow and tolerate user errors. To provide users with the means to undo behavior, and to be tolerant of all sorts of input data (no one wants to start over simply by filling in the wrong format for birthdays). Similarly, if the user's behavior causes an error, it is wrong to use the information at the right time to show what behavior is incorrect and to make sure that he/she understands how to prevent this error from happening again.

How to use simple verification code to improve the registration rate A good example is described in the article.

7. Encourages users

Once the user has experience with the interface, reward them for the price. Splitting complex tasks into several simple steps will be more complex and distracting. Provide more abstract ways-such as keyboard shortcuts-to accomplish tasks that will make your design simple and easy to use.

8. Integration into the user's language

"If you think twice about each pixel, every icon, every font, you also need to weigh each word." "-- getting Real

All the interfaces have more or less text on them. Make the manuscript as colloquial as possible, not the piling up of flowery rhetoric. Provide clear and concise labels for behavior and keep a simple text narrative. Users will appreciate this, as they are no longer dictated by other people's words-they are speaking as friends and even talking to themselves.

9. Keep it simple

"A modern paradox is that creating complex interfaces is simple, because complexity is necessary to simplify them"--pär almqvist

Is the so-called: Big sound, elephants invisible . In the best design, you don't see flashy UI decorations or design elements you don't use. Instead, the necessary elements must be concise and meaningful. When you think about whether to add a heart function or element to the interface, ask yourself, "Do users really need these?" "or" Why do users want this small, dynamic icon? ”。 Are you just adding these elements for your own liking? Remember, never give yourself the limelight in the UI design.

10. Keep Moving forward

Grandpa: If every failure I give up, then I will never invent refractory trousers! "Then the trousers burned out and the underwear was revealed."

Grandpa: The seams are still being improved ...

Excerpt from the Future Kid

"The Future Kid" is one of my favorite movies. Lewis, who runs through the film, has been challenging "keep moving forward." This is the key guideline for UI design.

It is often said that when developing an interface, you often need to fail faster so that you can iterate frequently. When you create a UI, you always encounter errors. Never mind, just keep moving forward and keep your UI simple and easy to use.