Take these numbers into consideration: An improved UX design can yield conversion rates up to 400%. Failure in UX, meanwhile, can be disastrous, as 88% of online consumers are less likely to revisit a site after a bad experience.
But what makes a “good” UX in terms of web design? Simply put, this is when users find a site’s navigation so intuitive that they can achieve their desired result easily, whether it’s getting information or making a transaction.
If you want this for your own site, here are 5 tips for UI UX design that we recommend:
1. Keep it Simple and Clean
Users don’t visit websites to marvel at their designs and play with the interface. They want to read articles, retrieve contact details, buy items, etc. That’s why good UX and UI design tips always include the need to facilitate visitors to accomplish those goals, not distract from them.
To keep your site simple and clean:
- Cut all unnecessary elements — Don’t jam lengthy posts into product listings or links to resources in a contact page. Let users focus on just one task on each page.
- Use white space — Clumped up text or multimedia make it difficult for users to easily parse information and navigate a site. Leave negative space around each element for better readability.
- Tuck away additional info — If you really need to have more details or advanced options on a page, place them far apart from the main elements. Put them at the very bottom of the page or in a menu where they don’t take up space.
2. Speed Up Site Loading
Users vastly prefer sites that load fast. Study shows that 47% of consumers expect a website to load in 2 seconds or less, while 40% abandon a site when it takes more than 3 seconds to load.
By extension, search engines also prefer sites that load fast. Google specifically considers site speed part of its recently announced Core Web Vitals, which factors UX heavily in determining search rankings.
To improve site speed:
- Use JPGs — JPGs are compressed versions of images that do not sacrifice too much quality. Convert BMPs and PNGs to JPGs when possible to minimize file sizes.
- Pick a reliable web hosting service — Moving your site from a poor hosting solution to a trusted one can drastically improve loading speeds.
3. Make Your Site Mobile Responsive
Mobile is becoming the dominant platform for online use. However, it’s not enough to just have a mobile version of your site, as 85% of adults think a site’s mobile version should be as good or better than its desktop version.
We wrote a full guide on creating a mobile responsive website including our tips for UI UX design, but to give you a few pointers:
- Streamline content — Space is at a premium on mobile screens. Only show the content that users need on the mobile version of your site. This also helps make pages load faster.
- Adjust sizes for clickable elements — Buttons and hyperlinks can be harder to tap on with a finger on a mobile screen if not adjusted properly.
4. Maintain Design Consistency
A consistent design doesn’t just make for an aesthetically pleasing website. It removes any confusion about where users are on a site, subconsciously teaches users how to navigate your site, and helps build brand recognition.
Consistency also extends to functionality. Doing the exact same action on different pages should still have the same result, such as clicking on a navigation button that sends the user to the home page.
Design elements that need to be consistent include:
- Logos
- Color scheme
- Typography (e.g. fonts, headings)
- Navigation (e.g. menus, buttons)
- Tone
- Layout
5. Provide Clear Feedback
One of our biggest tips for UX design is to never leave users in a state of ambiguity when they perform an action. Let them know immediately if they did something right or wrong, or if they are done with one stage in a multi-stage process.
For clear feedback:
- Show confirmation messages — When users submit a form or complete a transaction, give them confirmation. Create a message pop up indicating that you have received their form or order.
- Highlight mistakes — If users missed a field in a form, visually indicate their error and spell out exactly what they need to do to proceed.
- Use animations — Whether the page is loading a high-res video or processing a big order, you can use animated elements so users know the site is working on their request.
User-Focused Design Leads to Good UX
UX did right strips a website down to its design essentials. Users are funneled into directly engaging with content or answering a call-to-action without disruptions no matter what device they use. When you’ve applied our tips for UX design, remember to also run tests before you implement changes on a large scale to make sure your site still looks good and functions properly and that actual users understand the updated design.
If you want to launch a website that customers will love engaging with, make sure you have great UX at its core. Not sure how to start? Let your Design Force team do the heavy lifting. Let’s talk about your goals today.
