Oct 12th, 2024
6 Key Strategies to Improve UI UX Design in Your Software Applications
The UI (User Interface) and UX (User Experience) are arguably two of the most important aspects of your application. And yet, many software development teams fail to devote enough attention to UI UX design, brushing it off as “prettifying”, or pushing work to the backburner until the end of a project while more “critical” parts like the database and server design are handled.
The UI UX design is the primary point of contact between you and your users. It is the first thing users will learn about you, and the last thing they remember. While things like data privacy and security are important (and users are valuing those things more highly these days), the UI is still the part of the application that a user will care about most. So, it’s important your UI and UX are high quality.
What is User-Centered Design (UCD)?
User-centered design means putting UX and UI first and foremost. But it’s more than just building a pretty interface. It means gathering valuable data from how your users behave online and tailoring your app to meet their needs. It means soliciting feedback from your users about how they use the app and designing new features with them in mind.
When companies build apps with user needs in mind, they tend to find product market fit more quickly, and build large, happy customer bases who become evangelists for their products.
What is UI UX Design? Difference between UI and UX Design
UI (User Interface) design centers on the visual and interactive aspects of the digital products like software, website and applications. The main objective of UI design is to create an intuitive and captivating experience that makes navigation simple and boosts user satisfaction. Good UI design ensures users can complete their tasks easily while enjoying an attractive interface.
UX (User Experience) Design, conversely, involves creating software applications that deliver enhanced and pertinent experiences for users. By assessing users’ needs and requirements, products are crafted and developed. Effective UX design emphasizes enhancing the usability, accessibility, and interaction with the software application.
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Benefits of Good UI UX Design
- Improves User Experience
- Increases User Engagement and Retention
- Reduces Software Development Costs
- Improves Usability and Productivity
- Provides Competitive Edge
6 Important Principles to Improve Your App’s UI UX Design
1. Prioritize speed
Today’s users expect fast, snappy interfaces. They will not wait for a loading spinner. Slow to load landing pages can lead to a bounce rate as high as 70-90%, so make sure you’re compressing images, minifying code, and utilizing caching techniques to make your app as fast as possible.
2. Build mobile first
As of July 2024, mobile dominates about 60% of the market when it comes to the ways in which users get online. That means the majority of users these days are accessing web via mobile. So, if your site is not built with mobile users top-of-mind, or at least optimized for mobile, you will be losing out on a lot of traffic.
3. Gather data
Build click-tracking, page-tracking, and other types of data gathering techniques into your web pages and mobile apps. You need to know how users are interacting with your application. This makes it much easier to debug issues when they arise and allows you to see how users utilize your tools so you can determine where your resources are best spent.
4. Get feedback
Get an MVP (Minimum Viable Product) of your product into users’ hands as quickly as possible so you can start gathering data and getting feedback from your users. An MVP should encompass the core functionality of your application without a lot of bells and whistles, so users can get an idea of exactly what the app is supposed to do. The UI UX design should be seamless, but don’t need to include everything the final app will have.
5. Reduce complexity
When it comes to building a seamless UI UX design, simple is always better. There’s a reason apps and websites are structured the way they are. Don’t reinvent the wheel, and don’t clutter the UI with a lot of unnecessary bits and pieces. Intuitive navigation, clear CTAs, and well-utilized screen real estate will not only make your users happy, but they will also convert better.
6. Increase Accessibility
Accessibility is non-negotiable. Your software must be designed in a way that makes it easy to use for people with low or no visibility, limited mobility, or other impairments. There are 4 main principles of accessibility:
- Perceivability
- Operability
- Understandability
- Robustness
The W3c maintains a comprehensive guide to web accessibility, which can be used by companies and developers to make sure they are keeping up with modern standards.
In Conclusion
Modern software development should be approached from a user-first standpoint to create the best user experience. Accessibility, speed, and simplicity are key aspects of the UI UX design, and user feedback and data should be gathered at all stages of the development process to ensure the highest quality product.
