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12 Principles for better UX
Delighting your users does not come easily, make sure you follow these principles to produce an elegant and intuitive User Experience.
Whether you are new to the UX field and are here to learn, or you’ve been in this field a long time and just need a refresher, these UX principles will help you to stay on track to designing great experiences that will surprise and delight your users.
Every great UX designer often keeps all of these concepts in mind throughout the design process sometimes without even knowing it. After reading through these I hope you can make the connection between the principles you have been following and the ones that you need to start putting into practice.
To ensure your products and solutions stay user-focused, have pristine usability, and enhance your user’s every day lives, follow these UX Principles.
User-Centered
“You are designing for your users, not for yourself.”
If you follow me I’m sure you have heard me say this before. I live by this phrase. It’s very important not to get entangled in what you would want, what your product manager would want, or what your developers would want. I would go so far as to call this the most important principle within this list. Of course, there is a fine balance between business needs and users’ needs, but your users’ needs are your priority, and if you follow that practice, positive results on the business side are sure to follow.
Simple
“A User Interface is like a joke. If you have to explain it, it’s not that good.” — Martin LeBlanc
I have had this quote hung up on the wall behind my desk for probably about three years now. Everyone who reads it tends to find it funny, but I mean it, it’s not meant to just be funny. Simplicity is key when designing great UX. The moment your user gets confused or overwhelmed, the chances of them leaving your site or product is very high. Your users are looking to your product to help them accomplish something or perform a task more easily than they normally would, so you must make it simple and easy for them to use, or they won’t.
