UX/UI Design 2022
A Complete Beginners to Pro Step by Step Guide to UX/UI
Design and Mastering the Fundamentals of Web Design with
Latest Tips & Techniques
Albert Chipman
Copyright © 2021 Albert Chipman
All rights reserved.
It is not legal to reproduce, duplicate, or transmit any part of
this document by either electronic means or in printed
format. Recording of this publication is strictly prohibited
Disclaimer
The information in this book is based on personal experience
and anecdotal evidence. Although the author has made every
attempt to achieve an accuracy of the information gathered in
this book, they make no representation or warranties
concerning the accuracy or completeness of the contents of
this book. Your circumstances may not be suited to some
illustrations in this book.
The author disclaims any liability arising directly or
indirectly from the use of this book. Readers are encouraged
to seek Medical. Accounting, legal, or professional help
when required.
This guide is for informational purposes only, and the author
does not accept any responsibilities for any liabilities
resulting from the use of this information. While every
attempt has been made to verify the information provided
here, the author cannot assume any responsibility for errors,
inaccuracies or omission.
Contents
INTRODUCTION
CHAPTER ONE
What are UX and UI?
What exactly is user interface (UI)?
An overview of the user interface's history
What is user experience (UX)?
Similarities and Differences between UX and UI
The job of the user experience designer
The UI designer's job description
What is the difference between user interface (UI) and user
experience (UX)?
User Research for UX Design
What is user experience research?
Research Methodologies
Methods of UX research
What does a user experience researcher do?
Required skills and tools
CHAPTER TWO
User Persona for UX Design
User Flow in UX Design
In UX, what is the user flow?
What do I need to make a user experience flow?
UX Design Prototypes
Prototyping for Amazing Reasons
How do you create a user experience prototype?
Why is it important to test designs when they are still in the
prototype stage?
Wireframes in UX Design
What are the benefits of wireframes?
When should you use wireframes?
What is the best way to make wireframes?
CHAPTER THREE
Basic visual design principles in UI Design
How can you accomplish that aim while still creating
attractive and functional interfaces
Definition of Design thinking
Design Thinking Phases
The Science of Creativity in the Brain
Advantages of intuition
What Is the Importance of Intuitive Design?
What are the advantages and disadvantages of intuitive
design?
What Are the Benefits of Using User-Friendly
Software?
What Characterizes User-Friendly Software?
CHAPTER FOUR
Common tools for UI Designs
Using Balsamiq Wireframes
CHAPTER FIVE
How to create Wireframes with Axure
How to Use Axure RP to Create Wireframes
Tips to achieve a good user interface and
experience
CHAPTER SIX
Understanding what Typography is
Understanding typefaces, fonts, and font selection
Obey the laws of typography
A glossary of typographic terms
CHAPTER SEVEN
What is the best way to test contrast in UI design?
What is design alignment?
What is the significance of alignment in design?
What is Hierarchy?
Visual Hierarchy's Building Blocks
How to Create an Effective Visual Hierarchy
CHAPTER EIGHT
UI and its relation with readability
Advice on Improving Readability and Legibility
CHAPTER NINE
Places to get UI/UX inspiration
The Top 10 Online UI Design Inspiration Sources
What is a font pairing?
Basics of Font Pairing
Adding Meta information in UI/UX design
SEO and UI Design
Responsive Website Design
SEO and UX Design
CHAPTER TEN
What is Microcopy?
What Is Microcopy and How Does It Work?
Why Is Good Microcopy Important?
Do's and Don'ts in Microcopy
How to make sitemaps
What is a sitemap?
CHAPTER ELEVEN
What is the purpose of a sitemap?
CONCLUSION
INTRODUCTION
User Interface and User Experience (UI &
UX) are two terms that have made a mark in
the designing world. Both UX/UI designers
are making tons of money from their skills on
a daily, weekly, monthly, and yearly basis.
Both designers require to be user friendly
when embarking on a new project and they
can only scale through if they learn the basics
and work on their skills.
User Interface has to do with screens,
keyboards and so on while UX designers are
charged with the responsibility of ensuring
that the organization is run without any issue.
The duo has numerous similarities, no
wonder why both skills are in high demand
around the world.
With the help of this guide, you can begin
your UI/UX design journey and learn all the
fundamentals associated with the term.
CHAPTER ONE
What are UX and UI?
What exactly is user interface (UI)?
Despite being a more established and wellknown field, the question "What is user
interface design?" is difficult to answer due to
the wide range of misinterpretations.
User interface (UI) refers to any aspect of a
digital product or service that a user interacts
with. Everything from screens and touch
screens to keyboards, sounds, and even lights
falls under this category. However, learning
more about UI's history and how it has
progressed into benchmarks and a profession
helps understand its evolution.
An overview of the user interface's
history
If you intended to use a computer in the
1970s, you had to utilize the command-line
interface. Commercially, graphical interfaces
were not yet available. Users had to connect
with a computer using a programming
language, which required seemingly endless
code lines to execute a basic job.
Computer scientists at Xerox PARC created
the first graphical user interface (GUI) in the
1980s. Thanks to this pioneering invention,
users may now communicate with their
computers by visually inputting instructions
through icons, buttons, menus, and
checkboxes.
The personal computer revolution began due
to this technological shift, which allowed
anyone to use a computer without needing to
know how to code.
The Macintosh personal computer, which had
a point-and-click mouse, was produced by
Apple Computer in 1984. This type of
interface was first used on a commercially
successful home computer with the
Macintosh.
Because of the widespread availability and
use of personal—and office—computers,
interfaces had to be designed with users in
mind. Users would not buy if they couldn't
engage with their machines. As a
consequence, the user interface designer was
created.
The UI designer's job has changed as
systems, preferences, expectations, and
accessibility have required more and more
from devices, as it does with any expanding
technology. UI designers now work on
various platforms, including smartphones,
augmented and virtual reality, and even
"invisible" or screenless interfaces (also
known as zero UI) such as speech, gesture,
and light.
Working on websites, mobile applications,
wearable technologies, and smart home
gadgets, to mention a few, is practically
unlimited for today's UI designer. As long as
computers are a part of everyday life,
interfaces must be designed to allow users of
diverse ages, backgrounds, and technical
skills to successfully utilize them.
What is user experience (UX)?
As a consequence of the advancements in UI,
the user experience, or UX, has developed.
Users' experiences, whether favorable, bad, or
neutral, affected how they felt about those
encounters once there was anything for them
to engage with.
That's a wide term that might include every
encounter a person has with a product or
service, not simply digital interactions. Some
UX practitioners prefer to refer to the
discipline as customer experience, while
others go even farther and just call it
experience design.
Norman's initial concept of UX, whatever it's
called, is at the heart of any thinking
experience design—all-encompassing it's and
constantly focused on the human person it's
engaging with.
This 'usability honeycomb' has formed the
cornerstone for UX experts' best practices,
guiding their actions across multiple stages
with the user, such as:
How would they find out about your
company's product?
The activities people perform when
they engage with the UI in order.
Their thoughts and emotions as they
attempt to complete their mission
The overall impressions they form
as a result of the encounter
UX designers are in charge of making sure
the company serves up a service that satisfies
the customer's needs and allows them to
achieve their desired outcome seamlessly.
UX designers collaborate with UI designers,
UX researchers, marketers, and product
teams to better understand their users through
research and experimentation. They keep
iterating and refining their ideas based on
what they've learned relies on both
quantitative and qualitative user research to
enhance user experiences.
Similarities and Differences between
UX and UI
What is the relationship between UI and
UX design?
Although the terms UX and UI have similar
connotations, they are fundamentally separate
design professions. The visual aspects of
design and the overall sense it transmits are
more important in UI design. However, even
the most beautifully designed UI will result in
a poor user experience if the UX is poor.
The job of the user experience
designer
Many businesses have recently learned that
excellent design may provide them with a
competitive edge, and they are ready to spend
large resources in producing a positive user
experience. Consequently, the position of
user experience designer has developed, and
it is in great demand.
In basic words, UX design is developing
things with the user in mind. UX designers
are in charge of understanding the target
audience's demands and ensuring that the
company's products fit those needs. UX
design is a multidisciplinary discipline in
which UX designers may work on various
product development projects, including
product research, ideation, prototyping, and
testing.
The following are typical tasks of a UX
designer:
Getting to know your customers:
UX design aims to understand the
target audience, their wants, and
needs, so it usually begins with
extensive research. Empathy is an
important skill for UX designers to
have. It assists UX designers in
comprehending and uncovering the
hidden needs and emotions of the
people they are designing.
Coming up with a design strategy:
Understanding the purpose of a
product and mapping a logical
journey is part of the design
strategy.
Examining the interaction design:
UX designers study how people
interact with products, including
their interaction habits, personal
preferences, and UI shortcuts. All of
the information is put to good use to
come up with better design
solutions.
Creating
prototypes
and
wireframes: To pitch their ideas to
the design team, UX designers
frequently use UX software to create
wireframes or prototypes.
UX designers are involved in the
execution of a product at all
times: They communicate with all
team members to ensure that the
product design is on track.
The UI designer's job description
The role of user interface designers is more
focused on the visual representation of data.
To create interfaces that have a good look and
feel, UI designers should have graphic
design, visual design, and branding design
skills.
The user flow and wireframes for
independent screens/pages generated by UX
designers are usually turned into something
aesthetically pleasing by UI designers
(dressing up the skeleton).
Becoming a good designer entails several
things, including:
• Pay attention to the smallest details: The
tiniest details are very important if you want
to become a good UI designer and they
should never be overlooked.
• Problem-solving abilities: You always
tackle a particular issue in design, no matter
what you do. Designers should be prepared to
devote sufficient effort to develop a suitable
solution.
However, there are a few factors that UI
designers should be aware of:
Examine the competition: They
must
study
and
undertake
competitive analyzes of goods and
visual design choices.
The use of a responsive design:
Ascertain that the UI design works
well on all screen sizes and
resolutions.
Communication: UI designers
usually collaborate closely with UX
designers and engineering teams.
Technical feasibility necessitates
communication skills, and it doesn't
matter if the team can make the
skills possible.
What is the difference between user
interface (UI) and user experience
(UX)?
UI is made up of all the pieces that allow
someone to engage with a product or service
at its most basic level. The user experience,
on the other hand, is what the person using
the product or service gets out of the whole
thing.
Take, for example, Google. Its notoriously
bare-bones design exemplifies how a great
experience
doesn't
need
frills.
By
concentrating on the user, Google
understands that they are only looking for one
thing when visiting the site: information.
They also want it now.
The fact that the word "google" has become a
verb demonstrates how well the company
fulfills that experience—and expectation.
Few other search engines survive today
because they can access almost anything a
person has ever wanted to know in the blink
of an eye.
Consider what would happen if every time
you searched on Google, it took 15 seconds
to obtain a result—you'd no longer be able to
get a solution to your inquiry right away.
Even if the interface remained the same, your
Google experience would be vastly different.
You've probably heard the terms UX
designer, UI designer, interaction designer,
visual designer, and so on. What are the
similarities and differences between the roles,
and why are they frequently combined?
When discussing the processes involved in
producing a product, the terms user
experience (UX) design and user interface
(UI)
design
are
sometimes
used
interchangeably.
Interaction design, information architecture,
graphic design, content planning and
production, user research, and psychology are
just a handful of the disciplines that make up
the more significant UX sector.
UX focuses on designing for the user's
requirements and comprehending the
activities
required
in
utilizing
a
product/service to achieve a goal. UI is more
concerned with an interface's usefulness,
measured by its ease of use, efficiency, and
pleasure of usage.
A requirements document is a common way
for designers to convey their choices to
stakeholders. There are also fascinating
alternative ways, such as a task analysis grid,
which seeks to portray the whole scope of the
project and the characteristics of the first and
subsequent releases in a single graphic
description on the same page.
Focusing on UX in the early phases of a
project might in alleviating some of the
product's friction. UX research approaches
focus on cognitive psychology and user
observation in behavior laboratories to
identify a user's requirements, preferences,
motivations, and behavior.
Whether developing a web or mobile
application, UX research is often conducted
before creating the look and feel of the
program to ensure that the most helpful
features and application processes appear in
the final product. User experience designers
will synthesize their findings into a range of
artifacts utilized by other designers
throughout the process, including user
personas, wireframes depicting application
flow, and early-stage, low-fidelity prototypes
that will be evaluated by users.
A UI designer concentrates on the intricacies
of the layout and how to organize the
interface after gaining knowledge of the
user's demands and how to build a product to
answer the user's concerns. The UI designer
would collaborate with the UX designer to
improve the application's flow, iterate on
prototyped ideas to generate more
production-ready mock-ups and layouts, and,
in some instances, design the colors and fonts
as a visual designer.
In actuality, the positions are often blurred,
and a single designer may wear many hats.
The UX, UI, and visual responsibilities are
merged at Applico, and the expectation of
concentrating on the user's engagement with
the product goes throughout product planning
and delivery.
Small businesses may even hire general
"product designers" who are involved in
every step of the process or search for the
elusive "design unicorn" – a designer who
possesses not only the clarity of user research
processes but the ability to deliver highquality wireframes and mock-ups but also the
visual refinement needed to deliver
logo/brand work and the coding skills needed
to write production-ready HTML/CSS. Of
course, designers who are well-versed in all
design elements are rare, and even when they
are, there is only so much time to devote to
just one individual.
Companies with design demands have grown
increasingly amenable to the T-shaped skill
model, which supports the development of
broad talents in various domains while
focusing on specific expertise. This helps
your team's current designers by balancing
their effort and bringing a diverse set of
expertise to the table.
User Research for UX Design
To create products that meet user needs
(while also delighting them), you must first
understand who your user is and what their
needs are. User experience (UX) research can
help with this.
UX researchers conduct in-depth research on
target users to acquire data that will aid in the
product design process.
What is user experience research?
Starting to think about your users is one of
many steps in designing a new product or
improving to the user experience of an
existing one. What are their names? What
country are they from? What are they looking
for? What is their motivation for wanting it?
How can your product assist them in
achieving their goals?
It's your responsibility as a UX researcher to
find answers to these queries. Instead of
guessing based on your own subjective
experience, you'll devise a research approach
that will enable you to respond to these
questions using statistics. In a sense, you
become a spokesperson for your consumers,
giving them a say in the product creation
process.
Research Methodologies
You typically deal with two forms of research
as a UX researcher: qualitative and
quantitative. Here is what they mean:
Quantitative study is concerned
with figures and statistics: In terms
of usability, this may include
determining how long it takes the
average user to accomplish a job,
the proportion of users who finish
the task successfully, and the
number of problems or bugs they
encounter along the route. They
become more valuable when you
have something to compare these
data to, such as a prior design or a
competitor's product.
Qualitative research looks at nonnumerical information such as why
people struggled to complete a task
or how they felt while using a
product.
Qualitative
research
provides the "why" to quantitative
research's "what."
The contrast between behavioral and
attitudinal research is another
distinction established between
kinds of study.
Behavioral research approaches look
at how people behave. On a page,
where do people click? What route
do they follow via an app in terms
of navigation?
Attitudinal research examines how a
user feels and reacts to an event.
Methods of UX research
Determining which research approach is
suited for addressing which questions will be
one component of your responsibilities as a
UX designer. The UX research toolbox
provides several tools to assist you in
gathering data from your users.
Card sorting: Participants in the
study put issues into categories that
make the most sense to them and
give these groupings names.
Designers may use this knowledge
to develop more intuitive and userfriendly applications and websites.
Usability testing involves having
participants execute a product
task while watching: This allows
you to assess how effective users are
at completing tasks and how fast
they do them, what obstacles they
experience, and how pleased they
are with the process.
A/B testing: This compares two
product versions to find which one
the target market likes. A live
product may be accomplished by
presenting two separate versions of
a website to different visitors or
sending two different copies of a
mailing to various recipient lists.
User interviews:
Face-to-face
interviews are a fast and simple
approach to learn what a user wants
from a future product or get
qualitative data on an existing
product. Focus groups are used
when these interviews are done with
many people simultaneously.
Surveys and questionnaires: A
survey or questionnaire may be
designed to return both qualitative
and quantitative data. You may
monitor a product's improvement
throughout its development and
lifespan by utilizing the same
questions and performing several
surveys.
Diary studies: In these studies,
target users maintain a journal of
their daily activities for a certain
(typically long) period. This
provides you insight into real-life
actions and experiences. You may
find out when a user regularly
interacts
with
your
product
throughout the day or how often
they use it over a day, week, or
month.
Contextual observation: Rather
than interviewing users in a lab,
you'll watch them in their real
environment—perhaps at home or at
work—while asking questions to
learn more about how and why they
do what they do.
First click testing: This sort of user
testing looks at what a target user
clicks on first while attempting to
accomplish a task on a website or
app interface. (NB: A first click test
may be performed on a live site, a
prototype, or a wireframe).
What does a user experience
researcher do?
Now that we know what user experience
research is let's look at what you may
accomplish in your day-to-day position as a
UX researcher, as well as the skills and tools
you'll need.
Responsibilities and tasks
A typical day on the job as a UX researcher
will be different depending on the project
you're working on and the firm you work for.
These are some of the responsibilities you
may have on the job:
Working with designers and
stakeholders to better understand
research requirements.
Defining research objectives and
choosing acceptable data gathering
techniques
Creating research project budgets
and timeframes
Participant recruitment for research
projects
Carrying out design research
projects and assessing the results
Converting your results into readily
digestible information
Making presentations to designers,
developers, and other stakeholders
about your results
Required skills and tools
Successful UX researchers acquire a set of
abilities that enable them to get valuable
information about existing and potential
consumers. These are just a handful of the
talents you can start honing right now if
you're thinking about a career in UX research.
Communication skills: Working
with a design team and talking with
study participants to answer
research questions is a big
component of the job.
Empathy: Gaining a better
understanding
of
a
user's
expectations,
frustrations,
objectives, and reasoning process
might assist you in developing
solutions to real-world problems.
Design
thinking:
Empathize,
define, ideate, prototype, and test
are all stages of the design thinking
process that allow us to understand
more about our target consumers.
Problem-solving: Considering what
questions you seek to answer with
your research might help you choose
the right approach.
Curiosity: Curiosity may motivate
you to ask probing questions and
uncover valuable insights.
Collaboration: As a UX researcher,
you'll often collaborate with
developers,
designers,
product
managers, and other stakeholders to
produce the best product possible.
CHAPTER TWO
User Persona for UX Design
To create products that meet user needs
(while also delighting them), you must first
understand who your user is and what their
needs are. User experience (UX) research can
help with this.
UX researchers conduct in-depth research on
target users in order to acquire data that will
aid in the product design process.
User Flow in UX Design
Each product you make is designed to meet
the wants or address the challenges of a
certain customer. However, even if your app
has a lengthy and tedious sign-up procedure,
unclear navigation, or otherwise delivers a
poor user experience, your customers will
likely abandon the app and choose your
competitor's offer.
In UX, what is the user flow?
It's not a good idea to start designing
information architecture for your future
product without first developing a plan.
Designers should concentrate on consumers'
demands to produce the best algorithm for
doing activities for a specific user, which
implies they should know how to construct
the best algorithm for performing tasks for a
certain user.
The more pleasurable it is for the customer to
engage with your website or application, the
simpler it is to go along their route while
completing a job. As a result, you're more
likely to provide a positive user experience.
UX flow is a flowchart that depicts a user's
route when using your product, from the
beginning to the end. Because there are so
many distinct goals for someone who uses
your service/app, you may have many User
Flows in a single project. Some are more
complicated (become a member of your
product), while others are focused on a single
action.
User flows are used in UX design:
The potential to enhance the user experience
is the key benefit of user flow diagrams for
UX design.
However, that is not the only advantage we
can mention:
It's a simple and quick approach to
visualize the procedure.
Without using any specific UX user
flow tools, you can rapidly
demonstrate all of the tasks using
user flows (you can build the
diagram in any design application
that you use like Figma, Sketch,
Adobe XD).
Because it resembles blocks and
arrows, this kind of design delivery
is easily understood by everyone
(stakeholders, customers, and team
members). Furthermore, you may
create user processes before
designing the product's user
interface to make it more intelligent
and logical.
Allows you to get a better
understanding of your target
market: The user's entire contact
with the product is based on
completing a certain task (find some
info, book a room, and so on).
Because we build the user
experience process flow from the
user's perspective, you may
concentrate on user tasks while
considering their genuine objectives
and experiences. User flows in UX
design remind us that we're solving
real-world issues for actual people.
Assists in the removal of flaws:
The majority of issues that arise
during the development of a
website/app are related to users who
cannot complete their tasks. A wellthought-out UX flow aids in
identifying
and
eliminating
bottlenecks, pain spots, and phases
that may lead customers to get
confused and frustrated as they
attempt to complete the activity.
Another point worth mentioning is
that flow diagrams may also be used
to identify issue areas in an existing
design. Building a UX flow for an
existing product helps us evaluate
what works effectively and needs to
be improved. This allows you to
consider other possibilities for
consumers to complete their work
more quickly and easily.
Improved communication: It's
challenging to explain your thoughts
in a manner that everyone can grasp.
When designing a design solution,
UX flows enable you to show the
scope of work, obstacles, tasks, and
objectives that your team members
will face.
UX flows come in a variety of shapes and
sizes:
UX flows come in a variety of shapes and
sizes. Some are basic and resemble labels,
while others are built on wireframes with
text. Let's take a closer look at some user
flow UX examples.
Flowchart
A flowchart is a diagram that depicts the
sequence in which a user interacts with a
product to complete a process. They might be
a representation of the whole event or just a
portion of it.
Flowcharts are simple to create because they
follow a set of principles.
Work Flow
The user's activities while completing a task
are represented by task flow. Typically, task
flows show just one route with no
alternatives. When you anticipate that all
customers will perform the same actions, you
employ task flows in UX design.
Wire Flow
To define a wire flow, we must first grasp a
wireframe concept. A wireframe is a page
layout that depicts the design components on
each page and how they are related.
On the other hand, a Wire flow is a hybrid of
wireframe and a user flow. We see the
depiction of screens clients engage with on
their approach to complete the objective
instead of blocks with information. Wire
flows are very handy for creating mobile
applications (because of the small screen
size).
Screen Flow
High-fidelity screens, which are page layouts
of the final program, are included in screen
flows. They are very detailed and accurately
depict the size and appearance of a future
product. Clients and team members may get a
sense of the size and complexity of a
website/app.
What do I need to make a user
experience flow?
The essential phases in the process of
building UX flows are outlined below.
Conduct market research on
customers: Conduct research to
determine your target audience, their
goals, and what actions they must
take to attain their objectives. This
information will aid in your UX
process's smooth and logical flow.
Name your user flow and give it a
title: The goal of the user should be
explained in the title (for example,
"resetting the password").
Minimize the number of stages as
much as feasible: The better the
user experience, the easier the
procedure. If the user route is too
lengthy, consider breaking it up into
smaller jobs.
Plan out each step: Depending on
the sort of UX flow you pick, it
might be a block with a few words
or a wireframe.
Include a description: You may
put brief explanations underneath
each block to help the user
understand what they should do at
each stage.
Assess and improve: Check to see
whether your user flow meets the
demands of your clients and assists
them in completing the job in the
lowest time feasible. Consider any
places where the user would be
unsure or perplexed about how to
perform the activity. Remember that
there is no limit to how much you
can improve.
UX Design Prototypes
What is the definition of prototyping?
The finest user experiences aren't created by
accident. UX designers and researchers
employ an iterative method, which involves
testing different sections and versions of the
product and making adjustments along the
way until you have a meaningful and usable
product that people like.
The UX process should ideally begin with
drawings,
followed
by
wireframes,
prototypes, and finally the finished product.
Between each step, you should perform
testing and obtain user feedback, repeating
and adjusting as appropriate.
So, here's what that UX approach looks like:
Sketches: Get your ideas down on
paper and work with your team
(and, ideally, future consumers) to
define product and user needs.
Wireframes: Develop a skeleton of
how an interface would appear
without adding actual information or
design features; test with users for
high-level feedback if possible.
Prototypes: Combine interactive
and higher-fidelity (i.e. more
realistic) wireframes with some
graphic design; ideally, test with
users to evaluate user flows.
Final product: Construct a
completely designed and working
product; test with users to make any
necessary changes.
Prototypes are typically used to refer
to models of actual objects or
machinery. These prototypes are
low-cost replicas of a design that
engineers use to see how the real
item works.
While many UX initiatives are
digital, digital prototypes are
essentially the same as physical
prototypes in that they are low-cost
mockups for testing ideas.
Prototyping is an iterative process in which
design teams turn abstract concepts into
concrete forms, ranging from paper to digital.
To capture design ideas and test them on
people, teams create prototypes of varied
degrees of detail. You may modify and
confirm your ideas using prototypes so that
your company can release the proper items.
Prototyping for Amazing Reasons
The fourth step of both design thinking and
design sprints is prototyping. It's an important
aspect of user experience (UX) design that
generally occurs after ideation, when you and
your team have come up with and chosen
solutions to users' problems. Prototyping is
the process of creating a basic trial model of
your proposed product so that you can see
how well it fits what people desire based on
their input. Prototyping should be considered
early on, if possible using paper prototyping,
so that user input may be used to steer
development.
Prototyping has the following advantages:
1. Establish a strong foundation on
which to build changes, by
providing all stakeholders with a
clear image of the possible
advantages, risks, and costs
connected with where a prototype
may go.
2. Can adapt changes early, avoiding
commitment to a particular,
erroneously ideal version, becoming
caught on local UX maxima, and
subsequently
incurring
high
expenses owing to oversights.
3. Display the prototype to your users
so that they may provide feedback
on which elements/variants function
best and if a redesign is necessary.
4. Have
a
mechanism
for
experimenting with related portions
of the users' demands and problems
—thus, you may get insight into
less-obvious
aspects
of
the
customers' reality
5. Give all interested stakeholders a
feeling of ownership, creating
emotional engagement in the
product's eventual success.
6. Reduce time-to-market by reducing
the amount of faults that must be
corrected prior to product release.
How do you create a user experience
prototype?
You've conducted user interviews, drawn a
few different concepts to suit user needs, and
perhaps even converted those drawings into
wireframes, just like a good UXer. It's time to
get a UX prototype into the hands of your
team and users while you go all-in on a final
design.
There are a lot of ways to make prototypes,
but here are the more common ones:
1. Prototypes on paper
Paper prototypes are sometimes all you need.
Although they are low-fidelity, they may
nonetheless provide useful feedback on user
flows.
Sketch or print out pictures of screens on
different sheets of paper to produce a paper
prototype, then switch out sheets as the user
makes a selection on the paper interface.
Dropdowns and modal windows look
amazing on index cards. There's no need for
any software or coding - All you have is a
stack of (extremely well-organized) sheets of
paper.
When testing resembles arts and crafts,
participants frequently like it. Be inventive! It
gets the conversation started, and you can get
a general idea of what works (and what
doesn't) in the interface before you start
implementing anything.
2. Prototyping
interfaces
tools
for
user
If you would like to test an onscreen
experience, click-through prototypes are a
good option. Click-through prototypes are
time-consuming to create, but they provide a
more accurate depiction of the product than a
paper counterpart. On a computer or a mobile
device, users may engage with the prototype
organically. It's entirely up to you how
detailed you want your design to be.
InVison, UXPin, ProtoPie, Proto.io, and
JustInMind are some of the prototyping tools
accessible. You may use these tools to build
or import page mockups. You link pages and
components by defining clickable places such
as menus and buttons, as well as what occurs
when they are clicked - a new page? A
alternative state for the button? Is that a
modal window? After then, a user may
explore the UI while maintaining the
appearance of usefulness.
Why is it important to test designs
when they are still in the prototype
stage?
It all boils down to one clear concept:
prototypes help you avoid risk. Prototypes
allow you to rapidly test a product's
experience. Early on, it's critical to nail out
the user flow, although testing final content
and graphic design aspects may wait.
The goal of prototyping is to ensure that time
and money are spent on the RIGHT product.
Making design modifications is very simple
and quick when testing a prototype. Rather
than completing all of your UX testing when
a product is almost complete, it will save you
time, money, and aggravation in the long run.
Or, even worse, not doing any UX testing at
all.
To get the most from your prototype testing,
remind participants that the prototype is more
like a blueprint than a final product.
Encourage them to look beyond any rough
edges or missing or incomplete details.
UX testing should be done often throughout
the design process, from concepts to the
finished product. However, testing at the
prototype stage is just as vital as testing a
finished website or app. Only a few users'
feedback can tell you if you're on the correct
road or whether your concepts and user flows
need to be tweaked. All of this must be
accomplished before it is too late.
Wireframes in UX Design
Wireframing is a method of building
Wireframes to design an online service at the
structural level. In basic terms, a wireframe is
a two-dimensional depiction of a page's
interface that focuses on content space
allocation and priority, as well as existing
features and planned actions.
Also, it's a page or screen layout that shows
what components will be present on that page
or screen; think of it as a skeleton foundation
for a website. You may have noticed no
color, style, or graphics in the above picture.
Because the major emphasis is on
understanding functions, positioning of
essential parts, and how the user will interact
with them, they are devoid of any colors or
visual aspects.
What are the benefits of wireframes?
Wireframing is beneficial simply
because it saves time. Because
wireframes are utilized early in the
design process, it is much simpler to
make adjustments or incorporate
input during the wireframing stage
than making changes in a final
prototype with many visual
components.
We can use wireframes to sketch out
the functioning of the pages, detect
errors early, and save time for
modifications later.
Usability
is
prioritized
in
wireframes. Designers often assess a
design's usability at various stages
of development, from wireframes
through prototypes to the final
delivery.
Just as you wouldn't build a house
without a blueprint, a wireframe is
like a blueprint in the design process
that should not be skipped.
When we get caught up in the
design process, it's easy to lose sight
of the end user's usability and
usefulness. Only the structure
required for the optimal user
experience will be our emphasis.
Wireframing is where you should
start if efficiency is a goal of yours,
which it most certainly is.
Wireframes come in a variety of shapes
and sizes:
There are two main types of wireframes:
Lo-Fi Wireframes or Low-Fidelity
Wireframes
High-fidelity Hi-Fi wireframes are a
type of wireframe.
Low-Fidelity Wireframes are typically static,
crude paper drawings that feature the most
basic text and aesthetics (not interactive).
On the other hand, high-fidelity wireframes
are very comprehensive and include
information
that
their
low-fidelity
counterparts lack. In comparison to HighFidelity, which takes significantly longer, Lofi is fast and simple to produce.
When should you use wireframes?
Wireframes are useful after the discovery
phase when you've gathered enough
information about the user's goals and
motivations. You must also comprehend the
structure of your website, which can be
accomplished by creating a sitemap.
On the other hand, low-fidelity wireframes
can help you explore other possible or
different functionalities options during the
discovery process. For wireframes, there is no
hard and fast rule or set sequence.
What is the best way to make
wireframes?
Do I need to spend a lot of money on
wireframe software or tools? No! Pen and
paper wireframes, believe me, are highly
effective in most circumstances. They're as
fast as digital wireframes and just as
effective. Rough drawings might help you
express ideas and grasp the flow/structure.
You may produce digital wireframes and
rough drawings and paper wireframes if
you're attempting to select which form of
wireframing tool to utilize. Several
wireframing tools and applications are
available that make wireframing rapid and
straightforward. The following are some of
the tools available on the market:
Balsamiq
Invison
MarvelApp
Axure
CHAPTER THREE
Basic visual design principles
in UI Design
The goal of user interface (UI) design is to
create user-interactive interfaces. Designers
use the method to create device interfaces
with a nice appearance and style. UI
designers strive to create user interfaces that
are simple and enjoyable to use.
How can you accomplish that aim
while still creating attractive and
functional interfaces
According to digital marketing consultancy
businesses, user experience (UX) is a critical
component of every marketing campaign.
These organizations are well-versed in
exploiting the potential of digital strategy
services and can develop and challenge your
ideas.
The first step is to put users in the
driver's seat: They could claim
they prefer a manual gearbox, just as
they do in the automobile business,
yet automated vehicles sell more.
It's straightforward. It's typically
best to stick to the fundamental
interface design concepts.
Don't make things difficult for
yourself: Have you ever noticed a
similar theme running across all of
history's biggest musical hits? They
all have one thing in common: they
are simple. But there's more to it
than you would believe. The same
four chords (C–G–Am–F) are used
in
almost
every
timeless
masterpiece.
It's the same as writing a worldwide
hit for UI design. Contrary to
popular belief, complexity does not
imply quality.
Users have a strong preference for
simplicity: They are most at ease
when they can utilize your product
or explore your website with ease.
The user interface should be
straightforward, attractive, and
simple to comprehend: A good
user interface gives people a sense
of where they are, where they've
been, and what actions they should
take
next.
This
may
be
accomplished by using conspicuous
visual signals (such as highlights)
that assist users in anticipating the
outcome of whatever action they
perform.
Maintain Consistency: A decent
user interface design must be
consistent. Usability and learnability
are the most important aspects of
consistency. To put it another way,
if users can "transfer" their
knowledge and abilities from one
side of a UI to the other, you've
created a consistent UI. Consistent
navigation assists consumers in
quickly and effectively locating
required information and shortening
the learning curve while learning
new product/website capabilities.
(NB: Friction is reduced via
consistent design. On the other
hand, inconsistency may lead to
user confusion and a negative user
experience).
Consistency in appearance
Use the same colors, fonts, and icons across
the product/website unless it's a conscious
design decision. You must not modify your
aesthetic style for no apparent reason. Every
landing page, for example, should have the
same subscribe button (CTA).
Consistency in Function
Throughout the interface, every piece should
act and function similarly. Users don't want
or anticipate any surprises in interface
behavior in the middle of navigation. They're
labeled as broken when things don't operate
the way they're supposed to.
Have a Recognizable User Interface
Aside from simplicity, the ordinary user
enjoys familiarity. After all, why alter
something that is working? Without the aid of
an instruction manual, a consistent UI design
is simple to comprehend.
When your consumers connect with your
product/website, the ideal practice appeals to
their prior experiences. This is accomplished
by using well-known themes, design
components, and phrasing.
It's usually a good idea to one-up your
competition by replicating their finest
practices and improving where they fall short.
Remember that your app/website is brand
fresh, thus consumers will appreciate seeing
familiar aspects. While creativity is usually a
virtue, overcompensation may quickly turn a
smooth voyage into a treacherous slope.
Finally, you should never alter the flow of
items like:
CTAs (calls to action) (CTAs)
Clickable Icons
Menu of options
The payment procedure
Color codes that are often used
(Graphic design 101: green for a
positive outcome, red for errors,
etc.)
Make use of a strong visual hierarchy
Visual hierarchy is the essential concept of
UI design. Your interface will be crowded
and untidy without it. What does it mean to
have a visual hierarchy?
The screen is the grouping of things in order
of their importance or volume. Some aspects
have a greater visual impact and are more
easily seen by consumers. The visual
components on the screen must be presented
in a clear viewing sequence.
Place a strong visual emphasis on main
data
The most important information should be
highlighted and placed in the focal areas in
the center. It's a well-known truth that
consumers don't always read the information
completely. They scan it instead. The use of
larger, bold fonts and bright colors should
capture the visitor's attention at first look.
Secondary information should always be
treated as such. It supports main information
and, as a result, should aesthetically
complement it.
The title of this blog, for example, needs
much more attention than the material you're
reading at the same time. As a result, the
headline receives the greatest attention since
it contains the most important information.
Subheaders supplement it, but body content is
considered tertiary information and is left
alone.
The following are the four essential aspects
of visual hierarchy:
Size
Color
Contrast
Empty space
Streamline Actions/Steps:
The most important activities on a page
should be evident, and actions should be
completed in as few steps as feasible. The 3click rule should be followed while
minimizing user effort. You may be
wondering what the 3-click rule is.
In a nutshell, if visitors can't discover what
they're searching for in three clicks or less,
they'll become frustrated and abandon your
site/app. Users want to put forth the least
amount of work feasible. Many UI design
components help to lessen the cognitive strain
on the user.
The normal user consumes information in bits
and pieces; it's best to break it down into
chunks and remove anything that slows down
the user's trip. Cut through the clutter that
extraneous information might produce when
it clashes with the important parts you wish to
highlight.
Streamline the user interface such that all the
information on the screen seems to be
meaningful and relevant. Each screen should
have a single major focus and/or function.
Keep the main activity in the front and
everything else in the background, or give
them milder visual hints.
Enhance Productivity
Ascertain that the ordinary user can finish
their primary job in the most expedient
manner possible while never losing sight of
their progress. Task analysis is the most
effective approach to do this. Put yourself in
the shoes of the users. Try to mimic the user's
processes, comprehend his objectives, and
streamline the procedure as much as possible.
Calculate how much work is necessary to
perform the assignment. How many clicks,
forms, and screens does it take a user to get to
the desired result?
The User Should Be the Center of
Attention
User-centered design aims to create goods
and websites that appeal to your target
audience. As a result, designers should do indepth
user
research
to
determine
demographics, requirements, desires, and
activity patterns.
To fully cater to your consumers, you must
first identify and comprehend who they are.
You must know what people want and what
they believe they want. The best method is to
speak with them personally. Since we all
know it's a stretch, you can always employ
A/B testing, polls, or any other approach that
gathers direct user feedback.
People have distinct expectations when it
comes to the programs and websites they use.
It's a strike one if you design your product in
a manner that goes against consumer
expectations. It makes no difference whether
you think you've made a legitimate
improvement.
The unspoken rule is that you must adhere to
the platform norms. Don't attempt to innovate
patterns or design standards, and don't try to
modify standard terminology. (NB: Always
keep in mind that people come first, and
design comes second).
User Reaction
When a user takes any action, the UI should
react appropriately. The reaction time should
be minimal. Never make your user wait since
this generates dissatisfaction and contributes
to a high bounce rate.
If a lengthier delay is essential, utilize the
progress bar to let your users know how long
it will take. If they must fill out a lengthy,
multi-page form, keep them updated on their
progress and how many stages remain.
Effective user input instills in users a sense of
control over the process. A distinct
beginning, middle, and end should be present
in all actions. Providing timely and
appropriate feedback is one of the simplest
ways to express this to the consumer.
You have the option of using both visual and
audible feedback. Although aural feedback is
inconvenient and makes consumers uneasy, it
effectively alerts them to possible issues.
However, it's a good idea to give them the
option to turn off the audio.
You may take this strategy further by
applying customization to a larger region and
introducing
more
human-friendly
alternatives. It's a riskier approach, but you
can let customers adjust the color of certain
graphic design components to suit their
preferences.
Error-Proofing Engineer
Because mistakes are an inherent aspect of
the user experience, you'll need to understand
how to deal with them and turn them into
benefits. Your user will be enraged by error
messages that lack context and/or a remedy.
A well-crafted error message may transform
aggravation into conversion by pointing in
the proper direction.
Make it flexible and adaptable
Create a user interface that works and looks
beautiful on various platforms and devices. A
responsive UI design is essential for longterm viability for a product's or website.
Giving your consumers a flexible system
implies giving them more control over what
they're doing, which improves overall user
experience.
Definition of Design thinking
Design thinking is a method for addressing
problems creatively. Human-centered design
thinking is at the heart of design thinking. It
pushes businesses to concentrate on the
people they are producing, resulting in
improved goods, services, and internal
procedures. While developing a solution for a
business requirement, the first thing you
should ask yourself is, "What is the human
need underlying it?"
When you use design thinking, you're
combining what's desired from a human
standpoint with what's technologically and
economically practical. It also enables people
who aren't designers to utilize creative
techniques to solve a wide variety of
problems. Taking action and asking the
correct questions are the first steps in the
process. It's all about adopting basic attitude
modifications and approaching things
differently.
Design Thinking Phases
The stages of design thinking are taught as
linear processes; however, the process is not
necessarily linear in reality. Some of these
processes may occur many times, with you
jumping back and forth between them. You
may go from a blank slate to a fresh, unique
solution by moving through the stages of
design thinking.
Formulate a Motivating Query—
Determine a compelling question
that motivates others to seek
innovative answers.
Gather Inspiration—Discover
what people actually need to spark
fresh ideas.
Generate Ideas—Push beyond
apparent answers in search of gamechanging concepts.
Make Ideas Visible—Create basic
prototypes to discover how to
improve your ideas.
Test to Learn—Ideas may be finetuned by collecting feedback and
moving ahead with experiments.
Tell the Tale—Create a human
story that will motivate people to
take action.
When done correctly, design thinking will
assist you in understanding the mindsets and
needs of the people you're creating for,
surfacing opportunities based on these needs,
and leading you to innovative new solutions,
beginning
with
quick,
low-fidelity
experiments that provide learning gradually
increase.
Advantages of creativity
The process of producing something new that
has never been seen before is known as
creativity. This isn't only about marvels of art
or architecture. However, this notion has a
considerably larger scope. A UX designer's
job necessitates the greatest degree of
creative processing, and they intentionally
train their creative thinking. They can't wait
for ideas to come to them at breakfast or in
the shower because they need them every day
to keep on track. A customer cannot be
charged for "creative thinking" by a UX
designer.
Consider the following example of creative
thinking:
Let's say two shoe salesman travel to an
island to offer their wares. After a salesperson
arrived on the island, he became so enraged
that everyone went barefoot. He was
depressed, and there was no shoe to help him.
He couldn't possibly sell shoes. On this
island, it is not customary to wear shoes.
Send a telegraph back right away, call back
right away, and don't ship the shoes; there is
no market on this island, no one wears shoes,
and this is the first salesperson.
The second salesperson arrived, and he was
overjoyed to the point of passing out. It's
fantastic. The shoe market on this island is
much too large. Shoes aren't worn by
everyone. It's great even if just one person
wears a pair of shoes. How many pairs of
shoes are you planning on selling? Send a
telegraph straight away, and have the shoes
air-shipped. Please air-ship the shoes as soon
as possible. The same issue, conventional and
innovative thinking, distinct perspectives, and
different results.
There are five levels of creativity and they
include the following:
We've previously covered the concept of
creativity, so let's talk about the amount of
originality in UX design.
1. Duplicating
There are often conflicts amongst creatives at
the first level. Some people feel that copy has
no bearing on creativity. Supposedly, to
produce one-of-a-kind items based on the
existing impossibility. It will be a duplicate of
the original from a distance. There are some
good concepts in this technique, but they
aren't straightforward. Design Copy is the
lowest degree of originality, and it is ideal for
use in teaching. It is more suited to designers
than for-profit businesses.
Borrowing successful ideas may be
competitors, but only if they are used to
produce something new. When utilized for
training or comprehension of the procedure,
the copy is not awful. It's not worth it to use
the work's outcome for commercial reasons.
(NB: Saving time and resources will have a
detrimental impact—the target audience, as
well as its rivals).
2. Modification and copying
The next step in the creative process is
copying and modifying. There was a phone
with a single function, but it seemed to be a
smartphone with entertainment material. You
can make calls with it, but it also has a lot of
other functions.
This method provides the bare minimum of
protection against negative consequences. We
take a pre-made concept and tweak it to make
it our own, resulting in a one-of-a-kind
product. The crumpet, a cross between a
doughnut and a croissant, became popular a
few years ago. The new product combines the
greatest features of two "parents" while
remaining distinctive.
The product of the second phase of creativity,
which is ready for commercial usage but is
better suited to situational trials. When
understanding the response of the target
audience is required for innovative UX.
3. Reproduction, modification, and
enhancement
The intricacy rises even higher at the third
level. Only the "skeleton" of the original
concept remains, while the UX designer
builds "muscle" and shapes the "body." Each
solution must be considered in terms of
manufacturing and utility. Many of the digital
items we use every day were developed at
this level. Companies looked at their rivals'
actions, looked for defects, and came up with
improved suggestions.
4. Establishing a trend
It's tough to start a trend in UX design. The
concept should be so brilliant that it inspires
other members of the digital world to
participate. The most difficult task is
establishing a long-term trend that will
continue to be relevant for many years. As an
example, consider the design of brutalism. He
has no defined bounds, yet distinguishing
characteristics set him apart from the
hundreds of other types.
The trend's developer must negotiate the
internet world and keep a careful eye on the
community's behavior. The community
suggested some ideas - one designer tried
something new, others praised his approach,
and he grew in popularity over time.
The Science of Creativity in the
Brain
One of the most challenging aspects of
human consciousness to investigate is the
brain's creative activity. It's often assumed
that logical reasoning comes from the left
hemisphere, whereas vivid imagery comes
from the right.
When a UX designer attempts to build
anything new, they must consider the
following factors:
Attention network for executives:
When you're attempting to figure
out how to build a form in an
application, for example, you're in
charge of molding the work.
Web of imagination It activates soon
once the assignment is assigned and
provides a number of options.
The significance of the web. An
unconscious "controller" assesses
the value of the Imagination
Network's thoughts and chooses
which ones to communicate to your
awareness.
Advantages of intuition
Intuition is a new design philosophy that
takes into account how your visitors deem
your site in order to make the most of the
information you provide.
The information that we provide on our
websites is critical. Assume you laid out your
pages in an unorganized, disorderly, or
disorganized fashion. Your visitors will lose
interest and become frustrated if they seem
unable to find an answer for in this case.
It's the method by which people engage with
your website, according to experts in the
field. Experts define intuitive design as the
placement of elements in the most natural
way for users to locate them.
When you interact with a website, you don't
have to type in words to find what you're
looking for. Recognizing where and when to
place certain elements on your page so that
users can find what they're looking for more
easily is intuitive website design.
According to some experts, users are more
likely to remember sites with the most
intuitive designs.
They accomplish this by consorting the site
with the most natural element. When you go
to the movies, for example, you probably
don't think about the architecture of the
building. You enjoy the movie while looking
at the faces on the screen. A user's experience
with an app is very equivalent to this.
Understanding human psychology, according
to many designers, is the key to designing an
excellent intuitive app. Web designers,
according to experts, need to know what their
target audience wants to accomplish on the
site.
This will enable the designer to create an app
that is especially targeted at that audience.
For instance, you wouldn't want to create a
dating website or a social network if your
target demographic is bad.
Experts think that what individuals do on the
Internet is influenced by their psyche. Some
individuals utilize mental models, or they use
phrases that cause mental models to be
triggered.
What Is the Importance of Intuitive
Design?
Here is the importance:
You'll acquire and keep users with
intuitive design. According to
studies, initial impressions are
established in a couple of seconds
and tend to remain unaltered. A
person that comes to your site and
immediately leaves is of little
service to you. The initial few
seconds matter a lot.
Users are more likely to fulfill their
objectives if a website is simple to
use and entertaining. If you can
match their expectations, users will
begin to create a habit of use – and
repeat visits are far more lucrative.
Users are more likely to remain on
your website if it has a clean and
attractive design.
A more engaging experience is
ensured through intuitive design.
Users are more likely to fulfill their
objectives if a website is simple to
use and entertaining. If you can
match their expectations, users will
begin to create a habit of use – and
repeat visits are far more lucrative.
What are the advantages and
disadvantages of intuitive design?
In most cases, intuitive design works. Yes, it
works, and if it doesn't, we iterate and come
up with a new intuitive design. This is a
never-ending loop that will not terminate at
any point in the future.
However, intuitive design is an experiment,
and faulty experiments may result in losses.
A design that is backed by research and data
is a better approach to end the created
element since the designer will be aware of
the choice and its implications.
Every business is not fortunate enough just to
invest in the resources and personnel needed
to do research or acquire data, so they end up
creating designs based on intuition and
conversations and referring to them as
stakeholder reviews and senior input, which
makes the design subjective.
As designers, we should restrict our creativity
and drive ourselves to do specific low-cost,
high-impact workouts such,
Acquire the ability to test a concept.
Learn how to make wireframes that
are simple to test.
Talk to individuals about your
product in informal settings and take
notes on what they think.
Request that others outside of your
office test the product you're
developing.
Keep a keen eye on everything.
What Are the Benefits of Using UserFriendly Software?
If software is intuitive, we should be able to
get started using it straight away when we
first open it.
Such programs and software tools should be
simple to comprehend, utilize, and update, so
that we like using them rather than becoming
annoyed after a time.
If the program accomplishes what we want it
to do without much difficulty on our side,
we'll have greater faith in it. All of this comes
with the added advantage of increased job
productivity.
Furthermore, we will be less bothered by
occasional failures and problems than we
would be by a product that annoys us from
the outset.
What Characterizes User-Friendly
Software?
Here are the factors that contribute to
intuitive software in order to identify it:
Installation Procedural Ease
This is how a program makes its first
impression on you. It should be simple to set
up and maintain, as well as to update in the
future.
It's usually not a good sign if the installation
process
is
annoying
or
extremely
complicated.
Simple to comprehend
The software should conform to your
expectations and conventions regarding how
an application works and responds to your
actions.
Can you tell what all the icons mean when
you first open the software? Is it acting in a
predictable manner?
If that isn't the case, you can expect to spend
the first few hours trying to figure out how to
get the tool to do what you want it to do.
The Growth of the User Interface
The earliest software that had been built was
the antithesis of intuitive, requiring command
lines to communicate. It could scarcely be
utilized if you didn't know at least the
fundamentals of coding yourself.
Computers only had their success, when
visual user interfaces enabled the common
person to utilize them. It was that time that
Apple built a GUI, including icons and
several windows to operate with.
That's why the Macintosh was the most
popular PC at the time, thanks to its never
before seen accessibility for customers
without professional technical knowledge.
You could say that software has undergone
an evolutionary process that has weeded out
user-unfriendly features. Users will leave
programs that are inconvenient to use sooner
or later since you can't operate productively
with them.
In the Future, How Will Intuitive Design
Affect Productivity?
Voice-driven interfaces seem to be the next
big thing in interface design right now, and
the major development firms have been
working on them for a while.
Imagine being able to communicate with your
computer in the same way Michael Knight
did with KITT — how wonderful would that
be?
The ability to manage your automobile with
your voice will undoubtedly enhance traffic
safety, and technologies for controlling
various features of your car with your voice
currently exist and are being developed.
There are other technologies, such as
Amazon Echo, that allow you to operate your
smart home in a similar way.
When the technology is ready to be employed
in the workplace, it could save a huge amount
of time by removing the need to type on a
keyboard, for example.
CHAPTER FOUR
Common tools for UI Designs
Getting to know industry tools is a big part of
the learning curve when you're just starting
out as a UI designer. Various tools and
platforms will be required along the process
to meet your objectives, whether it's
communicating effectively with your team or
producing animations.
Before we go into the UI toolkit, let's look at
what UI designers do.
UI design is all about user interaction with an
interface: how do they go from one screen to
the next? What kinds of visual cues do they
get?
The UI designer is in charge of all of this:
they take the blueprint from the UX designer
and transform it into something visible and
engaging. In terms of day-to-day labor, this
includes everything from button design to
color and font selection to prototyping and
usability testing.
You'll need to be acquainted with the tools of
the trade if you're going into UI design.
You'll figure out which ones work best for
you over time, but to get you started, we've
compiled a list of some of the most popular in
the business.
Here they are:
InVision
InVision is a popular web-based prototype
tool among UX and UI designers. You may
easily transform static design files into highfidelity, interactive prototypes by uploading
them. It's also fantastic for collaboration since
clients, and other team members may
comment directly on your designs, and you
can use Boards to discuss your ideas with the
rest of the team.
They're continually introducing new features,
like this Craft Prototype for smooth SketchInVision integration, and it's completely free
to join up. This is one of the industry's most
well-known tools; thus it's highly worth
utilizing.
Zeplin
It's critical for you to be able to convey your
concepts to the development team as a UI
designer, and Zeplin was created to help you
do just that. All you have to do is submit your
drawings, and Zeplin will develop
specifications and recommendations for you.
It lowers the time and effort required to
transform your ideas by providing platformspecific code snippets for frontend
developers. You can also combine Zeplin
with
Slack
channels
for
smoother
collaboration and provide notes for
developers straight into the platform.
Balsamic vinegar
Balsamiq is a well-liked tool in the design
business for speedy wireframing. It bills itself
as the ideal "in-between" solution for
designers, product managers, and developers
and is available as a desktop or cloud
software. The User Interface library is maybe
one of the most useful aspects for UI
designers—you can pick from various UI
components and just drag and drop them into
the wireframe. Before giving your prototype
to the developers, you may print it out or do
usability testing online.
Sketch
Sketch is the digital design software that any
UI pro needs. Because this is a vector-based
tool, you can simply scale anything you
design without losing its crispness. Sketch is
more than just a drawing program; it can also
be used for wireframing and prototyping.
You pay once for the app and can use it for as
long as you want, but you must renew your
license every year to receive updates.
Figma
Figma is the world's first in-browser interface
design tool. Figma is a one-stop-shop for
designing, prototyping, and gathering
feedback, with powerful editing tools and a
slew of useful features. The limitations
function, which adjusts your designs as the
screen size changes, is very useful for UI
designers. Thanks to the components
functionality, it's also very simple to reuse
elements throughout your projects.
Flinto
Flinto is a Mac-only interactive prototyping
tool that includes almost everything you'll
need to bring your ideas to life. Create
microinteractions and screen transitions, add
video layers by dragging video or GIF files
directly into your designs, add UI sound
effects, and customize scrolling—the list goes
on and on. You may also import files from
Sketch and, lastly, use the free iOS viewer to
see how your designs appear.
XD (Adobe)
Adobe XD is a vector-based tool for creating
and developing web, mobile, and even voice
user experiences. If you're already acquainted
with the Adobe Creative Cloud suite, Adobe
XD will feel right at home—a very adaptable
tool that allows you to design, prototype,
share, collaborate, and create a full design
system. XD is available as a desktop
application for Windows 10 and macOS and
a mobile app for Android and iOS.
Using Balsamiq Wireframes
How to Create Desktop Wireframes in
Balsamiq
If you want to use the Balsamiq desktop, you
must first download the application onto your
computer. On the official Balsamiq website,
you can find a link to that application. After
you've downloaded Balsamiq for desktop,
you can easily design each of your Balsamiq
mockups for desktop using a simple pattern.
It entails creating a Balsamiq desktop account
and then deciding on your role and purpose in
creating those designs. Then, as the initial
screen of your first design project, you may
pick the screen for which you are building an
interface.
More screens may be added to the same
project at any time. You may have complete
design flexibility with the aid of Balsamiq for
desktop. (NB: It allows you to add various
widgets to the desktop screen you're working
on).
Everything from the fonts and colors to the
sizes of the widgets you're using may be
changed. A key component is to ensure that
the user experience is consistent across the
interface. (NB: For instance, make that the
sizes of the OK and CANCEL buttons are
the same).
Any panel that gives the user a variety of
alternatives should keep the button sizes
consistent. Similarly, the color palette should
be consistent, and everything should be
correctly aligned before completing the
design. All of this is possible with the aid of
Balsamiq wireframes.
The key to establishing flawless UX design
that satisfies consumers demand to create
feasible low-fidelity prototypes. You must
show specific programs with screens that
exude neatness, coolness, and calmness.
Note: In others, you must select something
that makes you happy and excited.
CHAPTER FIVE
How to create Wireframes
with Axure
Axure wireframing is a concept in which you
use the Axure software to create the best
wireframe possible for your project. The
nicest thing about Axure wireframing is that
it is very secure and does not damage your
data in any way. It is recognized as one of the
most effective tools available.
The motto "grow with the project" has piqued
the interest of both engineers and UI & UX
designers. The tool not only allows you to
build wireframes but also allows you to
construct ready-to-use prototypes. (NB: This
software has elevated wireframing to a new
level).
How to Use Axure RP to Create
Wireframes
The method of creating wireframes in Axure
is much too simple. Before we go any further,
it's important to understand why this tool is
utilized for wireframing. In this regard, the
procedure outlined below is self-explanatory.
1. Get the Axure Wireframe Tool
from the Axure website
Install the software after downloading it. To
go to the main interface, open it:
2. Create a New Project
To continue, click on the new file to open the
second screen: (NB: A library pane is used to
ensure that the majority of the controls are
utilized to build the wireframe).
3. Begin
creating
your
Axure
wireframe
The design area is where the
program's true strength lies. (NB: It
may be used to design the user
interface and user experience).
To make the pane horizontal, drag
the horizontal control.
The inspector pane determines what
should be done with a prototype in a
certain state:
Using Grids and Guides to align or
regulate position.
To access a grid's properties, rightclick or double-click it.
Access the guidelines relevant to the
project from the context menu.
Pros
It is widely regarded as the
industry's fastest wireframe tool.
It allows business owners, UI
professionals, designers, developers,
and design agencies to access UI
design.
Cons
Because it can only be used to create
low-fidelity wireframes, it's not
suitable for major projects.
The wireframe creation possibilities
are very limited, and the application
cannot be utilized to its full
potential.
Tips to achieve a good user interface
and experience
Here are the tips and tricks to achieve a god
user interface and experience:
1. Simply keep up to standards
While it's great to think outside the box in
certain situations, it's better to stick to the
rules in others. After all, they're there to fit
consumers' expectations and wants in the case
of user experience – UX design.
As a result, you must keep up with the latest
trends and adapt as best you can. That is
critical for success in any field, but
particularly in one that closely follows users'
requirements - the lifeblood of your
company.
2. Identify and comprehend your
target market (users)
It's critical to put your audience first, no
matter what you're doing or designing. The
most spectacular digital goods are those that
meet and exceed the expectations and
aspirations of your users/customers. User
research is a method used in UX design that
assists us in creating a successful, highquality user experience.
So, what exactly does a user researcher do?
UX research for a new product is a process
that lasts throughout the design phase and
provides designers with a thorough
understanding of the product's target
audience.
Interviews for qualitative research and A/B
testing for quantitative research are two
examples of approaches that may be applied.
In any case, we consider both cold numerical
data and real-world answers from target
customers. That way, we can better
understand user behavior, expectations, and
pain areas and do our best to provide them
with the greatest possible UX.
3. Make it simple to find and utilize
We must first make the product as practical
as feasible before developing the aesthetic
appeal (UI). After all, would you spend your
time painting and polishing your car before
ensuring that it runs properly? Would you
want to spend time with someone stunningly
gorgeous but has a demeanor that leaves a lot
to be desired? Obviously not.
Aesthetics are important, but they come later.
The most important aspect of a successful
user experience is to make it as accessible as
possible to everyone. Some individuals, for
example, have visual or cognitive limitations.
You want to make sure customers don't lose
out on your digital goods as a result.
4. An information architecture that
is well-organized
Without mentioning information architecture,
we wouldn't discuss excellent user
experience. It's an important part of a UX
designer's work since it may make or break a
user's experience with a digital product.
The organization of material on a website or
app is referred to as information architecture.
It should be as straightforward as possible.
Users are more likely to get dissatisfied and
abandon the site/app without returning if the
navigation is difficult, unclear, and long. So,
in addition to having it accessible and simple
to use, maintain your product nicely
organized. This will allow for faster
information receiving and processing, as well
as more satisfied users.
5. Ongoing user testing
User testing is an essential component of a
positive user experience. All of your efforts
in user research and the design process will
be for nothing if you treat the project as a
"one-and-done" activity and never look
back after it is completed.
While various types of testing can (and
should) be done at almost any stage of the
process, we're focusing on consistent
evaluation after the design has been
implemented. You may wonder why user
testing is so crucial. It enables for early
identification and eradication of possible
problems, as well as the development of
improvements. As a result, you keep users at
the forefront of your mind at all times,
contributing to your digital success.
6. Consistency in user interface
In every design-related field, consistency is
essential. The primary goal of UI/UX design
is to meet the user's demands.
The major goal is to make the user's trip
through the interface as straightforward as
possible. A consistent design, both
aesthetically and functionally, helps users get
more comfortable with the interface more
quickly and easily, resulting in a more
smooth interaction and good experience.
7. Effective color and typography
While UX is concerned with the user's
experience, UI is concerned with the visual
appeal. This implies that a good UI designer
spends a lot of time and effort meticulously
crafting each and every part of the interface.
Colors and typography are two of the most
important aspects of an interface. Typography
in UI design relates to the whole visual look
of text on an interface, including font size,
width & style, line length, and so on.
Because so much information on the internet
is in text format, it's easy to understand why
typography is important. The way you utilize
color and design typography all works
together to give your digital product a certain
message and feel. The idea is to make it
rational and easy to understand while also
ensuring that it matches your brand.
On every interface, you should use no more
than two distinct typefaces and no more than
three different colors, according to best
practices (main color, i.e. usually the brand
color; complementary color; potential third
color).
8. Maintain a simplistic approach
that is easy to apply
When it comes to user interface design, less
is more. Again, it's OK to think outside the
box and be inventive, but don't go overboard.
A minimalistic approach to UI design has a
number
of
user-friendly
advantages,
including:
Simplicity and clarity
Easier processing of information in
the brain
More user-friendly design
It's a lot easier to navigate.
Besides, the problem with crowded user
interfaces isn't only the confusion and
annoyance they might generate. It's also a
question of implementation; the more
complicated the interface design, the more
difficult it will be for developers to
implement successfully. This costs you time,
money, and resources in the long run.
9. Make it adaptable
It may seem redundant to state this, but
customers will view your digital product on a
range of various devices. Make sure each
one's interface is as pleasing to look at and
use as the others. This is another area where
consistency reigns supreme. Users will value
a consistent experience across channels and
platforms, which will boost their happiness as
well as your authority and reputation.
CHAPTER SIX
Understanding what
Typography is
Typography may evoke a sensation, remind
you of a certain brand, or create a mood.
Consider the layout of your favorite magazine
when it comes to editorial typography.
Consider how various typefaces are utilized
in different applications on your phone.
When typography is awful, though, it may be
distracting and even illegible. Consider the
last time you were perplexed by sloppy
typography in an app, misled by ambiguous
signs, or tried to comprehend an
incomprehensible booklet or packed goods.
When you think about it, typography is the
foundation of all communication, whether it's
logos, commercial content, magazine and
newspaper headlines, or book chapter
headers.
Understanding typefaces, fonts, and
font selection
The appropriate typeface can quickly transmit
your message. However, a bad choice might
radically alter the intended message.
The sheer number of fonts available might be
overwhelming for most designers. Have you
ever browsed through DaFont's hundreds of
options? Rather than picking a different
typeface every time, the best designers know
how to analyze fonts and zero in on the best
option for each project.
You've undoubtedly wondered what the
difference between "typeface" and "font" is
if you're new to design. A typeface is a
planned collection of letters that together
make up a full set of type, while a font is a
digital file that users may use to write or
create with on their computer.
Some digital businesses use the terms
interchangeably, and products like Microsoft
Word enable users to choose a font and
customize its size and weight, thereby
blending the two meanings. However,
typefaces are created by typographers or type
designers, while fonts are variants within
typeface families.
A typeface is full of typefaces, much as an
album is full of music or images, according to
more conventional design or training. The
terminology
issues
are
sometimes
generational, and more recent entities, like
programming languages, use the word "font"
instead of "typeface." In many professional
settings, using font to refer to design typeface
is now acceptable, but it's crucial to
remember that print designers still use
typeface.
Since HTML utilizes "font face" to indicate a
family, followed by properties such as size
and color to be even more particular, web
designers have started to use the term font as
a replacement for typeface. CSS also uses the
terms "font family" and "size" and "weight"
as synonyms for typeface and size and weight
as properties. Super light, standard, medium,
semibold, bold, extra bold, and ultra black are
the different weight levels.
Most designers, whether working in print or
on the web, are aware of which fonts are
more prevalent and which have a little more
edge. They understand which options indicate
the same old, same old, and which indicate
that a print article or website will stand out,
deviate from the standard, and approach the
mind in a novel manner. The major reason for
selecting a font is for aesthetic reasons—
sometimes the type is simple to read, and
other times it is chosen for more of a design
purpose.
Furthermore, selecting an incorrect typeface
might have serious consequences. If you
choose a wide font with a low x-height, for
example, you may need to use a higher point
size. On a single page of type, this may not
seem like a significant concern, but consider
a 300-page book. The improper font may turn
it into a 500-page book, putting a strain on
funds and the final product.
Digital type has resulted in a font boom, and
excellent professional typography design
necessitates a set of standards that prioritize
the reader above creative flourishes. Gothic
style lettering, for example, may appeal to
gothic lovers, but it is unlikely to appeal to
others who are unfamiliar with the style.
Despite the abundance of alternatives, some
people believe that sticking to what has
always worked is the best option. Massimo
Vignelli stated in his book "The Vignelli
Canon" that a designer should only employ a
small number of classic fonts in order to
avoid contributing to the visual pollution he
saw was occurring in the design industry.
Bodoni, Futura, Times, and Helvetica, as well
as Garamond and Century Expanded, were
the sole fonts employed by Vignelli.
But, at the end of the day, it doesn't matter
whether you have 200 typefaces or six (as
Vignelli says!), what matters is how you
grasp and construct each specific brief and
graphic design job.
Obey the laws of typography
It's critical to master typographic rules in
order to grasp the fundamentals, since they
will guide you as you enhance your design.
Every designer should be aware of the
following five essential principles of
typographic design or any other sort of
graphic design:
1. A sense of balance that implies a
logical framework.
2. Organization and direction are
defined by a hierarchical structure.
3. Use contrast to draw attention to key
features.
4. Consistency and familiarity are
achieved by repetition.
5. Alignment to create an organized
and crisp picture
Layout, white space, and color are also
important parts of typographic fundamentals.
It's crucial to pay attention to the shapes
formed by the words and letters. Encourage
your mind to go beyond what a word "says"
and instead focus on how it "looks."
White space is a print and online design
technique for making text seem less cluttered
and more appealing to the eye. It's critical to
strike a comfortable equilibrium between the
text and visuals and the blank background's
empty space, often known as white space.
Color psychology is still being researched,
but designers are aware that a combination of
the visible spectrum's basic colors (red,
yellow, green, blue, and purple), as well as
mixes of these colors and "achromatic colors"
(white, gray, and black) all have different
effects when combined with text.
When it comes to typography in print, a large
majority of the time, black text on a white
background is used. According to studies, this
is the simplest presentation to read. White
letters on a black backdrop, on the other
hand, are popular, particularly in dramatic
presentations, but they may be difficult to
read in many circumstances, especially for
persons with any form of visual impairment.
(NB: Both white on black and black on
white work nicely with larger graphics like
interstate billboards and theater screens).
Road signs are another example of real-world
images that combine color and type to convey
fast and effectively while also representing
fundamental typographic conventions. Road
signs exist in a variety of sizes, forms, and
colors, but they're always meticulously
crafted to achieve a certain outcome. Yellow
with black lettering, for example, is a caution
sign, whereas orange with black letters is a
more severe warning sign.
The bright backgrounds of these posts,
especially for yellow-green school crossing
signs, may be seen from a long distance.
Signs using symbols, such as a one-way sign
with an arrow pointing in the direction of
traffic, are typically more effective than
words in communicating with drivers. Visual
representations
are
instantaneously
understood, while text takes take a few
seconds to comprehend.
These signs seem to be simple at first glance,
yet they all follow the guidelines stated
above. Engineers have done much research
on typographic design and what works best in
terms of boosting driver safety. In this
message, the size of the letters is quite
important. When federal highway authorities
standardized the signs, they took into
consideration the limits of human eyesight.
The same is true for signs intended for
handicapped persons who use wheelchairs,
since particular laws require that signs for
disabled people be simple to see and placed at
eye level.
There is a lot more latitude in web design,
and color and font combinations of all kinds
have been tried. When designing for the web,
contrast is the most important factor to
consider. To guarantee readability, choose
your color palette, select a decent color
contrast analyzer, examine the body test
contrast to make sure you can read it when it
goes live, and make sure buttons and links
show up properly. Having a style guide to
refer to, just like in print, is usually
beneficial.
To master typography, you must first study
the rules before deciding whether or not to
transgress them for creative reasons. Even if
you're new to graphic design and have never
considered the print world or typography,
knowing the fundamentals will provide you
with a foundation for determining whether to
go beyond standard design constraints and
when to stick to standard typography. The
importance of testing in the whole design
process cannot be overstated. The appearance
of typography at the desired print or digital
size may make or break a design.
So, whether you're studying typographic
design for your company, to become a
professional designer, or just to grasp the
science behind it, you need to realize that
various typefaces express or correlate with
different emotions. Consider some of the
most well-known logos you've seen
throughout your life. Many of them have two
things in common: simplicity and relevancy.
For the logo to be memorable and effective,
the typeface must match the company's
image.
The most successful typeface design meets
the expectations of the audience. Curvy
bright letters may be used at a fun amusement
park, whilst a serious financial institution
would most likely employ more classic font.
All the typographic elements covered here
contribute to the emotions and sentiments
associated with certain fonts.
When it comes to typesetting, it's important to
remember the fundamentals of typography.
Beyond the fundamentals, typesetting is an
essential part of understanding typography in
graphic design and something that all good
graphic designers should be able to do. It's
the skill of making a large volume of content
appealing and accessible to the target
audience.
'Good typography should go undetected,' as
the adage goes—in other words, your
audience should be able to enjoy reading your
material without being distracted by type that
lacks rhythm, continuity, and a basic sense of
readability.
Many considerations must be made when
typesetting content, including line length,
size, leading, and font for headings,
subheadings, and body material, as well as
footnotes and buttons. Typesetting selections
may also include the spacing between
characters, commonly known as tracking, the
height of letters, and other minor
characteristics.
Baseline, which aligns the bottoms of letters
in a straight line, x-height, which is the
imaginary line running between the tops of
lower case characters, and cap height, which
aligns the tops of capital letters, are all
important features to master at first. The
proportions of letters and ornamental
components in respect to each other are
defined by these three lines.
While type characteristics aid in the
placement of letters on a grid, type
categorization is primarily concerned with the
style and form of the characters and how they
are used in display or headline fonts by the
designer. The distinction between serif and
sans serif is a wonderful illustration of this. A
serif is a little embellishment to a letter, such
as a minor bend at the stroke's end. Consider
the capital letter "I" as an example.
A serif, as opposed to a simple vertical line,
is a thin perpendicular line that appears at
both the tops and bottoms of letters. "Sans
serif," which means the serifs have been
removed, giving the letters a more plain
appearance, is a more modern look.
The grid system, whether visible or invisible,
is used to line up letters so that they are
generally consistent with each other in all
types of typography design. Because the
results can be mixed or uneven without an
axis or reference line, keeping the type based
on a grid gives it a more stable look.
There are several factors that influence how
letters appear on a page for each line of text.
Both margins and letter spacing have an
impact on this appearance. In a typical
newspaper or magazine article, justified
margins indicate that the text is ordered in
such a way that it looks even on all sides of
the page, resulting in a square-shaped block
of text. These even margins are often used in
business reports, which many people identify
as having a high-end professional look.
Except for desktop or other bigger screen
apps, one of the most important typographic
principles for text line length is to keep it
between 40 and 55 characters. The eye does
not read individual words one at a time,
contrary to popular belief, but rather scans the
line, stopping briefly to examine groups of
three or four words. A line that is too lengthy
can fatigue the eye and make it difficult to
detect the start of the next line. Lines that are
overly short, on the other hand, cause
sentence structure to be disrupted. It also
necessitates the eye changing lines too often.
Designers can't go beyond this limit because
of responsive web design, which makes
things simple to read. When text spans the
whole screen, it may seem to be too thorough.
When there are less than 40 characters per
line, it seems weak and narrow, giving the
impression of "fluff content" when the
intention was to convey an instructive blog or
article.
A glossary of typographic terms
A thorough collection of core typographic
terminology may be found here.
Alignment: The process of aligning
letters to a reference point, such as a
margin.
Aperture: A white area at the end
of a counter that is open.
Apex: The point at which two
strokes are joined together at the
top.
Arm: When one end of a horizontal
stroke is not tied to a stem
Ascender: A lowercase letter's stem
that extends above the x-height.
Slanted backwards: Italics leaning
backwards
Ball Terminal: a letter extension in
the form of a ball.
Baseline: The imaginary line that a
text line sits on.
Bold: A hefty weight of a font that
is often employed for emphasis.
Bowl: The fundamental body shape
of capital letters such as C, G, and
O, and lowercase letters such as b, c,
e, o, and p.
Bracket: In certain typefaces, a
curving link between the stem and
serif. Serifs aren't all bracketed
serifs.
Calligraphy: The art of using a
specialized tool to write letters (e.g.,
broad nib pen, brush pen, etc.)
Capital letter height is measured
from the baseline to the top of the
capital letter. It's built around letters
with flat tops and bottoms, like a H
or an E. B, C, D, G, O, Q, and S are
capital letters with curves that
extend slightly above and below the
cap height to seem optically
comparable in size to other letters.
When text is aligned to the center of
a text frame, with the rag on the left
and right sides, it is called center
aligned.
When a body copy is aligned inside
a text frame, the result is a rag on
both sides.
A letter, number, punctuation mark,
or symbol is a character.
Character Set: The whole set of
characters for a certain font-weight.
Counter:
the
white
space
encompassed by a letterform,
whether wholly enclosed, as in 'd' or
'o,' or partly enclosed, as in 'c' or a
two-story 'a.'
Crossbar: A stroke across a stem
(such as the horizontal line of the
letter 'T,' 'H,' 'E,' and so on.)
Descender: A lowercase letter's
stem extends below the baseline,
like the g, j, p, q, and y.
Ear: The stroke linked to the
lowercase g's bowl. For the
lowercase r, several typographers
use the same name.
Ellipsis is a character made up of
three dots.
Extended: A character such as an
accent mark that has an extended
breadth.
Grid: an arrangement of vertical
and horizontal lines for alignment
that might be imagined or real.
Due to their hefty weight and/or
intricate character, display fonts are
usually employed for headlines and
subheads.
Font Color: A color specification
used in online design.
Font Height: a typeface's height. It
is commonly measured in points
from one baseline to the next (8, 10,
12, etc.).
Typeface Thickness: the thickness
of the font (light, regular, medium,
bolt.
Hook: a curving arch (like the letter
'f')
Hand-lettering: making custom
letters for a specific purpose or
client from scratch.
Italics
are
forward-slanting
characters.
Joint: the stroke joins the stem.
Justified: when text in a text frame
is aligned to the left and right
margins, with no rag on either side
Kerning: the distance between each
pair of characters.
Leading: the horizontal gap
measured from baseline to baseline
between two lines of text. It's also
known as 'line height' in certain
circumstances.
Left-aligned text: the text is aligned
with the margin on the left.
Leg: downward stroke with a short
stroke
Ligature is the joining of two or
more letters to form a single
character.
Link: the stroke that connects the
bowl with the lowercase g's loop.
Lowercase: lowercase characters
are the alphabet's non-capital letters.
They make up the majority of
printed text, with uppercase and
capital letters being employed
largely to begin sentences or to
identify proper names. Lowercase
comes from the days of metal type
when the more often used characters
were maintained in the lower case
and the less frequently used capital
letters were kept in the upper case,
which was more difficult to access.
Monospaced: a font in which each
character has the same width.
Orphan: a single word appearing at
the top of a page.
Point size: the point size of a font is
the distance between the top of the
highest ascender and the bottom of
the lowest descender. This was
originally the height of the metal
block on which each letter was cast.
Rag: the vertical edge of a typical
block that is uneven. It might be on
the left, right, or both sides.
Readability: the ease with which a
text may be read.
When text is aligned to the right
margin with the rag on the left side
of the text frame, it is said to be
right-aligned.
Sans Serif: strokes on characters
aren't extended.
Serif: A stroke made across the arm,
stem, or tail of a letter at a straight
angle or obliquely. Some characters
have it on their vertical and
horizontal strokes. Serifs may also
be classified as slabs, hairline, or
other types of serifs.
Shoulder: a curving stroke with a
stem
Stem: A letterform's vertical stroke.
Both lowercase and uppercase
letters are available.
Stress: a variation in stroke width
across a diagonal or vertical letter.
Stroke:
any
letter's
linear
characteristic
Swash: a decorative stroke is added.
System Typeface: A computer
operating system's primary font.
Terminal: a terminal stroke is one
that does not end in a serif. It has the
option of being straight or curved.
Tracking: the distance between
each letter in a line of text.
Letterspacing is another name for it.
Character Type Classification:
Characters are classified according
to their style.
Character
Type
Properties:
Character properties that enable
characters to fit on a grid.
Typeface design is the process of
developing a whole set of characters
in a certain style. (NB: This might
contain capital and lowercase
letters, mathematical symbols,
punctuation, and digits, among
other things).
Type size: the distance between the
highest ascender's top and the
lowest descender's bottom. It's
commonly expressed as several
points.
Typesetting: The process of
arranging vast volumes of text (e.g.,
a book, a magazine, etc.) in a
readable and legible manner.
Uppercase: Uppercase characters
are the alphabet's capital letters.
Uppercase
letters
are
often
employed as the initial letter of
proper names and at the beginning
of phrases. The word uppercase
comes from the days of metal type,
when the less often used capital
letters were preserved in the upper
case, while the more frequently used
characters were maintained in the
lower case, which was closer to
hand.
Vertex: The intersection of two
strokes at the bottom.
Widow: A single word at the end of
a paragraph or column on its own
line.
X-Height: In any given typeface,
the height of lowercase letters. The
height of the letter 'x' is used to
calculate the measurement. Curved
lowercase letters (such as a, c, e, o,
s, u, and others) often extend
slightly below and beyond the xheight to seem optically comparable
in size to other letters.
CHAPTER SEVEN
What is the best way to test
contrast in UI design?
Contrast testing may be done in a variety of
methods. Desaturating your artboards and
running them via a static heatmap creation
tool is a popular procedure. Because it can
imitate how human eyes respond to variances
in contrast, such a tool may analyze your
designs and point out the apparent hierarchy
of your artboard's information architecture.
Another technique to assess contrast in your
designs is to put them through a fast user
testing session with the sole goal of pointing
out the most significant element on the page,
section, window, or whatever. A user flow
scenario, in which you see participants
engaging with your desaturated UI, is another
form of this experiment.
You may do a preliminary accessibility
evaluation using the WCAG2.0 criteria, and
there are several browser extensions and
plugins for major design tools that can assist
you in incorporating those tests into your
workflows. Accessibility testing should not
be an afterthought; make it an intrinsic part of
your everyday routine, and your audience
will be extremely pleased.
One thing to keep in mind is that they are
only recommendations, and they may or may
not work with branding, color schemes, or
other aspects of your design, but they are
there to assist you in the correct path.
If your design looks nice while it's greyed
out, it'll probably look excellent when the
colors are restored. That's why I think it's a
good idea to generate desiderated wireframes
and test them before applying visual styles.
Why are we doing this in the first place?
Contrast is a fundamental condition that
utilize to make judgments about how
interact with the environment, and
extension, with digital user interfaces.
we
we
by
It's
particularly crucial for those who have
temporary or chronic visual problems since
they don't see colors the same way other
people do.
Your audience will struggle to do
fundamental activities if there isn't enough
contrast, which will lead to blunders,
irritation, and even animosity of the product
they tried to utilize.
What is design alignment?
The alignment principle asserts that several
objects are aligned when their left or right
edges, or center-lines, line up on a shared
spot in design.
Google Docs and Microsoft Office Suite's
text align tools are two of the most popular
examples of alignment as a feature.
The left alignment aligns the text's edges to
the document's left side, whereas the center
and right alignments align the text to the
document's center and right sides,
respectively.
Take a look at a table with rows and columns.
To be linked, we connect the sentences or
items in the same row or column. This is how
alignment is utilized in UX design to make
info easier to scan.
Alignment Styles
Edge alignment and center alignment are the
two forms of alignment.
The placing of design components on the
edges of any composition is known as edge
alignment. Edge alignments may be divided
into four categories:
1. Left-aligned elements: place items
to the left of the y-axis.
2. Right-aligned
elements:
align
elements to the right of the y-axis.
3. Top aligned: adhere items to the xtop. axis's
4. Bottom aligned: adhere components
to the x-bottom. axis's
The positioning of design components along
the composition's imaginary centre axis is
known as center alignment. Center
alignments may be divided into two
categories:
1. Horizontally
center-aligned
elements: align items along the ycenter. axis's
2. Vertically center-aligned elements:
align items along the x-axis.
What is the significance of alignment
in design?
1. Alignment improves the appearance
of our items. The importance of
aesthetics
in
making
initial
impressions cannot be overstated.
Alignment aids in the creation of
more aesthetically appealing designs
for consumers.
2. Alignment
encourages
correct
product structure, which makes it
easier for consumers to traverse our
product. Users appreciate wellorganized items. It assists them in
locating the information they need.
3. Alignment gives the product a
feeling of cohesion. Experimenting
with various sorts of alignment may
lead to an intriguing result in which
the design can be unified or varied.
4. Alignment directs the user's
attention to the design. Without the
need for external aids, alignment
allows
the
user
to
better
comprehend the links between
distinct pieces.
What is Hierarchy?
The notion of visual hierarchy is the
arrangement of things to emphasize their
relative significance. Designers organize
visual qualities, such as menu symbols, so
that consumers may quickly comprehend
information.
Designers
affect
users'
perceptions and steer them to desired
behaviors by putting up materials logically
and strategically.
The delivery of the experience is controlled
by the visual hierarchy. If you're having
trouble figuring out where to look on a
website, it's probably because the layout lacks
a clear visual hierarchy.
Visual Hierarchy's Building Blocks
Hierarchy is a visual design theory that
designers use to manipulate these features to
convey
the
significance
of
each
page/contents:
Size - Users are more likely to
notice bigger components.
Color - Vibrant colors tend to draw
more attention than subdued shades.
Contrast — Colors that are
dramatically contrasted are more
eye-catching.
Alignment — Out-of-alignment
pieces stand out more than those
that are aligned.
Repetition - Using the same style
over and over again might imply
that the information is linked.
Proximity - Elements that are close
together seem to be connected.
Whitespace - Leaving more space
around things pulls the attention in.
Texture and Style - Textures that
are richer stand out more than those
that are bland.
An efficient visual hierarchy in user interface
(UI) design helps educate, impress, and
convince people who have expectations –
particularly regarding the look of an
interface. To succeed, a website, app, or
similar product must layout its pages or
screens to reduce consumers' confusion,
demonstrate maximum empathy, and provide
them with something enjoyable to look at.
How to Create an Effective Visual
Hierarchy
A good visual hierarchy guides visitors to the
functionality of a page/screen and provides
them with the appropriate visual signals. To
discover more about your users, you'll need to
do user research, but here are some broad
facts:
Users respond incredibly quickly (in
milliseconds) when confronted with
an interface, forming gut reactions
about whether to remain or depart.
Users' eyes follow culturally
influenced reading paths that are
predictable. An F- and a Z-pattern
are used by left-to-right readers in
Western countries. As a result, you
may create a hierarchy to:
Reinforce these natural patterns by
leading users along a well-planned
route to their ultimate destination; or
Disrupt these patterns to draw
attention to a focus point for users.
Users prefer recognition over
memory, which is why it's critical
that they be able to scan instead of
having to read and memorize things.
You can imagine how to present users the
most crucial items when they strive to attain
objectives in their own situations if you
consider these. Then, as users go from job to
task, you can chose and scale pieces to make
the most crucial information prominent—and
noticeable.
These things are very important:
Gestalt principles – These are
designed to appeal to the human
eye. Use them to help users organize
visual elements, notice what's
important on each page, and build
brand trust.
Consistency - Users need familiar
iconography, menu structure, colors,
and so forth.
Center stage UI design pattern —
Use this UI design style to display
consumers crucial information
straight away.
Whitespace - Use it to settle
consumers' eyes and lead them to
vital foreground components in
crisp, clean minimalist designs.
Typography – For desktopaccessible displays, use the best
font, color, and contrast to provide
three levels of text, two (skipping
the middle one) for mobile:
Specifics of mobile UX design —
Users on smaller displays must be
able to detect components quickly
and navigate more effortlessly.
Typography and style – While
elaborate lettering and special
effects (like embossed, washed-out
text) may be more acceptable in
particular businesses, even minor
distractions diminish usability.
1st grade – Use a header to draw
readers' attention to the most
important information on the
page/screen, similar to a newspaper
headline. The first two words of a
header should give visitors a good
idea of what the section underneath
it is about.
Secondary — Use sub-headers, for
example, to assist visitors in
scanning and navigating material.
Tertiary – The main body, which is
smaller but still readable.
CHAPTER EIGHT
UI and its relation with
readability
Regardless of how interesting your story
might be, your readers will not be aware of it
if it is not readable and clear. That is why we
will discuss User Interface and its relation
with readability.
Before we get started, we need to know what
readability and legibility is all about.
First of all, readability can easily be defined
from its name. It is simply the ease of written
content. It also means how simple sentences
and words are, and how best to structure
words in a sentence.
The legibility of content is concerned with
how people view it and differentiate between
different pieces. So, from this vantage point,
you're concerned with how people see
material on a page or screen, as well as how
they discern and recognize its pieces (for
example, characters, words, sentences,
numbers, etc). As a result, we may define
legibility as the visual display of material that
makes it digestible and allows consumers to
rapidly grasp what is on the page or screen.
Readability and Legibility are influenced
by a variety of factors:
There are a variety of elements that influence
how legible and readable text is. Let's have a
look at the ones that are specifically related to
the design process.
Background
In digital interfaces, the backdrop color has a
significant impact on the ability to read and
discern both interactive features and
information, just as it does in printed books
and newspapers. For example, black text on a
white or bright backdrop seems to be bigger
than white type on a dark background, similar
to how actual things are seen on various
backgrounds. The improper color scheme
may lead to poor readability, which leads to a
bad user experience: users are unable to skim
the data, and even if the material is relevant
but unreadable, users experience an
incomprehensible tension while dealing with
the text, and they may miss important
information.
If the designer understands the idiosyncrasies
of copy perception on various backgrounds
and works carefully on font selection, any
color scheme may be readable. In addition,
the type of the material shown in the interface
has a role: Text-based interfaces with reading
as the primary activity tend to utilize more
light-colored backgrounds, while imagebased interfaces often employ black
backgrounds to magnify picture performance
and give them a more realistic appearance.
Typography
In simple words, typography is the outer layer
of a text's content. The typefaces you choose
have a direct impact on how fast and
effortlessly people see and parse the material.
Font size, width, color, and text organization
are all important considerations. Furthermore,
fonts, like images, can add mood to a written
message through their visual style. In design,
typography is the art of blending the
aesthetics of text with the ability to read it
fast - and it's not as simple as you may
assume.
There are various important aspects to
consider when it comes to making material
understandable, including:
White space (negative space) in a
design composition is the space
between items.
Text alignment (placing and
justifying)
Tracking: space adjustment for a
set of type letters that make up a
word or text block
Kerning: changing the distance
between two type characters
Leading: The distance between text
baselines.
Line length: The number of
characters used in a block of text for
one line.
Visual Hierarchy
Visual hierarchy is a method of content
organizing that emphasizes the importance of
different levels of material. It is based on
Gestalt theory, which is concerned with the
psychology of visual perception of
components and demonstrates how humans
seek to unify them. It arranges UI elements in
such a way that the brain can recognize items
based on their physical distinctions, such as
size, color, contrast, style, and so on.
It's no secret that when people visit a website,
they don't immediately begin reading all the
information; instead, they skim it. When we
look at an item on a blog, for example, we'll
notice the title first, then subheadings, and
then copy blocks. Does this imply that the
data in the copy blocks is of little
importance? No, not at all, but instead of
attempting to read the whole content, users
will be able to scan the title and subheadings
to see whether the post is relevant and
interesting to them.
And if the headlines and subheadings are
well-written and enlighten the user about the
article's structure and contents, this will be
the aspect that persuades them to continue on.
Users, on the other hand, will be terrified if
they see the large and lengthy sheet of text
since they will not know how long it will take
them to read the content or if it is worth their
time and effort.
As a result, it's critical to convey text material
in a steady manner. We're talking about the
typographic
hierarchy
here,
which
encompasses
things
like
headings,
subheaders, body material, call-to-action
elements, and captions, among other things.
All items must be split into distinct levels in
order to create an efficient visual hierarchy.
The initial level of education: It
contains the largest type, as in
headlines. Its goal is to provide
essential information or bring
attention to the most important
advantage.
The secondary level of education:
Subheaders and captions, for
example, are examples of scannable
features that enable readers swiftly
browse through the information.
The tertiary education level: This
one is for the body content as well
as any other information. Despite
the fact that the font is tiny, it should
be readable.
Negative space
The region of the pattern that is left vacant is
known as negative space (or white space). It
might occur not just around but also between
and inside the things you arrange in the
layout. Negative space gives all the things on
the page or screen some breathing room. It
was previously highlighted as one of the
criteria of good typography, but establishing
the relationship between text and non-text
elements is equally significant in general user
interface layout. For example, in the case of
an image caption, the quantity of negative
space will assist you identify whether the
words and picture are tied to one message.
Writing
The text content of an interface is based on
four essential aspects, as we already
explained in our post on UX writing:
Straightforward (people understand
what you're talking about, and the
fundamental message isn't muddled
or convoluted)
Succinct (the piece of text is
meaningful,
laconic,
and
concentrated on the goal, no empty
talk is included)
Beneficial
Dependable (the copy within the
interface of one digital product
keeps the same style, tone, voice,
and terminology).
The best thing you can do with written
material for app users, website visitors, and
blog readers is to create a human-like
communication environment. Make your
interface, landing page, or email converse
with the interlocutor in the manner of a
helpful and kind person, with a clear style
and voice of communication, rather than
attempting to wow and scare them.
Advice on Improving Readability
and Legibility
1. Keep the interface copy brief and
consistent.
Choose the primary phrases and names of
operations and use them in all messages and
alerts. For example, if you've chosen the term
"delete" to represent a certain action, use it
every time this action is to be performed, and
don't use "remove" for other screens if the
action is the same. Instead of "Make a
payment," ask consumers to "Pay" - it's
simpler to scan, quicker to read, and you can
make one word seem larger than a sentence
for button microcopy.
Synonyms and intricate phrases are useful for
making language more colorful and vibrant in
articles and books, but they may detract from
the user experience by forcing consumers to
link synonymic concepts rather than utilizing
the product to solve their issues.
2. Make material more personalized
Allowing users to adjust the background
color and pick a larger or smaller text size is
one method to customize the user interface
and make it more tailored to their tastes. Such
feature has a significant influence on making
text more readable, since consumers know
best what is most comfortable for them.
3. Split screen is a good option for
various sorts of material.
Split screens were particularly popular for
interfaces with a dark or bright backdrop. It
includes still another way to appropriate
readability: designers make material more
legible by using boxes or gaps with a bright
backdrop for main data blocks. This adds
aesthetic contrast to the screen or page.
4. Compress one notion into a single
paragraph.
When working on the material from the
standpoint of scannability, make sure the text
fragments aren't too lengthy. Short
paragraphs are easy to read and may be
ignored if the content is not relevant to the
reader. So, when you give one notion in one
paragraph and then begin another for a
different topic, follow the guideline.
5. Make use of numbers
People instinctively link numbers with
information, statistics, measurements, and
distance - all of which may be valuable to
them. As a result, by utilizing numbers
instead of text numerals, you may alter the
text's readability and scannability.
6. Don't forget to make a list.
Applying lists with numbers or bullets is
another fantastic way to make the content
more readable and scannable. They aid with
the straightforward organization of data. They
also draw the user's attention to the
information, ensuring that it is not lost in the
body of the text.
7. Make a visual note of the
important information in the text.
The use of bold, italics, and color to
emphasize words or phrases in the text is old
fashioned, yet it still works. This manner, you
may draw emphasis to the paragraph's special
information. Furthermore, the text's clickable
elements (links to other sites) must be visibly
identified. Although we are used to seeing
them highlighted, accentuating them with
color or a larger font is much more effective.
8. Examine the contrast
The capacity to discern text pieces and read
them rapidly is directly influenced by
contrast. Too little contrast generates
unintelligible patches in the text, while too
much contrast causes eye strain and makes
reading physically difficult. So, first and
foremost, know color theory, which will
assist you in selecting a palette with
appropriate contrast, and second, test the
interface on several screens to ensure that the
contrast works effectively under various
scenarios.
9. Use
common
sense
while
experimenting with typefaces.
When it comes to typefaces, designers often
want to choose something unique and ornate.
Make no mistake: readability should not be
sacrificed for the sake of aesthetics. Still, it
doesn't imply you should ignore the eyecatching fonts: the typographic hierarchy
makes it easier to make excellent use of them.
(NB: Sans-serif typefaces are typically
easier to read, but serif fonts have a more
elegant appearance).
Due to the large size of the text material,
using a complex or experimental font for a
brief tagline in bold letters will not affect the
ability to read it fast. However, if you utilize
it for extended chunks of material, the effect
on readability may result in a bad user
experience. Also, keep in mind the color
scheme: a dark backdrop absorbs some of the
light from the other pieces, therefore there
should be adequate free space between them,
but a bright background would not.
10. Allow enough space for
the words.
As we discussed earlier on negative space in
user interfaces, if there isn't enough space
between items, they become difficult to read
and need extra work. Although many users
will be unable to express the issue, it may be
a significant cause of eye and brain tension.
This difficulty is solved and the procedure
becomes more natural by using a sufficient
quantity of negative space, particularly micro
space. As a result, negative space has a direct
impact on the efficiency of typography on the
page or on the screen. Pauses in music serve
the same purpose as noises. It works the same
way in reading: properly positioned empty
spaces make the text simpler to read.
11. Separate
blocks
the
content
Subheadings or classic separators utilizing
horizontal or vertical lines are two obvious
methods to split content chunks. You can
simply separate distinct pieces and grasp their
connections in one layout this manner. The
previously described negative space may
likewise be used as a separator.
Another option is to use pictures. Although it
may look counterintuitive at first, visuals
assist in making material understandable and
comprehensible. When used in articles, for
example, they serve as stylish and
informative separators that simultaneously
show and separate the text content. With an
image, viewers may take a break from
reading, and even a lengthy post may not
seem as intimidating as it would without
them. Illustrations, photographs, and 3D
images attract users' attention and are
decoded more faster than text.
As a result, the visuals may serve as
directional indicators, directing users to textbased messages or calls to action. It's also a
good idea to have text function in harmony
with important visuals on the page or screen,
since this will intensify the impression of the
two.
12. Make use of the title
case's power.
Although there have been heated debates over
adopting sentence case instead of title case to
make the text seem more casual, it is still a
natural characteristic of the language for
English users to distinguish the levels of text
hierarchy.
Consider
the
following
capitalization suggestions:
Label field labels, actions, menu
items, and page titles using Title
Style Caps.
For lengthier material, such as page
or field descriptions and tooltips,
use sentence style caps.
Use ALL-CAPS sparingly, and only
when absolutely necessary
Whatever decision you make, the most
essential thing is to stick to it. If you opt to
utilize title case for all buttons, be sure to
stick to it throughout all displays.
CHAPTER NINE
Places to get UI/UX
inspiration
When it comes to producing unique ideas,
thoughts, and fresh layouts, creatives depend
on inspiration. However, sometimes the finest
ideas take a long time to arrive when you
need them right now. Every UI designer
needs UI inspiration from time to time. This
is particularly crucial for all UI/UX
designers, since they deal not only with the
image but also with the atmosphere that the
user experiences when using a product. In
addition, resources keep you up to date on the
newest design trends.
We can readily access a range of design
materials and UI design inspiration from the
Internet, thanks to the fast expansion of the
Internet. There are plenty of websites on the
Internet that may help UI designers get ideas.
To become a sought-after professional, you
must first comprehend the advantages of each
of these resources, then locate and develop
your observation skills.
The Top 10 Online UI Design
Inspiration Sources
There is no lack of websites for UI/UX
designers these days; the only problem is
finding the time to browse through them all
and discover anything interesting. Collecting
resources, finding UI inspiration, recognizing
outstanding ideas, and increasing design
ability are all critical activities for a UI/UX
designer! Check out the top 10 must-have
design websites for designers and discover
which ones you use the most.
1. Behance
This website functions as a social networking
site. It is aimed towards those who like being
creative. Many ideas may be found here, not
just for Internet initiatives but also for
corporate style in general. Not just for UI/UX
designers, but also for stylists, architects,
photographers, and everyone else interested
in design in a range of sectors, UI design
inspiration is accessible. Furthermore, their
blog is chock-full of important information.
2. Dribbble
Dribbble, like Behance, is a social
networking site for creative professions. You
may share project screenshots and provide
comments to others. to the audience members
Users may share their own UI/UX design
experiences with one another on this site.
There are a lot of high-quality works here,
each of which might encourage the user to
start their own project.
3. AWWWARDS
The AWWWARDS website was created to
honor the greatest UI designers, developers,
and companies from across the globe. It
emphasizes the top UI/UX designers and
focuses primarily on attractive user
interfaces. In addition, merit prizes are given
to writers of works. The news and blog are
updated on a regular basis, and any designer
will benefit from following this website.
4. The Cutting Edge of UX Design
The UX Design Edge website is a location
where UI/UX designers may sign up for
courses and individual consultations on
UI/UX design, as well as locate valuable
material and read all the latest news in the
world of digital development. Even if you
aren't interested in studying, the site's blog is
continuously updated and may be a good
location to get news and UI design ideas, so
it's worth a look.
5. Pttrns
Pttrns is a group of mobile applications. On
their websites, the authors of Pttrns have put
together a great collection of design templates
and the finest UI examples. UI/UX designers
may quickly locate any required items by
selecting one of the two major blocks on the
control panel, which correspond to the device
and other categories, respectively.
6. 99designs
Here's where you can get some UI design
ideas. Discover on 99designs has brought
together thousands of skilled designers from
across the globe, as well as more inspired
designs, making it an excellent platform for
both beginners and experienced designers and
developers. There's also a handy search
option that makes it easier to discover
precisely what you need to put your design
concept into action.
7. Land-book
Another site where you may get a lot of UI
design ideas and inspiration for your new
website. Learn more about the components
and creative blocks used in contemporary
design by visiting this website.
8. Uplabs
Uplabs is a community dedicated to
recommending resources to UI/UX designers.
It brings together a significant number of
front-end design works, as well as a huge
number of real-time Android and iOS UI
resources. In addition, Uplabs has a strong
marketing department. Resources may be
downloaded for free or for a fee.
9. Pinterest
Pinterest has been dubbed the "Picture
Twitter." Users may save and follow the
images they like on Pinterest, while other
users can follow and forward the images they
like. This platform has a lot of material,
covering design, home renovation, and
recipes, among other things. It's a website
with a collection of photos.
What is a font pairing?
When it comes to adding text to pictures and
designs, selecting typefaces may be a
daunting task. Font selection sets the tone for
a design's overall appearance and feel, and
when you're confronted with such a large list
of typefaces to choose from, it's easy to
become overwhelmed. How can you make an
informed choice if you have no prior
experience with font selection?
Basics of Font Pairing
Before we discuss which fonts combine well
together, it's important to understand the four
types of typefaces: serifs, sans serifs,
ornamental, and script. The purpose of font
pairing is to choose typefaces (typically no
more
than
a
few)
that
generate
complimentary contrast. When it comes to
interpersonal relationships, opposites attract,
and the same is true when it comes to font
matching; contrasting styles may work well
together. Don't be scared to mix and match
various font types and typographical
emphasis since design is all about letting your
ideas show. Here's all you need to know
about the four distinct font styles:
Serif Fonts
Serifs employ thick and thin strokes to
produce a powerful and bold design that is
best suited for books and newspaper print.
The little strokes linked to each letter are
referred to as'serif.' Serifs look great next to
their polar opposite, sans serifs, in design. As
we previously said, there are no hard and fast
rules when it comes to font combination, but
you can't go wrong with a serif and a sans
serif.
Sans Serif Fonts
The term 'sans serif' denotes that there are no
serifs on the letters. Sans serif fonts are
perfect for websites, blogs, and other flat
designs because they use semi-rounded
details instead of serifs. Sans serifs have a
welcoming and warm vibe to them, while
also conveying a sense of solidity and
seriousness.
Fonts with ornaments
Decorative typefaces feature more creative
detail than serifs and sans serifs, making them
suited for a wide range of goods and
branding. Decorative typefaces may be seen
in logos, packaging, posters, and other places.
It's usually the focus of a text-based design,
with serifs and sans serifs serving as
supporting text.
Script Fonts
Script fonts provide the most personal touch
of any typeface, since they resemble handlettering. They're ideal for wedding
invitations, greeting cards, and headlines that
aren't too long. The strokes are more flowing
than those used in ornamental fonts, and they
contrast nicely with serifs and sans serifs
used as supporting text.
Adding Meta information in UI/UX
design
When defining which websites should be at
the top of search results, Google now
considers real human behavior. As a result,
user experience and user interface design
have become far more important in terms of
SEO rankings.
Here's an in-depth look at how UX and UI
design affect SEO to help you figure out
which areas of UX and UI design to focus on
for your online platforms. You can help to
improve the overall rankings and attract more
visitors to your website if you know how to
use the right UX/UI design elements.
SEO and UI Design
Simply put, the more appealing and engaging
the user interface of your website is, the more
visitors it will attract. However, it's pointless
to have a visually appealing platform if the
nuts and bolts that support it aren't working
properly to provide the best SEO. You should
definitely consider hiring professionals at a
UX/UI design agency if you want to create
the best user interface design possible and
have access to professional web design,
branding, digital strategy, and development.
However, whether you hire experts or go it
alone, there are three ways that the user
interface affects SEO rankings.
Simple Navigation
A well-designed user interface that
anticipates your visitors' demands is at the
heart of effective UI design, allowing users to
locate what they want effortlessly and fast.
When your website's structure and navigation
are properly optimized, site links may appear
in search engine results such as Google's.
Code that is free of errors
It's critical that your website has clean code
so that search engines can simply scan it.
Your website's score on sites like Google will
be extremely poor if your code is difficult to
understand. Moreover, if you do not employ
clean code, your website's speed will suffer,
making it less attractive to users and resulting
in a bad SEO score.
Responsive Website Design
Did you know that your mobile website is
now considered the primary website by
Google? It's crucial to know since it means
you'll have to look after your mobile-friendly
site even more than before. If your website
isn't mobile-friendly, it will have a significant
impact on its SEO performance.
Headings
When it comes to how UI design impacts
SEO, headings are often disregarded. Search
engines, on the other hand, will be unable to
completely comprehend the goal of your
website if you do not employ appropriate
headers. As a result, your website will not
rank as well as it would with well-thoughtout headlines. When headers are utilized
correctly, search engine indexers can better
comprehend what your website is about.
While it is important to utilize the appropriate
headers, it is equally critical to avoid using
too many headings. It's possible to increase
your SEO rankings by striking the
appropriate balance.
SEO and UX Design
The essence of good UX design is to create a
website that is pleasing to the eye and easy to
browse. Although UX design is not as closely
tied to SEO as UI design, it may still help
your site rank better. Metrics are used by
search engines to determine the quality of
your website. Those measurements then have
an impact on your ranking. UX design is
intimately linked to a number of parameters.
Here are three UX features that might help
you improve your SEO.
Meta Tags
When you use meta tags and make sure the
meta title and meta description are tailored to
tempt people to click, search engines will
value your content higher and move you up
the SEO results.
Bounce Rate
The bounce rate can be reduced by ensuring
that visitors to your website spend as much
time as possible on it. As a result, your SEO
performance will be enhanced. By creating
valuable content that specifically addresses
the needs of your visitors, you can ensure that
they spend as much time as possible on your
website.
Links from Other Websites
When people link to your pages, it adds value
to your website. Backlinks may help you rank
higher in search engines, so you should try to
get as many as possible.
Structure of a URL
The structure of URLs is an important aspect
of an efficient user experience strategy for
attaining high SEO results. When you
implement efficient URL architectures, you
aid in orienting viewers to your site's general
hierarchy. At the same time, the URL aids in
communicating the content of each specific
web page. Users will have no feeling of the
hierarchical architecture of your website and
no insight into the contents of the web page if
you utilize poor URL structures. Pay
attention to the keywords you include in your
URL since search engines like Google index
web pages based on the terms in the URL.
Concentrate on creating clear and concise
URLs that are easy to comprehend for both
search engine crawlers and website users.
CHAPTER TEN
What is Microcopy?
On your website, clear and concise copy can
be extremely effective. You're probably doing
something wrong if you have to write an
entire novel to persuade your site's visitors to
take action. In many cases, just a few words
should be enough to get people to convert.
You can easily direct users to take the steps
you want with microcopy. You can even help
reduce the stress in some cases by assisting
them in navigating your website and locating
the information they require.
What Is Microcopy and How Does It
Work?
Microcopy is a type of text that entices
readers to act or directs them in the right
direction. The goal is to achieve your goal
with the fewest number of words possible
(usually due to space constraints).
Long-form text includes things like email
campaigns and landing pages. They may be
hundreds of words long, all meticulously
written to persuade people to convert.
Microcopy is a much more delicate
technique. Here are a few examples:
CTAs (Calls to Action) (CTAs)
Text in form fields
Messages on the user experience
(UX)
Text loading
NB: CTAs are the easiest kind of online
microcopy to understand. This might be
anything as simple as a "Sign Up" CTA
button.
Why Is Good Microcopy Important?
Conversions are at the heart of the majority of
current websites. You want visitors to take
specific actions, such as subscribe to mailing
lists, make purchases, or simply click on
specific links.
The number of conversions you obtain is
influenced by a variety of variables, including
traffic and the design of your website. Words,
on the other hand, are our most effective
weapons for generating conversions since
they are the major way we connect with the
web.
Do's and Don'ts in Microcopy
Microcopy's first guideline is to keep things
brief. That implies no more than one or two
phrases. Let's move on to some other
important concerns now that it's out of the
way.
1. Think about where you're going
to put your copy.
The context determines where short copy
should be used. When it comes to buttons, for
example, you're limited to only a few words.
Error messages and form-field descriptions
are in the same boat. Not only are you dealing
with a restricted amount of space, but you
may also presume that visitors are already
familiar with how these pieces function.
You may, for example, offer a brief
explanation clarifying what information
belongs within an email field to improve
usability.
You won't need a complete paragraph to get
your idea across since most of your users will
be acquainted with contact forms. One of the
greatest methods to select where to utilize
brief bursts of content is to do just that.
2. Do not use several copies
There are two types of error messages: those
that provide sufficient information for you to
take action and those that make you want to
chuck your computer out the window. The
difference is in the quantity of data they
supply.
The idea is to find a happy medium between
presenting just enough information and
avoiding clutter. Consider the case when a
field on a contact form returns this error when
a user enters a value it doesn't recognize.
3. Do not forget to write to your
audience
Microcopy's objective is to persuade users to
do specified activities. There are several
instances of this on the internet.
How to make sitemaps
Whenever you want your website to rank,
you should use as many SEO techniques as
feasible. Creating a sitemap is a method that
will undoubtedly aid in the enhancement of
your SEO approach.
Use the All in One SEO Plugin to generate
your sitemap quickly and easily if you're a
WordPress user. It will construct your
sitemap and much more for your WordPress
site automatically.
What is a sitemap?
A sitemap, often known as an XML sitemap,
is a list of all the pages on a website. The
term "extensible markup language" refers
to a method of displaying data on a website.
Because sitemaps are considered a technical
component of SEO, I've worked with a lot of
website owners who are scared by the notion.
In truth, creating a sitemap does not need
being a computer expert or having a technical
experience. It's not that tough, as you'll soon
discover.
CHAPTER ELEVEN
What is the purpose of a
sitemap?
Google and other search engines are
dedicated to provide the best relevant results
for each given search query. They employ
site crawlers to scan, arrange, and index
content on the Internet in order to accomplish
this successfully.
Search engine crawlers can read the material
on your site and index the pages more easily
using XML sitemaps. As a consequence,
you'll have a better chance of improving your
website's SEO rating.
Your sitemap will inform search engines
where a page on your website is located,
when it was last updated, how often it is
updated, and how important the page is in
relation to other pages on your site. Google
crawlers can assume your site contains
duplicate material if you don't have a sitemap,
which would affect your SEO rating.
Simply follow these five simple steps to
establish a sitemap if you want your website
to be indexed quickly by search engines.
Step 1: Examine the layout of your pages.
The first step is to examine the current
material on your website and determine how
it is organized.
It all begins with the home page. Then you
must consider where your homepage
hyperlinks. Based on your website's menu
selections, you've probably already found this
out.
However, not all pages are made equal when
it comes to SEO. When you're doing this,
bear in mind the depth of your website.
Recognize that pages located farther from
your site's homepage will be more difficult to
rank for.
According to experts in Search Engine
Journal, you should strive for a shallow depth
sitemap, which means it takes just three
clicks to access to any page on your website.
That's a lot better in terms of SEO.
As a result, you'll need to organize your
pages into a hierarchy depending on their
relevance and how you want them to be
indexed. Create a logical structure for your
material by dividing it into tiers.
Step 2: Make your URLs unique.
It's time to code those URLs now that you've
defined the relevance of each page and
matched that importance in your site
structure.
This can be accomplished by using XML
elements to format each URL. This will be a
snap for you if you have any HTML code
knowledge. As I previously said, "ML"
stands for markup language, which is the
same as HTML.
Even if you've never done anything like this
before, it's not difficult to figure out. Begin
by downloading a text editor that allows you
to build an XML file.
Then, for each URL, add the appropriate
code.
Location
Last modified
The frequency has shifted
The page's priority
Take your time and make sure you
understand everything. When it comes to
inserting this code, the text editor makes your
life lot simpler, but it still demands you to be
smart.
Step 3: Check the code for errors.
Human mistake is always a possibility when
coding by hand. However, any code errors in
your sitemap will prevent it from working
correctly.
Fortunately, there are tools available to assist
you in validating your code and ensuring
proper syntax. There is software accessible
on the internet to assist you with this. You
may discover something by doing a fast
Google search for sitemap validation.
Step 4: Place your sitemap and robots.txt
files in the root directory.
Locate your website's root folder and upload
the sitemap file there. By doing so, the page
will be added to your site as well. This isn't
an issue in the least. In reality, this can be
found on a variety of websites. Simply enter
in a website's URL and add "/sitemap/" to the
end to see what results.
Step 5: Send your sitemap in.
It's time to submit your sitemap to search
engines now that it's been built and included
to your site files. You'll need to use Google
Search Console to do this. This may already
be in place for some of you. If you haven't
already, you can get started right now.
Navigate to Crawl > Sitemaps from the
search panel dashboard. Then, in the upper
right corner of the screen, select Add/Test
Sitemap.
This is an opportunity for you to doublecheck your sitemap for any problems before
proceeding. Obviously, you'll want to correct
any errors you find. Once your sitemap is
error-free, click Submit and you're done.
(NB: Everything else will be handled by
Google from here. Crawlers will now have
an easier time indexing your site, which will
improve your SEO ranking).
Importance of Grid
Every designer has their own solution, but the
primary principle behind those grid lines is to
keep your layout nice, clean, organized, and
structured so that your design tasks take less
time and effort.
Whether you work on the web or in print, you
should understand why a grid system is vital
for your designs and how it may help you
reach your objectives.
Helps you organize your material:
One of the most essential topics
where employing a grid may assist
you maintain your design aligned,
organized, nice, and clean is content
organization. The grid system's
principal job description is to
maintain the design aligned and
ordered. Using the grid lines, you
may create a framework for yourself
that will aid in the completion of
your future design project. With the
use of pictures, typography,
graphics, and other elements,
develop your preliminary ideas
utilizing the grid lines.
Helps to Balance the Design: One
of the most fundamental design
principles is balance, and the grid
system's attractiveness aids in
keeping the design constant and
even. It may be used in both
symmetrical and asymmetrical
layouts. It's a lot simpler to see
which section of your design is
dominating the other.
Grids can help you get things
done faster: In a world where we're
constantly looking for ways to make
things easier and faster, grids may
drastically speed up and enhance
your design layouts. Instead of
arbitrarily positioning your items
and wasting extra time, use the grid
lines as a guide to place, position,
and scale them. Consider the grid to
be the basis of your layout; it's one
of the first things you'll set down
before building your tale on top of
it.
It makes things simpler for the
team: At work, we aren't the sole
owners of a project as a whole. We
believe in working as a team, thus
we collaborate on projects. Due to
time restrictions, we must distribute
our job between our coworkers for a
period of time. Grids are really
important in this case. And that is
the only way to alleviate our
tension,
irritation,
and
misunderstandings.
As previously said, grid aids in the
construction of a structured layout, such
as where the components should be
located; in this case, a solid grid system
aids the other designers in continuing
with the design without difficulty.
Because the grid lines already answer
these concerns, there will be less back
and forth among the designers regarding
topics like "how wide should the column
be?" and "how much room is required
for a picture to be placed?"
Helps with Multi-Page Layouts:
Grids are a multi-page layout's
saving grace. Establishing a robust
grid aids in the movement of
information from page to page while
preserving consistency in the layout.
No Cluttered Layouts: Grid is a
fantastic tool for removing clutter
and ambiguous layouts from your
design. This is accomplished by the
usage of margins. The simplest
concept of a margin is the space
surrounding a design. The more
congested the design seems, the
looser the margins become, and the
design becomes neater, cleaner, and
more open to the eyes. Gutters, like
margins, serve the same purpose.
One of the most important reasons
for a designer to adopt these grids is
that they aid in the creation of a
beautiful design layout. In a design
project, the rule of thirds is the most
widely employed. This is a word
we've heard a lot in the
photographic world. This is a simple
junction of horizontal and vertical
lines with meeting points defined to
aid in focusing on certain items
inside the frame, and it's also used in
design.
Using the Grid to Create an EyeCatching Effect: We certainly like
to look at layouts that are nice, tidy,
and appealing to the eye. Sticking to
your design with the use of a grid
will guarantee a clean and nicely
aligned design, but sometimes
breaking the grid can give that clean
design a distinctive and eyecatching appearance. You may also
highlight select components by
breaking the grid.
Change of Layout (Diagonal): If
you wish to take an alternative
approach to your design, instead of
using a horizontal or vertical grid
system, you may use an angular grid
system. You may choose a different
yet elegant diagonal angle to give it
a fresh and outstanding appearance.
Grids may be utilized in a variety of ways:
While grids are most often employed in
magazine and editorial layouts, they are not
the only areas in which grid theory is used.
They may be used in any kind of design
media. Grids are also significant in logo
design since they help to make each element
constant, crisp, and clean, which helps to
create an iconic design. Grids are often
utilized in illustration-based projects to create
relaxing and eye-catching layouts.
Grid may be quite useful to any designer,
providing stunning and beautiful layouts as
well as a unique style, regardless of media.
Whether you like grids or not, the grid system
is unquestionably helpful in every designer's
life for the reasons stated above. The grid
system dates from the thirteenth century.
Grids may be used for a variety of things, like
aligning your designs and creating beautiful
diagonal typographic layouts. They are more
than a line; they structure, lead, and assist you
in achieving the right style and feel for your
projects.
CONCLUSION
UI/UX design is what is expected to trend in
the coming years and currently; numerous
individuals, companies and organizations are
constantly seeking for the experience and
skills of UI and UX designers.
Their jobs are pretty much easy especially if
you have learnt and equipped yourself with
the required understanding of what their
different jobs entails. This user guide covers
everything you need to know concerning
UI/UX design and you can kick-start your
journey by reading and practicing what is
contained in this guide.
This guide covers what UI/UX is all about, its
similarities and differences, UX design
prototypes, wireframes in UX design, all
about design thinking, achieving a good user
interface and experience, tools for UI designs
and so much more.
Additionally, this guide includes explanatory
terms and detailed information to ensure you
fully understand the process of becoming a
good UI/UX designer.