When 2020 is almost over (fortunately), it’s a perfect moment to explore what we will have in 2021. Here is a list of 10 mobile UX design trends that will shape 2021.
1. The rise of superapps
For the past two decades, the mobile app development model remained the same — one app, one purpose. But recently, the industry started to moving quickly from single-purpose apps to superapps. Superapp is a multi-purpose app (one app that is capable of doing many different things). Such apps strive to create ecosystems that cover all users needs so that users don’t have to switch to another app to…
Explore 5 key areas for improvement
Navigation is one of the most critical aspects of product design. People rely on navigation to find content and features. Helping users navigate should be a top priority for every app or website. After all, no matter how much time you invest in crafting good content and features, all this work will be useless if the visitor won’t be able to find them.
1. Design navigation that matches user mental models
- Figure out how people navigate your website. Use web analytics to learn what visitors are looking for on your website. …
10 critical usability issues and practical recommendations on to avoid when working on your mobile design
1. Visual clutter
Clutter is one of the worst enemies of good design. By cluttering your interface, you overload users with too much information. In comparison with desktop screens, mobile devices have a relatively small screen estate. And every extra added content section, image, or button, makes the layout busier.
Reducing clutter will improve comprehension.
How to solve it:
- Trim all the fat. Decide which information is important enough to show it to your mobile user and which information can be removed. Get rid of everything that isn’t absolutely necessary.
Minimalism is a designer’s best friend.
- Prioritize content. Focus on user goals. Think…
And how to fix (most of) them
What are the most frustrating things that you face on the web today? Vitaly Friedman of Smashing Magazine did a great job summarizing all key user frustrations in 2020.
In this article, I want to overview my list of the ten most critical frustrations and share practical tips on how to overcome them:
1. Small-sized text
Despite the recent popularity of video format, most information on the web is still in written form. That’s why
Good readability and legibility are essential for good user experience.
Here are a few practical tips for you to follow when working with text:
How can you tell the difference between good design and bad design? Good design starts with a good understanding of users. Dieter Rams perfectly summarized this idea:
You cannot understand good design if you do not understand people. Design is made for people.
But are there specific user needs that product designers should consider to increase the chances of creating a good design? Yes. And in fact, Aarron Walter did a great job summarizing the user needs and creating a hierarchy of user needs. …
Quick checklist for UX designer
Error state is a condition that prevents users from completing a task. Poorly written error messages can easily frustrate your users.
The best error message is the one that never shows up. However, when error state occurs, error message should describe problem (explains what happened and why) and offer a solution (it should let users know what they can do about it).
Below are 8 things you should avoid when writing error messages:
- Blame users. Do not make the user feel at fault even when the error state results from their action.
- Show raw errors. Error messages which contain a…
User attention is a precious resource. When it comes to web design, every second counts. How to ensure that the visitors will see what you want them to see? How to draw attention to a particular element? The answer is simple — play with visual weight.
What is visual weight?
Visual weight is a force that attracts the eye of a viewer. Every object on the page has its’ weight. The more weight an object has, the more eye is attracted to it. …
If you work in the design, you often hear the terms sketch, wireframe, mockup, and prototype. Many designers use these terms interchangeably. Although the terms are related, they are different.
In this article, I want to review four types of design deliverables and explore tools that can help us create them.
1. Sketch
Sketches are freehand drawings on a piece of paper or in a digital tool that gives you a basic representation of your concept.
Toggle switch (known as “toggles”) is a UI control that has two mutually-exclusive states, such as ON and OFF. The design and functionality of this control is based on a physical switch that allows users to turn things ON or OFF (i.e. light switch). Even though that toggle switches have been in user interfaces for a while, many designers still misuse them.
In this article, I will review 5 best practices for using toggle switches in UI design and illustrate them with some excellent visual examples.
1. Use toggles to change settings
Toggles are best suited for changing the system settings or preferences (i.e. states of…
And how to make the most of them
Not all trends that we have in visual design aid to good user experience. Sometimes designers follow trends just for the sake of creating a trendy design, not to create good functional products.
Today, I want to review some of the recent trends that gain a lot of attention at Dribbble and Instagram. I will explore the problems related to the trends as well as solutions for the problems.
1. Neumorphism
A skeuomorphism is an imitation of an object intended to represent the original. Similar to skeuomorphism, neomorphism (or neo-skeuomorphism) visual style uses design elements and textures that mimic the physical world…
