Why should a designer learn to K.I.S.S. ?
Keep it simple, silly.
We are not going to talk about display of affection. We are going to talk about display of your e-shop.
Not long ago websites use to look like a part of Shahjahan’s Mughal garden. Complete Mandala look with flowers and vines in the background. Now-a-days, everything is flat and solid simple. For a good reason. We are going to talk about that reason.
- How much time does an individual spend on his/her smartphone?
According to Business Insider we were spending around an hour on our phones daily.
As for 2016, according to Tribune we are using our phones whooping 4 hours a day, on an average. And you know for yourself if you use it more than this.
- How does this affect the UI and web design?
The answer lies in another question: ‘What is design?’
Simply put, design is UI+UX, i.e., User Interface and User Experience. They go hand-in-hand, we cannot have a good interface without giving good experience to the user.
Now since our users are looking at the screen for such a large part of their day, their eyes tend to get tired and loose focus. Any extra thing in the UI’s background will confuse and irritate them.
It is like renovating your flower garden for a kitchen garden. It is about usability. It is about maximizing the the number of people who can benefit from it. And in no way does it mean that flower garden has lost its value, flowers just need to be moved somewhere else, because we need the kitchen garden.
No doubt the flower garden was pretty, but the kitchen garden serves us dinner.
For example, take a look here:
This image explains itself.
Ask yourself which one you want to use after spending 6 hours on office computer, and you’ll see the importance of simplicity.
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This article was first published on LinkedIn Pulse on 22nd January 2017.