Remembering Basics

The importance of basic design principles

As a designer, it is easy to feel confident in your abilities to design a website or an experience for a user. That confidence may carry you to jump some fences in the design process; however, without adherence to basic design principles, you may end creating a not so intuitive experience. User Experience design is founded upon simple principles. In my short career as a Usability Specialist, adherence to these principles has kept my feet planted and has helped me become a User Experience team of one; in which co-workers and even those above have come to seek my advice in the creation of web pages and user experiences.

There are a few design principles in particular that have been impactful in my current career.

Visual Hierarchy

Visual hierarchy is the perception of what is most important on a web page. Visual hierarchy is created through the use of color, images or buttons, typography, and more. However, it is the differences between these elements that create the hierarchy. A common example of a visual hierarchy is how color is used on “sign up” buttons; the intended action from a designer to a user is usually made significant through the use of different colors.

The text regarding the free trial and the button itself are different colors

Hick’s Law

Hick’s Law states that the more options a user has, the more time it will take the user to make a choice. With this law in mind, a designer can focus on creating a streamlined experience.

In Red Dead Redemption 2, the weapon/item wheel has various options within the menu and there are even menus within the weapon wheel. In my case, I am on this screen much longer than is wanted because of the number of options.

Progressive Disclosure

Progressive Disclosure is the art of maintaining focus on the primary information on the page and hiding (disclosing) secondary information in order to reduce clutter and avoid confusion. This can be done through a myriad of options. In most cases, I have seen this principle used through the use of drop-down menus within pages; the information within the drop-downs is more specific while the information on the main body of the page is more general.

On the Knowledge Base I work on at doTERRA, we use drop downs on pages in order to reduce clutter on the page and make the finding of more specific info more natural; we try to put emphasis on the most general information.

Consistency

Consistency is the practice of ensuring the design maintains a flow throughout the whole experience. The formatting and other design elements should be consistent throughout an experience; otherwise, credibility is lost and navigation throughout a website can become difficult.

All of Invision’s knowledge base pages follow this format; if article feedback prompts were put somewhere else besides the bottom on a different article, it could potentially throw the user off.

Aesthetic-Usability Effect

If your site doesn’t look good, chances are your intended audience will not use it. Aesthetic-Usability Effect simply means if your experience does not please the user’s eye then it is likely your experience will not be used. This effect can be achieved through the use of typography, color, and images that all mesh well together in order to create a cohesive and pretty experience.

The Vimeo landing page is inviting; the colors are cohesive and the header is not overwhelming. It is aesthetically pleasing.

Conclusion

There are many design principles that I could have listed here; they all are foundations when creating something new for a user. All in all, they should make your experience seamless, clear, and easy to use. These principles have helped me seek out and achieve simplicity in my designs. With adherence to these principles, designing good user experiences will become natural; use of these principles should not be a question. It is simply what you do. Adherence to design principles validates you as a designer.

Daniel Sanderson is a student in the Digital Media program at Utah Valley University, Orem Utah, studying Interaction & Design. The following article relates to the (DGM 2250 Course) and representative of the skills learned.