10 scariest UI /UX design mistakes
In the ever-evolving world of UI/UX design, the line between success and failure is razor-thin. Even the smallest design misstep can lead to user frustration, lower conversion rates, or even product failure. To help you avoid these pitfalls, we’ve compiled a list of the 10 scariest UI/UX mistakes you should avoid at all costs. Each mistake is accompanied by a real-life example, so you can learn from the trials and tribulations of others. Let’s dive in!
1. Unintuitive Navigation:
Navigation is the backbone of any website or app. When users can’t find what they’re looking for, it can lead to frustration and high bounce rates. Navigation should be clear, concise, and easy to use. A cluttered and confusing navigation menu can turn users off and cause them to leave your site. For example, if a user is searching for a particular product or service on an e-commerce website but is unable to locate it easily due to a poorly designed navigation menu, they may abandon the site altogether.
New York Times’ fumble :
The New York Times is one of the most popular news websites in the world, with millions of readers accessing its content on a daily basis. However, until recently, the website had a cluttered and confusing navigation menu that made it difficult for users to find what they were looking for. The navigation menu was overloaded with links to different sections of the website, and it was not organized in an intuitive or user-friendly way.
This presented a problem for users, who were unable to quickly and easily find the articles or sections they were interested in. This caused frustration and high bounce rates, as users abandoned the website in favor of other news sources that were easier to navigate.
In response, the New York Times redesigned its navigation menu to make it cleaner, simpler, and more intuitive. The new design features fewer links, larger fonts, and more white space, making it easier for users to scan and navigate the site. The navigation menu is now organized into clear categories, such as news, opinion, arts, and living, making it easier for users to find the content they are looking for.
By simplifying and streamlining the navigation menu, the New York Times was able to make it easier for users to find what they were looking for and keep them coming back to the website.
2. Poor Readability:
Low contrast text, small font sizes, and crowded content can make it nearly impossible for users to read and comprehend information. This can lead to a poor user experience and make it difficult for users to engage with your content. To avoid this mistake, use clear and legible fonts, appropriate contrast, and well-organized content. For instance, a mobile app with small font size and low-contrast text may not be legible for users with visual impairments, resulting in a frustrating experience for them.
Chili’s underwhelming design
Chili’s is a popular restaurant chain with locations all over the world. To make it easier for customers to order food and drinks, the company developed a mobile app that allowed users to browse menus, place orders, and pay for their meals. However, the original version of the app had several usability issues that made it difficult for users to navigate and use effectively.
One of the most significant issues was poor readability. The app had low contrast text, small font sizes, and crowded content, which made it challenging for users to read and comprehend information. This, in turn, led to a poor user experience and low engagement rates, as users struggled to use the app effectively.
To address these issues, Chili’s redesigned its mobile app with larger font sizes, clearer headings, and better spacing between elements. The new design also included a high-contrast color scheme to make it easier for users to read and distinguish different elements of the app. The company also simplified the user interface by removing unnecessary buttons and features, making the app easier to use overall.
These changes had a significant impact on the app’s usability and user engagement. By improving readability and simplifying the user interface, Chili’s was able to create a more user-friendly experience for its customers. This, in turn, led to higher engagement rates, as users were able to use the app more effectively to order and pay for their meals.
By redesigning its mobile app with larger font sizes, clearer headings, and better spacing between elements, Chili’s was able to improve the usability and user engagement of its app, making it easier for customers to order and pay for their meals.
3. Ignoring Accessibility
Lack of accessible design features, such as alt text for images and proper color contrast, can alienate users with disabilities and violate accessibility guidelines. Accessibility should be a top priority for all designers to ensure that all users can access and use your product. Let’s consider an image on a website or app that does not have alternative text descriptions, users with visual impairments may not be able to understand the context of the image.
Kaiser Permanente and its complicated UI/UX
Kaiser Permanente, a healthcare provider, recognized this issue with its website and took steps to address it. The website’s lack of accessible design features made it difficult for users with disabilities to navigate and access important health information. To address this issue, Kaiser Permanente updated its website with better color contrast, larger fonts, and clear headings to make it easier for users with visual impairments to read and comprehend information. They also added alt text for images, which is essential for users who rely on screen readers to access website content. Additionally, they ensured that their website is compatible with assistive technologies such as screen readers, allowing users with disabilities to access their website with ease. By addressing these accessibility issues, Kaiser Permanente improved the user experience for all users, including those with disabilities, making their healthcare information more accessible to everyone.
4. Inconsistent Design Elements
Inconsistent use of fonts, colors, and design elements creates confusion and undermines the overall user experience. Consistency is key in design, and using the same design elements throughout your product will make it easier for users to understand and navigate. A mobile app that uses different fonts and colors on different screens may confuse users and make it difficult for them to navigate the app.
Uber’s inconsistent approach :
Uber is known for its user-friendly app that allows users to easily request a ride from their smartphones. However, the company faced criticism for inconsistent use of design elements in its app, leading to a confusing user experience. In response, Uber updated its app with a consistent design language, including a standardized color palette, typography, and UI elements. This update helped users to quickly and easily identify and navigate the various features of the app, improving their overall experience. The consistent design also created a sense of cohesiveness throughout the app, enhancing the brand’s reputation as a reliable and user-friendly service. The updated design not only improved the user experience but also helped to increase user engagement and retention.
5. Overuse of Jargon
Using industry-specific terminology without clear explanations can alienate users and make your content less user-friendly. When writing content, avoid jargon and use simple, everyday language that everyone can understand. A website that uses a lot of technical terms without providing simple explanations may be difficult to understand for users who are not familiar with the jargon.
“Any fool can make something complicated. It takes a genius to make it simple.” — Woody Guthrie, American singer-songwriter and folk musician.
Oracle’s highly technical approach:
n the highly technical world of enterprise software, it can be easy to fall into the trap of using jargon and acronyms that may not be familiar to all users. This was the case with Oracle’s website, which used industry-specific terminology without clear explanations, making it difficult for non-technical users to understand their products and services. To address this issue, Oracle updated its website with clearer explanations and more user-friendly language, including the use of plain English wherever possible. For example, technical terms like “virtualization” were explained in simple terms such as “running multiple operating systems on one computer.” By making their website more accessible to a wider range of users, Oracle was able to improve the overall user experience and attract a larger audience to their products and services.
6. Complicated Forms
Long, complex forms with unclear instructions can deter users from completing actions, like signing up for a service or making a purchase. To avoid this mistake, simplify your forms, provide clear instructions, and only ask for essential information. A customer is more likely to exit the app or the website when confronted by lengthy and complicated forms.
Etsy wasn’t easy
A sign-up process that is long and complex with unclear instructions can cause frustration and confusion for users, leading to high drop-off rates and lost potential customers. This was the case for the online marketplace Etsy, which realized that their sign-up process was discouraging users from completing the process. To address this issue, Etsy redesigned its sign-up process with a focus on simplicity and clarity. They shortened the forms, made instructions clearer, and introduced more intuitive design elements. For example, they added a progress bar to show users how much of the sign-up process they had completed, and they also introduced helpful hints and tips to guide users through the process. These changes improved the user experience and increased sign-up completion rates, which ultimately led to more successful transactions on the platform.
7. Slow Load Times
Users expect fast loading times, and if your app or website takes too long to load, they’re likely to abandon it. Slow load times can also affect your search engine rankings. To avoid this mistake, optimize your images, minify your code, and use a content delivery network (CDN) to speed up load times. Using a lot of high-resolution images and videos in your designs could seem like a nice idea, but it increases the load time, forcing people to exit your site even before it loads.
The blue bird wasn’t fast enough :
Slow load times are a common issue that can significantly impact user experience, leading to frustration and disengagement. This was a problem that affected Twitter’s mobile app, which was causing users to lose interest and switch to other social media platforms. To address this issue, Twitter optimized its app for faster load times. This involved a variety of improvements, such as reducing the amount of data the app had to load, optimizing images, and streamlining the code. Additionally, Twitter added a “lite” version of its app, which is specifically designed for users with slower internet connections or older devices. These optimizations and updates have resulted in faster load times and improved user engagement, making Twitter a more competitive and user-friendly social media platfoms.
8. Lack of Clear Call-to-Action
Unclear or missing CTAs can result in users not knowing what to do next, causing confusion and lost conversions. CTAs should be clear and prominent, guiding users to take the desired action. Not having a clear CTA will generate fewer leads and conversions and create a poor user experience.
Amazon’s failed CTAs :
CTAs, or calls-to-action, are a critical part of any website’s design as they guide users toward desired actions, such as making a purchase, signing up for a service, or subscribing to a newsletter. In the case of Amazon, the unclear or missing CTAs on its landing page were causing confusion among users and preventing them from taking the desired action, ultimately leading to lost conversions and revenue. To address this issue, Amazon redesigned its landing page with clearer and more prominent CTAs, ensuring that users could easily identify and click on them. The new design made use of contrasting colors and bold fonts to draw attention to the CTAs, and provided clear and concise instructions to guide users through the process. The result was a significant improvement in conversions and user engagement, ultimately leading to increased revenue for Amazon.
9. Not Designing for Mobile Devices
Ignoring the needs of mobile users can lead to a frustrating experience and may drive users away from your site or app. Mobile design should be a top priority, as more and more users access the internet from their smartphones. Not optimizing your design for mobile devices can make your designs look cluttered and unorganized.
Target’s desktop-only design :
In the past, the Target website was not optimized for mobile devices, resulting in a poor user experience for mobile users. The site was difficult to navigate, buttons and links were too small to be easily clicked, and images were often too large or poorly resized. This made it frustrating for users trying to browse products or make purchases on their smartphones or tablets. To improve the user experience for mobile users, Target updated its website with responsive design elements. This included using a mobile-first design approach, optimizing images and fonts for smaller screens, and implementing touch-friendly elements like larger buttons and links. The site was also optimized for faster load times, which helped to reduce bounce rates and increase user engagement. With these improvements, Target was able to provide a better user experience for mobile users, resulting in increased engagement and sales on mobile devices.
10. Neglecting User Feedback
Disregarding user feedback can prevent you from identifying and fixing critical issues in your design, leading to a subpar user experience. User feedback should be taken seriously and used to improve your product. Regularly solicit feedback and make necessary improvements to ensure that your users are satisfied. If users report a bug or a problem with a website or app, ignoring their feedback may result in further frustration and dissatisfaction with the product.
“Your most unhappy customers are your greatest source of learning.” — Bill Gates, the co-founder of Microsoft
Zoom’s ignorance :
User feedback is an essential aspect of improving any product or service, and the video conferencing platform Zoom learned this lesson the hard way. Zoom’s disregard for user feedback led to a subpar user experience, with critical issues in its design going unresolved. This resulted in lost engagement among users who were dissatisfied with the platform. To address this issue, Zoom began actively seeking and incorporating user feedback into its design process. By listening to the needs and concerns of its users, Zoom was able to identify and fix critical issues in its platform, resulting in a more user-friendly and engaging experience. The company now regularly solicits feedback from users, and has implemented a number of features and design changes based on that feedback. This approach has helped Zoom regain user trust and increase engagement, ultimately leading to its success as a leading video conferencing platform.
Conclusion
By learning from these examples and avoiding these common UI/UX design mistakes, you can create a more enjoyable, accessible, and user-friendly experience for your audience. Remember, great design is about understanding and catering to the needs of your users. Keep their needs at the forefront of your design process, and you’ll be on your way to creating a product that stands out in the competitive digital landscape.
Weave is a Design Agency focused on building magical experiences through purpose-driven design. Our aim is to create products that people truly love. To know more visit weavedesign.us
