Is Less Really More? Balancing Noisiness and Calmness in the User Experience
We all know the quote “less is more”, but is less really more? When it comes to design, does it really need to be clean?
How does a clean design help users? And when is it beneficial for a design to be “cluttered”?
Not every site needs to be or should be visually clean and radiate a sense of calm. The main goal is to match the site visuals with the topic and message being conveyed to users. For example, sites that are portraying the message of quantity, overload, and creativity, noisy designs are a good choice.
On the other hand, a clean design is recommended when:
1. The website’s messaging revolves around aesthetics and cleanliness.
2. The website deals with complex issues, and it needs to be explained to the user in a simple way.
What is a clean design?
The main goal of a clean design is to achieve page minimalism by minimizing distractions. This means that whenever every element added to the page has a functional value, branding, or contribution to the user’s understanding. If an element does not fit any of these three criteria, it is removed.
How do you achieve a clean design? Here are three ways to apply cleanliness to your design:
Typography
Text that is structured using the correct hierarchy creates an order in the user’s reading and allows the user to scan the page quickly. Beyond the cleanliness of black letters on a white page, one should pay attention to the weight of the letter, the letter spacing, and the white spaces on the page.
Color
It is difficult to create calmness and cleanliness when many colors are used. You should choose a limited palette (recommended up to 3 colors) and focus on this palette only. Make sure that the colors were chosen for the palette contrast enough - it helps with readability and produces cleanliness on the site. It is important to use colors in the right dosage so that it contributes to the user’s understanding of the interface.
Grid
Our eyes are drawn to patterns, and this translates in our head to order and organization. When we “break” the pattern, it creates a mess in the user’s mind, and that’s when the user gets distracted and their attention focuses on the wrong elements.
Let’s make some noise!
Colors, images, and animations are not on the site to decorate it or make it “beautiful”. They are there as a tool to get the user’s attention and help them focus on the relevant areas of the site.
The first tendency is to highlight areas on the site with arrows, color objects in shiny red, or enlarge elements.
In fact, these actions can overload the site and confuse the user. For example, the color red is universally recognized as an error and the user will interpret the color red as an error even before reading the text.
In order to create an optimal user experience - hierarchically rank the areas that are important to emphasize on the site and then choose accordingly the best ways to emphasize each area. It is important to remember not to emphasize too many elements - as the user won’t be able to focus. Imagine a situation where you are standing in a room and everyone around you is shouting and you do not know who to listen to. Similarly, pages have a lot of elements and the user needs to understand which part of the page to focus on first.
Summing it Up
In conclusion, the balance between noise and calmness on the site should be adjusted according to the experience we want to convey to the user. We base our design choices on how to best serve the user and product, hence the aesthetics of the site will be influenced.
