UI-UX designers are on a mission to offer engaging experiences to end users and help visitors accomplish their tasks seamlessly. While following standard design practices, they tend to focus on the aesthetics of web and mobile applications.
However, if designers commit some critical mistakes, they can be carried away. Therefore, it is essential for them to avoid these common mistakes while working independently or as a part of an app development team,
As one of the top-notch IT outsourcing services providers, we have come across a plethora of situations where UI/UX designers committed rookie mistakes and then resolved them. Today, the sky is the limit when you hire UI/UX designers as they do amazing work. But then, it is always helpful to them to make a list of critical errors that they should avoid.
Designers, let’s delve into these mistakes and share some tips to avoid them. Read this article, and we are sure that you will find it useful.
Seven Common Design Mistakes and How You Can Avoid Them
1. Fault in Font Choice
Content is king but when it comes to customised websites or mobile apps, fonts can be a king-maker! Simply put, if visitors or users cannot easily read the content, they will leave for better options available on the Internet. It is particularly true for eCommerce websites. Therefore, as a designer, you need to follow the guidelines on line spacing, font size, and line length while selecting the fonts.
Some of the prevalent rules of line spacing are-
- Reduce lines between 70 to 80 characters
- Ensure optimal readability by maintaining spacing between 140-180%
- Select the minimum size of 16pt for web fonts
- Double-check line spacing while changing fonts or their sizes
These rules can give the content enough space so that users can easily read and understand.
2. Interface Complications
Why do you hire web designers? The primary answer to this question is- to get a simple yet appealing interface. If we check the websites of some big names like Uber, Zomato, and Flickr, all of them have a simple yet elegant interface. In today’s rapid life, everyone wants all things quick and easy. When it comes to the online competitive world, complicated UIs remain cumbersome for users. They may abandon complicated and overly fancy UI for simpler options.
So, while creating an interface for a mobile app or a web application, it is critical for designers to reconsider the features and alignment.
3. Overused Pop-ups & CTAs
Popups and CTAs are some of the most effective options to drive traffic and increase conversion rates. Entrepreneurs and digital marketers consider them highly useful to grow their businesses by attracting more prospects. But then, Google mentioned back in 2016 that web pages with pop-ups could have a negative impact on the search rankings for respective websites. Google took stringent actions against all such websites that had concealed their content through a pop-up.
In brief, designers have to follow the standard practice while integrating popups and CTAs into the website. Similarly, while designing a mobile app, designers need to stay away from adding unwanted popups to give a consistent user experience and reduce interruptions.
4. Ignoring Content Synchronisation
How pathetic it looks when a web page or an application is full of content or design! A good design is what has made the best use of negative space. When designers fill the empty space with content or design without thinking of synchronization, it will either boost the bounce rate or the app uninstall rate. So, a UI/UX design company needs to ensure that enough space between components is left so that they can serve their purposes.
There is no exaggeration in mentioning that taking care of this design mistake can help UI/UX designers make a design that attracts many users at once.
5. Excessive Animation
Animation is a trend that gains popularity swiftly in the domain of web and mobile app design. Animation adds life to the design of the website but it should be used in the correct amount and at the right place. There is no exaggeration in mentioning that excessive animation can ruin the design of your website. So, it is necessary to ensure that designers use animation in a proper way to keep the user experience smooth.
6. Misplaced Headers
Displaying tall headers has become a norm on modern websites. Navigation menus and other components also occupy a lot of space. In such a scenario, designers need to use fixed elements like sticky headers with caution because they may bring issues related to visualisation and user experience.
On some popular websites, headers are over 150 pixels in length. Such tall headers can reduce the website’s aesthetic value, and therefore, it is imperative that UI/UX designers take care of the size and placement of headers on the website.
7. Lack of distinction between Buttons
Every mobile app has primary and secondary buttons. These buttons are helpful in performing various tasks. Also, the entire navigation takes place through these buttons, so designers should highlight the major buttons. Along with this, UI/UX designers need to keep secondary buttons noticeable while making them less appealing than major buttons.
Designers can use different visual weights for primary and secondary buttons. The button with the greatest visual weight should easily stand out. You can use stronger colours and larger sizes for giving an edge to primary buttons over secondary buttons.
8. Errors related to Carousels
Carousels are slideshows that rotate on landing pages and homepages of websites. They are useful and remain engaging for users, but then they have certain limitations as well as usability issues for new. As a result, integrating carousels in an improper way can become a common UX error.
As per the Nielsen Norman Group revelation, people tend to scroll through large images immediately and thereby miss the content written within them. This tendency may cause a negative impact on user experience. On the other hand, when put correctly, carousels can engage visitors or users with appealing images.
9. Avoiding Feedback
Listening to the user’s feedback and implementing changes accordingly can be one of the key roles of UI/UX designers and developers. Users can be the best judge of web and mobile applications, and therefore, avoiding their feedback or failure in implementing changes they have suggested can lead to the failure of web or mobile app solutions.
When you hire UI/UX designers for a new project, you can make them ready to implement changes based on the feedback or comments of early users. In a way, designers can stay away from making the mistake of avoiding valuable feedback and make the necessary changes in their designs.
Along with these mistakes, it is better to consider the following tips to ace your UI/UX design domain.
- Give your design the space it deserves
Space between designs enables you to create clarity and add creativity. It enables users to keep their attention and get rid of distractions. A minimal design concept is based on this idea. Simply put, if you want to offer intuitive and pleasant user experiences, you need to master the art of using blank space.
- Remain consistent with everything
Consistency holds a key to success- this holds true in the UI/UX design segment also. If you make designs without following any rules, such designs can mess everything up. Inconsistency in fonts, colours, margins, and padding shows a lack of attention to detail, and users or visitors tend to stay away from such designs.
- Keep navigation simple and friendly
While making a design for web or mobile applications, UI/UX designers need to take care of the user journey. Simple and user-friendly navigation can attract and retain more people. However, it does not mean that you need not think of giving it creative touch using page transitions. While keeping the navigation simple, you can strive for expressiveness.
- Minimise instruction in designs
What’s the point in explaining your design using texts? Good design options can decrease cognitive load significantly and users can easily find what they want. It is fair to say that good UI/UX designs do not need a bunch of tutorials or instructions in text form. Such designs prove the adage, “A picture is worth a thousand words.”
Wrapping Up
Trends in web and mobile app design keep on changing, and therefore, as a UI/UX designer you need to implement them with caution to avoid some common mistakes. While keeping these tips in mind, you can use judgement in the best way possible while coming up with innovative designs. All you need to maintain a subtle balance between usability, efficiency, and aesthetics to offer the best user experience.
Devs In India is your reputed and reliable outsourcing partner for a wide range of digital services. You can hire web designers, mobile app developers, and other professionals through our flexible engagement models. If you want to book a free consultation or get a quote for your project, simply drop us a line at info@devsinindia.com, and we will get back to you soon!
