Celebrating 10 years : 2013 - 2023

KOTA User Interface design process: The power of good UI

April 29th 2020

By Matt

Introduction

User Interface (UI) design is the process of creating the aesthetics of an application’s interface, whether it be for a website, app or a video game. It is a UI designer’s job to design all the elements that will be seen on an interface, making sure every visual element feels united. It is down to them to make sure it is visually stimulating and matches the requirements of the application. The designers, more often than not, choose the fonts and colour schemes used – the shape of the buttons and the size of images.

Often confused with user experience (UX) design, UI design involves a very different set of skills, however, both are crucial to creating the best visitor experience. For more information on UX design read our previous blog post.

Although the UI design process varies from project to project, there are a number of main principles and guidelines we follow – read about them below!

 

The key UI principles

1. Consistency
Inconsistent website design can slow down visitors, causing them to lose interest and potentially leave the site. Multiple fonts and pages differing in complicated layouts will result in a website losing its sense of identity. If elements throughout a website are consistently located, then visitors will spend less time trying to navigate the site and more time engaging with content. Consistency is one of the most important factors for creating an effective web design.

2. Typography & Readability
The typography of your website should communicate its purpose. Similar to how tone and body language can affect something a person is saying, typography can convey feelings and reactions. The text provides users with the desired information that they came to a website for, therefore it is fundamental to keep your typography aesthetically pleasing and legible for visitors.

3. Colour Palette
Colour is fundamental for reflecting the personality of a brand and can influence a visitor’s decision making. A well-balanced colour scheme is crucial for an effective and beautiful interface. Designers must understand what colour means and the reaction it will evoke from a user. Each colour has its own influence on our mind and can help a designer portray the right message. For instance, the colour of a cancel or remove button is more often than not red, similar to a red warning road sign.

4. Visual Hierarchy
Visual hierarchy in UI design refers to the position and presentation of design elements in order of importance, allowing users to skim the information. It organises design elements so that the brain can distinguish objects based on their visual differences, including colour, contrast, size and style. If each element has equal importance and there is no hierarchy, then an interface will look overloaded and disorganised.

5. Well-organised Layouts
A well-organised web design layout allows for clear and concise user experience, it will significantly reduce a users effort spent interacting with an interface. Using a grid system is the best way to control the structure of a layout, resulting in a consistent and organised design. Grids help designers to build better interfaces by connecting different design elements together that may be physically separated from each other.

 

Conclusion

The field of web design is forever evolving and users are becoming increasingly savvy. Without any doubt, interfaces will become more intuitive but the core principles of UI design will always be a fundamental part of creating a beautiful and user-friendly interface.

Related Projects

Interested in working with KOTA?

Drop us a line at
hello@kota.co.uk

We are a Creative Digital Agency based in Clerkenwell London, specialising in Creative Web Design, Web Development, Branding and Digital Marketing.