Top 15 Basic UX Design Principles for Beginners and Professionals

UX Design principles are crucial for a website's success, yet they are often underestimated. Developing the right user experience design is a time-consuming process that involves multiple factors. These factors include time and money, which are essential investments that companies make in UX Design for achieving product success.  

According to Toptal, 88% of end-users are least likely to return to a website after a dissatisfactory user experience. On a positive note, Forrester reports that every 1 GBP invested in UX Design generates a return of approximately 90 GBP. Furthermore, incorporating UX Design principles can differentiate a company's product from its competitors and make it stand out in the market. UX Design can help create the most memorable user experiences. This blog presents some UX Design principles that you can implement to deliver the best user experiences. 

Table of Contents 

1) What is UX Design? 

2) What are the principles of UX Design? 

    a) User-centric or User-focused 

    b) Consistency 

    c) Hierarchy 

    d) Accessibility 

    e) End-user in control 

    f) Less is more 

    g) Usability Testing 

    h) Context Matters 

    i) Information Architecture 

3) How to use UX Design? 

4) Conclusion

What is UX Design? 

"UX" or "User Experience" is an ever-evolving and creative industry that encourages novice practitioners to bring fresh ideas. However, there are fundamental UX Design Principles that every new designer should understand. 

According to the Interaction Design Foundation (IDF), UX Principles help designers produce aesthetic designs that they can incorporate into their work. Therefore, it's essential for amateur designers to become familiar with these guidelines and integrate them into their design practice. 
 
Another vital aspect of UX Design is to maintain a high level of relevance between the users and the experience provided in the application. The idea of UX translates to "easy-to-use," "fun," and "enjoyable." The realisation of UX Design dates back to 1988 when Donald Norman published "The Design of Everyday Things." The book discussed the cognitive elements of design, citing good and bad examples and included basic protocols for designers to strengthen the usability of any object. 
 
As the Lead designer at Apple in the late 80s, Norman made sure that his book directed attention to the complexities of object design. UX Design has evolved ever since and has earned the position as the de-facto standard for user-led design thinking. However, many designers still fail to understand the importance of applying user-led design principles. 

What are the principles of UX Design? 

Let us take you through a few essential UX Design Principles, along with the application techniques, so that the waters are clearer to see before stepping foot: 

User-centric or User-focused  

User-centric design is probably the primary focus of UX Design as it addresses a frequent concern in website design. As web design frameworks become more complex, designers tend to focus more on staying ahead of their competitors rather than catering to the end-users. 
 
Integrating User Experience with web design will help you create a user-centric interface. Elegant blends of form and function in website design ensure excellent quality experiences for end-users. Moreover, the complexity and depth of UX Design research will depend on the organisation's size. 
 
Designers and UX researchers must base their decisions on actual user data instead of making assumptions. This involves identifying user pain points and preferences. User-testing should be a vital part of the process. 

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Consistency 

From a broad perspective, consistency in design and functionality should span across all webpages and products. Many popular apps and websites use common templates to design their user interfaces, establishing a consistent aesthetic.  
When users browse websites, they already have an idea of what they expect it to look like. This end-user perspective needs to be accommodated in all designs. Web designers don’t need to completely replicate other websites, but they need to ensure familiarity and comfort. This will help users navigate your website better. Therefore, the smoother the website experience, the higher the chances of your users coming back.  

Hierarchy 

Hierarchy is one of the UX Design Principles that tends to be overlooked and can be easily taken for granted. Hierarchy allows smooth website navigation for end-users, helping their attention move smoothly across the UI. Apart from maintaining ease-of-use, Hierarchy also helps organise the design according to user priority.  A few examples are differences between font sizes and colour contrasts in buttons. For example, main or ‘primary’ buttons can be brighter, while ‘secondary’ buttons can be paler in contrast. This illustrates the Contrast Principle of Design and helps guide users properly through the interface.

Accessibility 

Accessibility in UX Design involves designing websites and applications with end-users who have disabilities, such as hearing, vision impairment, and other cognitive conditions, in mind. Designers must remove any navigational obstacles from the website layout. Specially-abled users require navigation that is designed to accommodate their impairment. For example, websites could use more contrasting colours for the background text to aid visually impaired users. 


 

End-user in control 

When users are in control of their browsing, they tend to spend more time on the website. Additionally, when users make navigational mistakes, they need an easy way out. It should be easier for the user to ‘undo’ or ‘redo’ their actions. This is essential to maintain a good User Experience. 

Less is more  

The concept of ‘Minimalism’ involves individuals practicing a lifestyle of living with fewer possessions and increased personal space. The idea of Minimalism can also benefit end-users in UX Design. Users can save on operational and cognitive costs, thus avoiding burnout. A visually aesthetic UX Design is minimalistic and optimised for easy navigation and browsing.A great example of minimalism in UX Design is Apple's iPhone and iPod, which are well-known for their streamlined keyboard design. Apple's website also follows the principle of ‘less is more’. 

Usability Testing 

As the term suggests, Usability testing is focused on ensuring safety and ease of use for the user. Two important goals for a website are to retain visitors and to boost the click-through rate (CTR). These goals can be accomplished if the designer ensures that every button, icon, and display have a purpose. During Usability Testing, participants are asked to interact with the design, and testers take notes to observe any problems encountered.   



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Context Matters 

Context matters, but in what way? UX Designers must create designs that are appropriate for the end-user's context. Context can include many factors, such as the user’s emotional state, the type of device they are using, their influences, and whether they have a sedentary or active lifestyle. For example, a user’s emotional state can directly impact their patience during navigation. Additionally, mobile phones have become the de-facto means for web traffic. Hence, if a UX Design is clear enough to be read and navigated in a noisy, crowded environment like a club, it is likely to be effective. 

Information Architecture 

The UX Design Principle of Information Architecture is related to the principle of Hierarchy, both being structure centric. With regards to a website’s organisational structure, the Information Architecture creates the following: Navigation, Hierarchies, Categorisations, and Sitemaps. A good practice of Information Architecture entails users understanding what they are looking at and where to find what they need. The primary menu at the top of the website is generally the first point of attention for any user and serves as the base level of the hierarchy. The journey through the hierarchy is taken for granted as it feels very natural, even though it is a prime factor for a good User Experience. 

Tools for Efficiency 

Efficiency is a measure of how quickly users accomplish their tasks if they are familiar with the UX Design. It‘s essential to understand how end-users prefer to work in the interface and reassess if they take too long to complete their tasks. Additionally, new users naturally take more time to achieve their goals than regular users. Forms are a great way to assess the efficiency of an interface. A more efficient User Experience always translates to a higher conversion rate.  

How to use UX Design? 

When it comes to UX Design, every single interaction between the business and the end-users is considered crucial as a ‘use-case’ for designing good quality experiences. The UX Design Process plays a key role in ensuring that the user’s needs are met at every step. All in all, the aim of great UX Design is to aid users in doing what they wish to do while interacting with your business. UX Design is considerably human-centric or user-led. If the design team considers only their perspectives of the interaction process, it will result in decreased user retention and low conversion rates.The central idea is to emphasise the end-users and what they wish to do while interacting with your online business or service.

More importantly, making good use of human emotions is a smart and useful technique to reward end-users with good experiences. As an example, a user can associate a successful purchase with satisfaction, and they can also feel welcome at the homepage. If a brand has a good budget, it can carry out user experience research as a ‘prelaunch’ process. This research provides the feedback on usability from your target audience or end-users. Another method is to perform A/B testing, where two UX versions of the website are tested simultaneously. This method helps determine the better of the two UX Designs, which will help the brand and its customers achieve their respective goals. A strong understanding of these aspects can be beneficial for those considering UX Design as Career Option as it highlights the impact UX professionals have on business success.  

Conclusion 

We have so far introduced you to the idea of UX Design and its importance in user retention and the market standard of the brand. UX Designers and researchers must abide by certain rules to ensure a consistent and stable user-retaining brand. Equal accessibility, hierarchical web structures, minimalist web designs, and user-centric architectures are a few UX Design Principles. Additionally, when preparing for UI Designer Interview Questions, it’s important to highlight how these UX principles inform the design choices you make to create a seamless user experience. If you're interested in entering this field, understanding How to Become a UX Designer is the first step toward mastering these principles and building impactful user experiences. Incorporating End User Experience Monitoring (EUEM) can further enhance these efforts by providing insights into how real users interact with the design, ensuring continuous improvement and optimal user satisfaction.  
 
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