What are the main elements of a credible design and how to ensure a pleasant user interfaces?

User interface design in accordance withthe elements consistency  

Designing a user interface isan important process during which you use graphical elements to create individual interface layers of software or apps. The designer fully focuses onthe style and appearance. At the same time he must follow basic criteria which will ensure the appearance will be engaging, attractive and will create a maximal credibility of the website or the app.

Individual design elements are showing throughout the entire website. The connection of design, icons, textand pop-ups must demonstrate credibility not only from the perspective of product design but also marketing assets design.

There is only a ten-second chance for each landing page to impress a new visitor and see if he will click through the website or leaves. Only ten seconds will decide, if the visitors like the design of the website and will come back in the future. That’s not much time to gain credibility, is it? That’s why it’s necessary to come up with such design that will capture the attention and encourages the desire forconversion at the same time.

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Did you know that:

94 % of visitors will close the app or a website if they subconsciously don’t like it?

47 % of users expect the website will load in under 2seconds and if it takes longer, they will not visit the website again?

34 % of users will close the website if they don’t find the website content or design layout attractive?

Aesthetics and usage intuitiveness of the website are two basic parameters for building a trust between your website and the visitors. Good usability evokes a credibility while the aesthetics increase the desire to use the website or the app later. Even if you’ll decide for a progressive style, which is very popular nowadays, you still have to create an easy to orientate design for all visitors. Clear interfaces composed of universal user interface templates are so simple and maximally efficient that it is completely unnecessary to come up with adifferent strategy.

How to approach a website consistency

In practice, the so called website consistency is manifested through two different formats. First, the external design must be crated in accordance with the website users expectations. Internal design must be consistent with itself by adhering to the same styles that are shown on the main page. Here, we mainly include same iconstyles, button shapes etc.

✅ External consistency is quite conveniently designed through careful user research, correctly selected user interface templates and final usability of the website.

✅ Internal consistency can be tuned to perfection through, for example:

✅ Layout and navigation - this means, always place the functionsin the same area. For example always have search option in the top right corner. Why? Don’t make searching on the website complicated for users by placing the magnifying glass icon in the middle of the page. This will cause unnecessary confusion and some impatient users might leave the page after a bitof searching.

✅ Same styles - keep the website consistent so every page looks like the landing page. The visitors will be spared of a design chaos. They will be able to better orientate themselves on the website and will feel better here. Then design a functional consistency so the visuals reflect across the entire design. For example, the green button always means “buy”.

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Ensure the website quality

It is difficult to avoid all problems with website performance when you’re in the phase of development, building, drafting and designing.  Once the website is tuned to the first phase, carry out a thorough quality assurance of every page to ensure a 100% quality.

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Focus on the following during QA:

✅ Functionality - of each interactive button. Observe how the buttons behave when you click them and pay attention to even the smallest aspects such as gesture controls or animation when you move the mouse over the icon.

✅ Fake buttons - focus on the appearance of buttons and icons. Don’t put any words or phrases into frames if they’re not clickable. The buttons should be designed in such way, that they encourage users to click them. Users are wasting time by clicking the fake buttons, which is frustrating. Even such detail can make the user leave the website!

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Choose quality texts

If users got to your website through a search engine, they usually don’t waste time by reading every line oftext. Instead, they search for text, goods or service which they’ve entered into the search field.  It is important for the designer to show off the services, products, price. Leave emotional texts for your blog for example,which is designated for sharing news.

✅ Be careful with forms. They are one of the most important elements of every website. For example if the form for login, logout or sending an inquiry, is named in a funny or a different manner, the over-creativity might put off some users and they will not proceed with the conversion. In this case too, the less is more. Give the user a clear, short and clean-designed form that will not scare them off and will look professional.

This also applies to buttons. When creating the design, keep in mind that the user must click this button in order to finish the action. These might also be the social media icons. Each button, even for “likes” must be intuitive. Buttons that are too small/large disrupt the user comfort.

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Final advice

User interface and the website design itself cannot be created without appropriate challenges. Without a doubt, designers must overcome a large number of obstacles which will eventually help to create captivating and enjoyable user interface. Only then the website will fulfill its functions.