Developing a customer interface that is relatable to consumers or employees can feel like a daunting task. Without a solid idea of what will make the application intuitive to use, or the workflows involved, it's remarkably easy to build a system that makes sense to the design team—and not many other people.
To find out more about what teams should be considering, especially during the early phases of design, we asked members of Forbes Technology Council to weigh in on which aspects of UI design are crucial for success, as well as touch on why they are so important. Here’s what they had to say:
1. Simplicity
When the UI for an application is simple it automatically becomes intuitive. A simple UI is one where the user can complete the intended task with minimal interactions with the application. When the interaction with the software is simple or intuitive, it results in higher adoption or usage. When the software is easy to use it will lead to fewer support calls as the chances of making a mistake is lower. Additionally, the training requirements will also be minimal. From a product standpoint, we can clearly see the benefits of front-loading the efforts to make the UI simple rather than spend the resources and effort to train, support and incentivize the product use once deployed. - Ram Subramanian, PerceptiMed Inc.
2. Understand The Target Users
Involve the end user and understand their specific workflows and thought processes. This is critical because software should support the user and augment their thought process, not replace it. - David Lareau, Medicomp Systems
3. Consistency And Speed
Consistency and speed are very critical in UI. A lot of time, designers get carried away in design and create non-usable UI. Instead, it needs to be simple, consistent and fast to facilitate becoming habit forming. - Ankur Garg, Hotify Inc.
4. Full Control For The User
Create a UI where your users feel like they're always in control. Imagine driving a car where the brakes were moved, your speedometer is near your gear-shifter or windshield wipers are turned on and off by a passenger. You'd be super frustrated because you'd feel uncomfortable with that direction. Much software UI is built exactly like this, and clearly doesn't understand the use cases of the user or have empathy for how it will be used. You want your users to love using your software. - Robert Fly, Elevate Security
5. Purpose And Value
It's critical to first focus on the purpose and value that the UI is trying to deliver. Following that, it's important to make the UI intuitive for the users. Somewhat counterintuitive, aesthetics comes in last on the list. - Eugene Khazin, Prime TSR
Read more in Our Expectations Of Software Have Changed -- It's Time UX Caught Up
6. Intuitive
In the current age of consumerism, UI design is more vital than ever. UI design must be simplistic and intuitive. It’s becoming more challenging to capture a user and keep them on a site, due to the vast amount of information available and shorter attention spans. If consumers find a website too complex or difficult to navigate, they may find their information elsewhere, ultimately resulting in lower website traffic/conversions. UI design appeals to users and helps them easily navigate throughout the site, giving them confidence in the company and brand. - Kris Rajana, Biarca, Inc
7. Elegance And Ease Of Use
Simple, elegant, and intuitive design is critical for success when building successful user interfaces. If you lack one of the three, you often risk: one, missing the point with a large number of you're users (if it's not simple enough); two, losing your users to competitors (who provide more elegant, modern designs that are more pleasant on the eye); or three, trapping or frustrating your users with dead-ends or failed workflows where it's not intuitive. There are other important things to consider and trends to follow such as flat design (which I subscribe to as well). However, always keeping in mind that you need to be simple, elegant and intuitive will help in whatever path you take. - Zachary Jarvinen, OpenText
