Laws of UI/UX: To Improve your design decisions
UI & UX Laws you must know to improve your design decisions as a designer
As a designer, you need to create interfaces that help people achieve their goals. But how do you know which design will actually help them do that? You cannot just rely on your intuition — There should be a design process to create a successful and user-friendly experience.
In this article, I will be discussing 6 laws of UI and UX and how they can help you to make better design decisions.
First and foremost, always keep the user in mind when making design decisions. What will make their experience better? How can you streamline the process for them? Keep things consistent and easy to use, and don’t forget the little details that can make a big difference. Pay attention to feedback and be open to making changes — it’s all part of the process!
6 Laws of UI & UX every designer must know
Just as there are physical laws that govern the universe, there are also laws that govern the world of UI and UX design. And if you want to be a successful designer, it’s essential for you to know and understand them.
There are a total of 21 laws but I will be discussing 6 basic laws of UI &UX that every designer need to know.
1. Fitts’s Law
The time to acquire a target is a function of the distance and size of the target.
This law states that the target action should always be easily accessible to the user both in terms of the distance the user has to travel and the target’s size.
Key Takeaways
- Target should be large enough for users to be able to select or touch easily.
- Target should be clearly visible and separate from other elements in the interface by being different colored or larger in size.
- It should be within the user’s reach so that the user has to put a minimum of effort.
2. Hick’s Law
The time it takes to make a decision increases with the number and complexity of choices.
Too many and too complicated choices reduce the odds of the user actually making a decision. Too many options to choose from will lead the user to analysis paralysis, i.e., information overload preventing users from taking any action at all. Don’t cram too much into one screen or make things overly complicated for users, Keep it simple and easy to understand, and users will appreciate it.
Key Takeaways
- Minimize choices for users so that users can take action quickly.
- Break complex tasks into smaller steps in order to decrease the cognitive load.
- Avoid overwhelming users by highlighting recommended options.
- Use Progressive onboarding for new users to reduce complexity.
- Be careful not to simplify to the point of abstraction.
3. Jacob’s Law
Users spend most of their time on other sites. This means that users prefer your site to work the same way as all the other sites they already know.
Users prefer your site to be designed the way other sites they use are designed. That means that important elements on your website should behave as similar as possible to elements on other websites that the user visits regularly, it helps to leverage prevailing mental models or to create designs that meet users’ expectations.
Key Takeaways
- Users will transfer expectations they have built around one familiar product to another that appears similar.
- By leveraging existing mental models, we can create superior user experiences in which the users can focus on their tasks rather than on learning new models.
- When making changes, minimize discord by empowering users to continue using a familiar version for a limited time.
4. Von Restorff Effect
The Von Restorff effect, also known as The Isolation Effect, predicts that when multiple similar objects are present, the one that differs from the rest is most likely to be remembered.
The Von Restorff effect or The Isolation Effect says that people are more likely to remember an object that’s even slightly different than other similar objects.
Key Takeaways
- Make important information or key actions visually distinctive.
- Use restraint when placing emphasis on visual elements to avoid them competing with one another and to ensure salient items don’t get mistakenly identified as ads.
- Don’t exclude those with a color vision deficiency or low vision by relying exclusively on color to communicate contrast.
- Carefully consider users with motion sensitivity when using motion to communicate contrast.
5. Serial Position Effect
Users have a propensity to best remember the first and last items in a series.
The Serial Position Effect suggests you position the most important UX elements on the first and last of the design to improve memorization. On the other hand, place the least important element in the middle.
Key Takeaways
- Placing the least important items in the middle of lists can be helpful because these items tend to be stored less frequently in long-term and working memory.
- Positioning key actions on the far left and right within elements such as navigation can increase memorization.
6. Goal-gradient effect
The tendency to approach a goal increases with proximity to the goal.
The Goal-gradient effect state that the closer users are to a goal, the faster they are going to work to complete it.
Key Takeaways
- Providing artificial progress towards a goal will help to ensure users are more likely to have the motivation to complete that task.
- Provide a clear indication of progress in order to motivate users to complete tasks.
