A great UI Design is something that has a balance of all the elements in an expected manner for a user. Visuals make every piece appear to be harmonious which makes the design feel functionally and aesthetically pleasing. But are you aware of the fundamental of UI design principles?
If, no then you are at the right place, Here in this article, we will look into the basics of UI, its types, and lastly, the 10 UI design principles you must follow as a UI designer. Also, we will talk about the tactics that top companies like Apple and Amazon are using in their UI designing game.
What is UI (User Interface)?
A user interface is the point of interaction between the user and a digital device or product.
Such as the touchscreen on your smartphone or the touchpad you use in your car to select which kind of song you want to listen to.
When it comes to relation with websites or apps, UI design considers the look and feel of the product. It’s all about making sure that the UI of the product is as intuitive as possible, and that means considering each and every visual carefully.
For this, the UI designer will deal with interactive elements such as icons, buttons, typography, color schemes, spacing, and responsive design of a product.
UI Elements
A user interface is made up of multiple components, the main include:
» Input Control
These are interactive elements that enable a user to enter any kind of information. Input controls include components such as checkboxes, buttons, text fields, and dropdown menus.
» Navigational elements
Navigational elements help the user to navigate an interface in order to complete their desired task. These elements include things like search fields, sliders, and hamburger menus.
» Informational Elements
These are the components that communicate useful information to the user, for example through message boxes, notifications, and progress bars.
» Containers
Containers are used to categorize content into meaningful sections. Based on the user’s screen size, a container holds various elements, keeping them to a reasonable maximum width.
For example of a container in UI design is an accordion, a menu that shows a list of headers stacked on top of one another. When clicked, these headers will hide or show content.
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What is a UI Design?
A user interface design is the user-centered method of designing the aesthetics of a digital product. Basically, a UI designer creates the look and feel of an application or website’s user interface.
According to research conducted by Forester, an effective UI design has the potential to improve a website’s conversion rate by as much as 200%.
The primary aim of a UI designer is to create functional, easy-to-use, and appealing interfaces for users.
All of the elements that we have discussed above as well as animations that allow a user to interact with digital products are designed by a UI designer.
These are the elements used in UI design to create interfaces that are easy to navigate as well as visually appealing.
As such UI design covers the following main aspects:
» Interactivity: How user interface and its elements work together, for example when a user touches the screen what happens next.
» Visual Design: How exactly an interface look, including things like color, typography, imagery, graphics, logos, icon design, and spacing.
» Informational Architecture: It includes how the content within the interface is lebelled and organized.
It is important to note that a well-designed UI is critical for the success of a good user experience.
Before we dive into 10 UI design principles, let's understand what types of UI are there.
Types of User Interface (UI)
1. Graphical User Interface
Graphical user interface (GUI) is tricky because it contains multiple menus and other elements unique to the GUI, such as keyboard and mouse interactions.
In simple words, GUI is an interface in which a user interacts with graphical components such as icons, buttons, and menus. In GUI, the visuals displayed in the UI communicate information relevant to the user, as well as actions that they can take.
2. Touchscreen Graphical User Interface
As the name suggests, the touchscreen graphical user interface requires users to interact with the device with their finger-touch.
Today, it has become a commonly used choice due to the popularity of portable digital devices. As a user, you always come across touchscreen GUI when you look at almost anything on your phone or tablet.
The primary difference between common GUI and touchscreen GUI is the feature of swiping, holding, clicking, and other features like a two-finger tap gesture to zoom an object.
There are many types of UI and it is important to know them in order to use a specific type of UI at the right place.
3. Menu-Driven Interface
A menu-driven interface lets users interact with a device by working their way through a series of screens or menus. When a user makes a selection by tapping or clicking on the list format or graphic, it takes the user to the next screen or page.
This interface should be well-designed so that your audience can understand what the titles will lead to. Otherwise, the user experience will suffer, and your users have to click all the menu items to find the right one.
4. Command Line Interface
A command line interface is a type of program that allows text input to execute an operating system. In simple words, it means interacting with a computer program by putting lines of text.
Generally, this type of menu is not meant for the average user. It is used mostly when working with cloud services. Nowadays, most users use a graphical user interface instead of a command line interface.
To facilitate automation tasks, many programs and services usually have a CLI in addition to a GUI.
5. Conversational UI
Conversational UI allows users to interact with devices such as smartphones and tablets simply by telling them what to do. It can be in verbal form voice-controlled (such as Siri or Alexa) or written (like Chatbots).
It could support rather structured input like “set a clock for tomorrow” or more casual inputs such as “I need something to entertain my kids”, depending on the complexity of the given tool.
With this technology, users have the choice to hold human-like conversations with their devices instead of using computer languages.
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10 UI Design Principles You Must Follow
Effective UI designs are essential for creating intuitive and enhancing overall user experience. For this, UI designers follow a set of principles of UI Design that guide them in their design decisions.
After thorough research, I have listed 10 key principles of user interface design to drive the success of digital products.
1. Keep it Simple
Keeping your interfaces simple is a fundamental principle that a UI designer should follow to minimize user complexity.
As a UI designer, you should keep your interfaces clean, uncluttered, and easy to understand to create intuitive experiences that provide convenience to users.
For example, Google's homepage, with its minimalist interface features a single search bar and minimal clutter, allowing users to quickly find what they are looking for without any complexity.
2. Follow User Hierarchy
A UI designer must follow the user hierarchy by arranging screen elements to prioritize their importance and guide users’ attention. It assists users in understanding the structure and how the information is organized, which makes it easier for users to navigate and find their desired things.
Let’s take a look at the visual hierarchy of an e-commerce platform, Amazon. The main information such as product titles and prices is prominently displayed, while other information like customer reviews is presented in a hierarchy that guides the user’s attention.
3. Clarity
As a UI designer, you should focus more on clarity rather than making it fancy with any unnecessary features. It helps users to understand given information in a more easier way.
With proper organization of page content, straightforward language, appropriate typography, and visual cues, users can get a more comfortable experience.
Let’s take a look at Apple’s UI design:
4. Accessibility
When it comes to creating good UI designs, accessibility is a critical principle to ensure that digital products are usable by any individual with disabilities.
A UI designer must consider factors carefully such as color, contrast, font size, keyboard navigation, and screen reader compatibility.
Accessibility features of Apple’s iOS showcase their commitment to creating inclusive designs. Features such as VoiceOver for blind or low-vision users and Dynamic Type for adjusting font sizes to accommodate different visual needs are some examples of accessibility.
5. Give Control to Users
Giving user control means providing your users the ability to navigate, interact, and customize the UI according to their needs. It enhances a sense of ownership in users empowers them and also increases the engagement rate with the digital product. 
For example, YouTube offers many features for users to control such as playback controls, allowing them to play, pause, resume, and adjust volume according to their preferences.
6. Keep it Aesthetic
Today, with constantly changing user preferences it has become more difficult to capture user attention. Aesthetic interfaces and visuals not only improve user engagement but also help in building a strong brand identity. 
However, it involves multiple factors like careful selection of colors, typography, and visual elements to evoke desired emotions and create a positive impression in front of users.
For example, the official website of Apple is a prime example of keeping UI aesthetic for users.
7. Consistency
UI designers should make sure that both the terminology and graphic elements are maintained across similar platforms. Such as an icon that showcases one category or concept should not represent a different category or concept when used on a different screen by a user. It is a best user interface design principle.
Further, developing design norms such as following platform convections allows users to complete new tasks without having to learn whole features. This may sound like a simple concept to you but there are several examples out there that exhibit a lack of consistency in their UI designs.
8. Adaptability
Adaptability in UI designs involves interfaces that can easily adapt different features such as different screen sizes, resolutions, and orientations. It is important to create interfaces that offer consistent experiences across various platforms or devices.
For example, we can take Spotify, a music streaming app that offers a responsive UI design that adapts to different screen sizes and ensures that users get an optimized experience whether they are using a smartphone or any device.
9. Error Prevention
Error prevention in UI design focus on creating interfaces that minimize user errors and provide solutions when error occurs. It also helps in creating a smooth functioning experience for users.
Commonly, it involves using validation, information error messages, and error-handling mechanisms to help users in resolving issues.
Above, we have Facebook as an example, clear error messages are displayed when users enter invalid information, guiding them to correct the errors and successfully complete login.
10. Timely Feedback
In UI design, providing timely feedback is crucial. User should receive immediate responses when they interact with elements, ensuring that they understand the results of their actions.
WhatsApp can be a great example of this, Whenever you take any action or send any kind of message, you get real-time feedback by displaying message status indicators (Sent, Delivered, Seen) and also the typing indicators.
By implementing these fundamental design principles, a designer can create interfaces that provide clarity, user control, error prevention, aesthetics, adaptability as well and efficiency. These principles can provide a user-centered design, ultimately leading to enhanced user experience.
Conclusion
In short, the best UI designers know the following 10 UI design principles that we have discussed above can help to create a more effective interface, enhancing overall user experience. Follow these 10 UI design principles for your next project and see for yourself just how powerful a UI design can be.
However, it can be difficult to create the best without having any experts so I’d suggest getting in touch with a top UI/UX design agency, or ux design principles to gain maximum benefits from this powerful tool.
Frequently Asked Questions
Q 1. What are the 3 Golden Rules of UI Design?
Ans. The three golden rules of UI design have been divided into three groups which are mentioned below:
» Provide Control to Users
» Offer Clarity
» Make the Interface Consistent
Q 2. What is the most important thing in UI Design?
Ans. One of the most important things in UI design is ensuring all the links and buttons are effortless to spot and click on. If you design poor menus, then it will automatically result in frustrated users, so you must make sure that everything looks legible and organized from a distance because it is one of the most essential things in a basic UI design.
Q 3. What are the Four pillars of a successful UI Design?
Ans. The four main pillars of a successful UI design are as follows:
» Trust
» Visual Appeal
» Format
» Navigation
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