What is UI/UX Designing?
UI – User Interface
It is the means through which a user interacts with a device, application, or website.
It encompasses all the elements a user may interact with, including screens, pages, buttons, icons, menus, and any other visual or interactive elements.
“In Simple words UI focus on visual design of the product”
UX – User Experience
User experience (UX) refers to the overall experience that a person has when interacting with a product, system, or service.
To create positive and satisfying experience for user and making them to continue using the product.
“In Simple words UI focus on overall experience of using the product”
What is Usability Heuristics?
Usability heuristics are a set of guiding principles that evaluate the usability of a user interface. These heuristics were first introduced by Jakob Nielsen in 1994 and have since become the benchmark for evaluating user interfaces.It is also known as usability principles or usability guidelines.They serve as rules of thumb when building new programs, mobile apps, or websites that prioritize the user experience.
10 Usability Heuristics
Usability consultants Rolf Molich and Jakob Nielsen first developed the most commonly-used set of heuristics in 1990 to understand usability problems and establish design guidelines that favour clean and efficient user controls. This usability inspection method identifies the efficiency of use of the user experience in human-computer interactions:
1. Visibility of system status - “I know what's going on”
The design should always keep users informed about what is going on, through appropriate feedback within a reasonable amount of time.
2. Match between the system and the real world - “I know what you are talking about”
The design should speak the users' language. Use words, phrases, and concepts familiar to the user, rather than internal jargon. Follow real-world conventions, making information appear in a natural and logical order.
3. User control and freedom - “Oops, let me out of here”
Users often perform actions by mistake. They need a clearly marked "emergency exit" to leave the unwanted action without having to go through an extended process.
4. Consistency and Standards - “Seems familiar, makes sense”
Emphasizes the importance of maintaining uniformity and predictability throughout the system
Users should not have to wonder whether different words, situations, or actions mean the same thing. Follow platform and industry conventions.
5. Error Prevention - “Glad I didn’t do that”
Good error messages are important, but the best designs carefully prevent problems from occurring in the first place. Either eliminate error-prone conditions, or check for them and present users with a confirmation option before they commit to the action.
6. Recognition rather than recall - “I know what I need to do here”
Minimize the user's memory load by making elements, actions, and options visible. The user should not have to remember information from one part of the interface to another. Information required to use the design (e.g. field labels or menu items) should be visible or easily retrievable when needed.
7. Flexibility and efficiency of use - “Allow me to do more or less”
Shortcuts— unseen by the novice user — speed up the interaction for the expert users such that the system can cater to both inexperienced and experienced users.
8. Aesthetic and minimalistic design - “Looks good and works beautifully
Interfaces should not contain information that is irrelevant or rarely needed.
Every extra unit of information competes with the relevant units of information and diminishes their relative visibility.
9. Help users recognize, diagnose and recover from errors - “I know what went wrong, I can fix it”
Error messages should be expressed in plain language (no error codes), precisely indicate the problem, and constructively suggest a solution.
These error messages should also be presented with visual treatments that will help users notice and recognize them.
10. Help and documentation - “Okay, I need help”
It may be necessary to provide documentation to help users understand how to complete their tasks.
Help and documentation content should be easy to search and focused on the user's task. Keep it concise, and list concrete steps that need to be carried out.
Applying Usability Heuristics to Your Website
Usability heuristics are essential for designing effective, efficient, and easy-to-navigate interfaces. By implementing these guidelines in your design process, you will be able to create interfaces that prioritize the user and enhance their experience with your company’s products and services.
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