Imagine you open a website with the aim of submitting a form. You click on the link and the home page loads. Now, you’ll click on the button that will open the form. But you can’t find it. You search everywhere, but the buttons confuse you, and you’re unable to find your way to the form. Feeling frustration, you leave the page, never to return.
This happens when a website has a bad UI design.
Now, imagine you open an online store with the aim of buying new shoes. The home page loads, and you can easily find the navigation bar. You search for the shoes you want to buy and easily find them at the top. You click checkout; the process is simple, and you don’t struggle. The checkout process was easy, and now you have shoes coming to your address. Feeling content, you bookmark the page, planning your return.
This happens when a website has a good UI design.
In this blog, we’ll describe the UI design process. When you follow it, you’ll surely deliver a good UI. Users will get a good experience, and your website will gain loyal clients. Let’s dive in!
What is UI Design?
UI design is the process of creating the aesthetic appeal of a digital product. Usually, this involves apps and websites. You know when you opened that app with almost perfect button and element placements? How was your experience with that app? It probably made you feel an emotional collection.
The UI design process aims to create the visual look and feel of your digital product. UI designing involves creating and placing text, elements, and buttons. These elements are interactive and give life to the look, producing feels.
Why is UI design important?
UI design is important because of how much it impacts a user. More than 57% of users say they won’t recommend a business with a poorly designed mobile site. Moreover, even these users are not likely to return. Good User Interface design resonates with users and makes them feel confident. If you want loyalty from a user, give them satisfaction, not frustration.
Putting time and effort into your UI design will benefit both you and your clients.
What are the key principles for good UI design?
The aim of designing a UI is to deliver a visual experience that’s interactive and functional. But in the midst, users feel a connection to the UI. This is because the design is amusing them and they’re able to navigate so easily. You can follow a few key principles to create such impacting user interfaces.
Clarity
Would you stay and read if our content was all jumbled up and without any spacing? No. This is why we prioritize easy readability and properly structured content. We want things to be clear and simple to understand without feeling overwhelmed.
Consistency
Consistency is about keeping the UI design the same across different pages. This subconsciously builds trust for your users. Wouldn’t you feel weird if everything from the colors to text and elements were different on every page you visit on a site?
Feedback
This isn’t the feedback that you get from users. We’re talking about the feedback you’d be giving to your users. Think of a chatting app showing when a user has sent, delivered, and read a message. This feedback will make you feel heard.
Iteration
Wireframing and prototyping are two processes that allow you to gain insights into your UI design. By using these perceptions, you can iterate on your UI. Continuous iteration with usability testing can reduce the chance of errors.
Accessibility
Accessibility ensures that anyone can access your product. Every individual has their own struggles. By understanding them and providing an intuitive user interface, you can deliver a UI that resonates with your users.
What is the UI Design Process?
The UI design process isn’t as stressful as it sounds. While designing an app’s interface, you’ll actually realize that wireframing, prototyping, and collaborating can be fun. Yet, designers do face challenges sometimes. With these steps, we’ll simplify the UI design process for you. Follow them to ensure a good UI design.
Step 1: Research
Before graphically designing anything, it’s essential to conduct research. Without that, how do you know who you’re making your design for? Even freehand designers keep something in mind. However, in terms of UI design, there are two types of research you have to begin with:
- User research: Before designing your User Interface, identify who your users are. Then, categorize them based on metrics like age, location, and more.
- Market Research: No matter how unique your app or website’s concept is, there will always be a competitor. Market research will help you gather insights on making your product stand out.
This is not only the first step in the UI design process. Researching is a valuable asset when designing anything. Skipping this step will leave you confused throughout the process.
Step 2: Set UI design goals
Hopefully, when you were doing research, you took some notes. It could be as little as “In my app, the navigation bar will go in the center.” Even these little insights can help you gain valuable information on setting your user interface design goals. Some examples can be:
- You want a simple user interface that delivers a good UX and raises conversions.
- You can decide what kind of aesthetic you want your app to give. From minimalist to bohemian, the sky’s the limit!
At this stage, you can visualize a user’s journey as well. Setting clear goals will help you know what to expect. User research is a valuable aspect in the UI design process.
Step 3: Create a wireframe
Once you have a plan, you can begin working on a wireframe. Wireframes are the initial blueprints of a UI design. A wireframe will allow you to visualize your concept quickly without development or code.
- A wireframe is like a visual sketch of your UI design. It’s a vital step in the UI design process that allows you to get a view of your software idea.
- Wireframes are very simple and only have basics like buttons and notes. This is because their purpose is to help you understand placements roughly.
Wireframes are almost effortless. Many UI design tools make wireframing easy. They also allow easy collaboration, meaning that you can work with your team members together.
Step 4: Move on to the mockup stage
Once the wireframing stage is complete, you’ll find yourself wanting to test more aspects of your concept. This is where mockups help! Mockups are similar to wireframes. However, they have higher visuals and include typography and images.
- A mockup is a more detailed sketch of your UI design. It’s like adding colors, typography, and other elements to update a wireframe and get a pictorial view of your concept.
- Mockups often look very similar to the final product. Mockups have details, but they’re not interactive.
The mockup stage lets you visualize your product in detail. By producing mockups, you can later reduce rework on your product by 50%.
Ready to bring your vision to life? Start your website design & development journey with us today!
Step 5: Develop a prototype
After your mockup is approved, you can begin developing a prototype. Prototyping will add interactivity to your design. Additionally, Prototypes can give you a better representation of the user journey and map flows.
- Several no-code prototyping platforms can help designers turn their mockups into working, clickable prototypes.
- Some prototypes let you conduct usability testing to confirm your design before launch. Testing at the prototyping stage can help reduce development expenses by 33%.
Prototypes are a quick way to see how your UI will work when you interact with it. Thanks to the use of modern tools, designers can do so without any programming language.
Step 6: Test and improve
Test your design before going all in and handing it off to the developers. Show your design to clients and stakeholders to gain valuable feedback. This will help you improve your User Interface design. This step in the UI design process is essential.
- Testing before launch reduces rework costs later on, but it also gives you faster time to market. This gives businesses a competitive advantage.
- The feedback you gain is worth a lot. It works like icing on a cake. The cake will still exist but without any appeal.
By continuously iterating on your design, you get to a point where everything starts looking perfect. Everything aligns with your brand’s goals and your user’s needs.
Everyone wants to create the perfect user interface, ensuring easy navigability and interactivity. Following these steps will help you deliver an intuitive user interface with all these qualities effectively.
What are some popular UI design tools?
We’ve gathered some tools to give you an idea of platforms that can help you in your UI design journey.
But first, let’s understand the differences between Wireframes, Mockups, and Prototypes.
| Feature | Wireframe | Mockup | Prototype |
| Purpose | Structure & layout planning | Visual design representation | Interactive simulation of final product |
| Details | Low-fidelity, minimal details | High-fidelity, with elements | High-fidelity, includes animations & interactions |
| Interactivity | No interactivity | Static, no interactivity | Clickable, functional interactions |
| Colors/Typography | Not included | Included | Included |
Wireframing:
Here are some simple wireframing tools:
Freehand by InVision
Imagine having a digital whiteboard where you have no space limits, and you can design with your team members. This digital design platform is Freehand by InVision.
- Allows freehand sketching. This way, you can create any kind of wireframe.
- It’s perfect for brainstorming and experimenting with design ideas.
Balsamiq
Balsamiq is a wireframing tool known for its intuitive interface and minimal design. It simplifies the wireframing process and allows easy collaboration.
- Balsamiq allows you to work from scratch or create wireframes with existing UI components.
- It allows designers to focus on the functionality and flow of their designs.
Mockups:
Here are some simple Mockup tools:
Moqups
Moqups can be useful if you’re searching for wireframing and mockup creation on the same platform. It’s excellent for quick visualization.
- You can communicate and collaborate on a design freely.
- It doesn’t go too much into the details. It focuses on the basic layout and structure of the UI design.
Mockplus
Looking for a tool where you can create mockups for websites and web/desktop apps? Mockplus is your all-in-one solution! It’s a rapid mockup tool.
- It allows you to explore different levels of fidelity in your mockups.
- You can also use the platform to create sketches and flowcharts relating to your design.
Prototyping
Here are some simple Prototyping tools:
Figma
This is one of the most popular tools in the UI/UX design field. Figma is one of the leading prototyping design tools.
- It’s a no-code platform. So, you can create interactive prototypes without any programming knowledge.
- You can use your prototype for usability testing.
Flinto
Flinto is a Mac-exclusive prototyping design tool. This platform-exclusive quality gives Flinto its high-performing qualities.
- Flinto lets users create prototypes with transitions between screens. It’s a unique quality about it.
- The platform allows designers to build interactive and animated prototypes.
These are some of the popular tools that can help you in your UI design process. A well-designed UI can increase user conversion rates by up to 200%. Using the right tools can make this possible.
Begin your UI design process with Linkitsoft
The UI design process can make or break your app’s look. This is a big deal because 94% of first impressions are design-related. When users like your site’s design, they’re likely to stay and recommend your company to others.
At Linkitsoft, we understand that. This is why we focus on delivering navigability, aesthetics, and a creative user interface. Whether you need a User Interface for your app, website, or Kiosk, our experts are here to create intuitive interfaces.
Why us?
Our UI/UX designers combine creativity with logic to create interfaces that leave users mesmerized. They create User Interfaces with:
- Easy navigability and clarity.
- User-friendly and accessible elements.
- A strong aesthetic appeal that keeps users coming back for more!
Get in touch with us, let’s talk about your software’s UI design. Our designers promise to deliver exactly what you need! Don’t stop here. Make your creative concepts a functional reality.
