How to design better interfaces

What comes to your mind when you see User interfaces? How do you react when you see nice looking interfaces that keep you glued to the screen? Have you ever wondered how the interfaces have been built and how there can be a striking difference between 2 different interfaces you explore? Have you ever wondered how a good user interface should really look like?
Still thinking?Join me as i take you through the journey of user interface design and how to design them better😍

What is a user interface?
A user interface is the point of interaction between a user and a digital device or product — like the touchscreen on your smartphone, or the touchpad you use when trying to make a withdrawal from your bank account. A good user interface shoud be user-friendly, visually appealing and efficient.

What is user interface design(UI)
UI design, also known as user interface design is the presentation and interactivity of a product. It is the look and feel of a product. The goal of UI design is to visually guide the user through a product’s interface and involves creating a journey that does not require a user to think too much.

How can we design better interfaces?

1 Use relevant and clear images
Images used in your design will help to pass the message very well, so choose a strong image that will complement the story and the look of your app.

Bear these tips in mind when choosing images:

• Use images related to to your service or product.
• Use high-quality images only.
• Choose creative and realistic photos. Avoid fake or staged stock photos.

2 Try as much as possible to align your elements

Try making use of grids when designing. It is advisable that you should do this before starting your design, it helps to make your alignment easy.
Align related items to the same side. Be consistent with any alignment mode you decide to choose.
Alignments helps to create order, organize your elements, create visual connections, and improve the readability of your design.

3 Use typography to create hierarchy and clarity

Text is the primary unit of informational content, which is exactly the reason why it must always be legible and organized.
Have plenty of contrast between each style title: Use size, weight, and color to separate each style.

• Always start with a big font size which should be the most prominent element of the page. Sub-headers and other text should be considerably smaller, and so on.
• Use adequate spacing and kerning.
• Separate your blocks of text clearly, use small amounts of space to connect related information and use lots of space to visually separate different blocks of information.

4 Create consistency and use common UI elements.
A consistent-looking design goes a long way in establishing trust with your visitors and also guide your users without stress and in creating an enjoyable experience.
Consistent use of color palette for elements like buttons, text, links, header, footer, hover states, etc.

• Consistent font styles for titles, paragraphs, links, etc.
• Use either rounded or squared corners for the shapes in your app: Icons, cards, buttons, etc.
• Consistent line thickness: for icons, dividers and any other lines you use.
• Every element that deviates in any way must have a reason to do so.

5 Distinction between primary and secondary buttons
It is important to give visual importance to the primary actions. All the navigation happens through buttons, so you have to make it easy for your users to identify the primary buttons by making them bold and prominent. Secondary buttons should be less prominent but still visible if the user is looking for them.

Here’s how to distinguish between primary and secondary buttons:

• Use different visual weight for primary and secondary buttons. The button with the strongest visual weight will get more attention.
• So use strong colors, bold text and size to give visual weight to primary buttons. Do the contrary for secondary actions.

6 Iconography
I see icons as a fundamental part when designing interfaces. We all use mobile and desktop apps that has icons for us to interact with.
Use vectors / SVG for your icons. It’s the easiest way to ensure your icon will look sharp in any device or resolution.

• Use a consistent style: First of all, all of your icons should either be outlined or filled. In addition, ensure a consistent line thickness and corner radius.
• Ensure the message of your icon is clear.
• Try as much as possible to add a text that describes what the icon signifies.
• Be consistent with the size of icons

7 High contrast
Contrast is everything on a visual composition. When you have low contrast between your interface elements, all of the elements merge together and you end up with a dull and hard-to-read interface because it all looks the same. Low contrast is equal to low usability.

• Use contrast to guide the user’s attention through your interface. For example: use high contrast color for calls to action.
• Use contrast to clearly separate the different sections of your app. For example: use different background colors to show a clear difference between header, content, and footer.
• Use contrast to separate elements from the background. Example: Photos with text on top can be hard to read, so ensure your text will be legible by having high contrast between your photo and text. Add overlay to images to make texts readable

When designing interfaces, we should always remember the goal is to produce aesthetic interfaces which will guide users and lead to more conversions. Keep all these points in mind during design.

I really hope you find this guide useful and it helps you to create more polished designs. Happy designing!