The field of user experience (UX) design was founded by Don Norman, a computer science and design professor who is also a former Vice President of Design at Apple Corporation, where he revolutionized the way consumer electronics were structured. Norman’s book, The Design of Everyday Things, is still considered required reading for UX Designers. From his book, Norman distilled six principles that are considered the foundation of UX design. The principles are Visibility, Feedback, Constraints, Mapping, Consistency, and Affordance.
Don’t Hide Things From Users
One of Norman’s design principles is visibility. Users should be able to see everything they need to use and not have to go looking for anything on another page. Of course, if you put everything on one page, the screen will be cluttered, so you have to prioritize important items and decide what users need to see first. Elements on a page should be organized so that the most important ones appear first. This is known as visual hierarchy and makes it easier for users to find what they are looking for.
An example of a visibility issue is navigating with hamburger menus as opposed to tab bars. Hamburger menus are made up of a stack of horizontal lines that look a bit like a hamburger with different ingredients stacked between a bun (hence the name). The problem with a hamburger menu is that the items are represented by lines and no words are visible to users. This type of menu has become pretty common, so many users don’t have an issue with it, but it is essentially a visibility problem.
The tab bar menu is found either near the top of the screen going left to right or down the side going top to bottom (the sidebar is not as popular for mobile designs as it was for desktop and laptop versions). In a tab menu, single words identify each tab so users know which to click on or tap in order to drop that section of the menu down and reveal more choices. The most important information is the most visible.
Another visibility issue has to do with memory. Good designs do not expect users to remember information or the order that operations need to be performed. The design should lead users through with no need to remember anything in order to accomplish their task, and everything they need should be visible on the screen.
Give Users Feedback
When a user performs an action, there should be immediate feedback to indicate that the action was successful. Making users wait or wonder if what they did worked is frustrating and violates the basic foundations of user-centered design. Users need to see a result shortly after they take an action in order, even if this is a message asking them to wait or a spinning circle. Users need to know something is happening, and this feedback needs to be immediate and frequent.
Another aspect of feedback is giving users the option to cancel or redo an action. If the wrong button is clicked or they tap the ‘submit’ button before all the information is entered, users need to be able to easily fix the error without panicking or worrying about the outcome. The point of user center design is to make the user feel comfortable.
Limit the Number of Choices Users Need to Make
This principle addresses two problems: clutter and confusion. Placing too many elements on the page makes it look cluttered and confusing. By limiting the number of possible actions, users are led to the next logical step without confusion, and they don’t need to stop and think about what to do next. This improves efficiency and reduces distress.
Make it Obvious What Happens When You Perform an Action
The relationship between controls and what they do is called mapping. This relationship should be obvious to users. Elements should be organized in such a way that it is intuitive which option to choose, and they should not have to stop and think or search for the right control. Toggle switches to turn features on and off should be placed next to the feature they affect. Sliders are another example of common recognizable controls that users understand. Choosing to make changes to these types of recognized controls is risky and could confuse and frustrate users. If a change is really necessary and represents true innovation, it might be worth taking a chance, but it should be thoroughly tested to make sure the risk is worth it.
Be Consistent
Consistency helps users know what they should do next. Repeating a style across devices makes users more comfortable because they don’t need to learn anything new. If the design starts out with users clicking buttons that are located on the right, it would be inconsistent and confusing to place them on the left on the next page.
One way to maintain consistency is to follow a style guide such as Google’s Material Design Guidelines or iOS’s Human Interaction Guidelines. The design team can decide as a whole on the style of the design, which will also make it more likely that the team will produce a consistent design than if each member chose their own style.
Incorporate Affordance
The principle of affordance means that objects should contain clues as to how to use them. The handle on a mug suggests that you should wrap your hand around it and lift it to your mouth. A web or app design should include clues as to how to use it. Affordance represents the relationship between an item and a person in terms of its ease of use. A design has affordance for users when they can pick it up and use it without having to puzzle over it or think about it. A design with affordance is intuitive.
Where to Learn UX Design
If you would like to learn more about UX design in order to switch to a new career, one of the best ways to do that is to sign up for classes. You can choose classes that meet in-person or online to learn design software and other applications. Some people prefer to attend brick-and-mortar sessions when learning new information, but that isn’t always available. Live online classes have a similar set-up with a real-time, remote instructor who can answer questions and take control of your monitor—with permission—to show you how to do things. Training is part or full-time and available weekdays, weeknights, or weekends.
The best way to prepare for a career shift to a field like UX design is to enroll in a bootcamp or certificate program. These are intensive training courses that run from a few weeks to a few months and another plus of training is that you will leave class with a professional-quality portfolio that you can show to prospective employers.
Conclusion
It’s easy to learn UX design and start a new career. Check out Noble Desktop’s UX design classes. Choose between in-person sessions in NYC at Noble’s location or sign up for live online UX design courses and attend from anywhere. Use Noble Desktop’s Classes Near Me to find other UX design bootcamps in your area.