One of the questions organizations ask themselves at the start of a new project is, “do we adopt a component library or start from scratch?” There are pros and cons to weigh, and it depends on the project’s scope and priorities. 

One of the most popular component libraries is MUI – a comprehensive React UI library modelled at first on Google’s Material Design UI. 

We’re going to take a look at MUI, why you’d want to use it, what makes it different from other component libraries, and how you can get started designing your next project.

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What is MUI?

MUI is a massive library of UI components designers and developers can use to build React applications. The open-source project follows Google’s guidelines for creating components, giving you a customizable library of foundational and advanced UI elements.

MUI also sells a collection of React templates and tools, giving you ready-made user interfaces to tweak for your project. 

Why Would You Use a Component Library Like MUI?

Designers often use UI kits to build new products or feature add-ons for existing projects. These libraries allow designers to drag and drop the components they need to design interfaces quickly. 

Let’s explore 7 reasons why you would want to use the MUI component library.

1. Faster Time-to-Market

In today’s highly competitive tech landscape, time-to-market is a metric that organizations always seek to optimize. A component library gives designers and developers a massive headstart with thoroughly tested UI elements ready to go.

Designers can drag and drop elements to build user interfaces and customize components to meet product and branding requirements. Design teams can spend more time designing great customer experiences rather than getting bogged down building and testing UI components from scratch–a process that increases time-to-market significantly!

Usability testing is much faster because designers can prototype, test, and iterate quickly. If a user interface isn’t working during testing, they can make changes on the fly, drawing from a massive library, to get instant feedback from participants and stakeholders.

When it comes to the design handoff, engineers can install the component library and copy/paste changes from prototypes and style guides to develop the product without starting from scratch.

2. A Single Source of Truth

One of the biggest design system governance challenges is maintaining a single source of truth. It’s not uncommon for product teams, UX designers, and developers to have out-of-sync design systems–resulting in errors, rework, and massive headaches and challenges for DesignOps.

Using MUI’s component library can significantly reduce these challenges while creating a single source of truth between design and development. Designers and engineers will still have separate design systems (image-based for designers and code for engineers), but MUI gives them the same starting blocks.

When using Merge with UXPin’s code-based editor, designers and engineers use the same design system components synced via a single repository. Any updates to the repo sync back to UXPin, notifying designers of the changes. You can connect Merge using Git for React component libraries or Storybook for other popular technologies.

3. Design Consistency

Consistency is vital for user experience, building trust, and brand loyalty. Using the same UI components allows designers to increase consistency while minimizing errors and rework.

4. Scalability

Scalability is another vital product design factor. If you’re building a design system from scratch, designers must design, prototype, and test new components before scaling the product.

With MUI’s comprehensive UI library, designers can search for the components they need to prototype and scale right away. Engineers can copy/paste the identical React components from MUI and customize them to the designer’s specifications.

MUI X includes a library of advanced React components teams can use to scale complex products even faster, including data grids, date pickers, charts, pagination, filtering, and more.

5. Easy Maintenance

A component library like MUI comes with detailed documentation for installing, using, updating, and customizing components. Designers and engineers can use this framework to maintain the organization’s design system, making it easier to establish governance systems and protocols.

MUI also provides how-to guides for migrating from one version to the next. So, organizations can take advantage of the latest UI styles, technologies, and trends whenever MUI releases an update.

6. Accessibility

Those experienced with setting up a design system will know the time and money it takes to ensure every component passes accessibility standards. MUI’s designers have taken great care in designing components to meet WCAD 2.0 accessibility guidelines – reducing the work for researchers and designers.

It’s important to note that even when you design interfaces using accessible components, you must still test navigation and user flows to ensure the product as a whole meets accessibility standards.

7. Skills Empowerment

MUI’s open-source component UI library empowers startups and young entrepreneurs to build new products–especially in developing nations where they don’t have the same access to education, mentoring, and skills transfer.

The library is also incredibly beneficial for charities, non-profits, NGOs, and similar organizations who want to develop products and tools but don’t have the budget to invest in a design system. 

Anyone can leverage the skills of MUI’s talented designers and developers using the same component library used by Fortune 500 companies to develop sophisticated digital products and compete in a global market.

What Makes MUI Stand Apart From Other Component Libraries?

Google’s Material Design UI is arguably one of the best and most comprehensive design libraries in the world. By building on top of Material Design, MUI delivers a React component library to match.

The ability to easily customize MUI using its Theming feature and the libraries’ excellent documentation make it accessible to build products for multinational corporations or a single developer with a product idea.

Because MUI is so widely used, there is a massive global community of designers, researchers, and developers to reach out to for guidance and support. Added to the fact that React is one of the most popular front-end frameworks, makes MUI an attractive component library.

MUI – Interesting Facts and Figures

Here are some interesting MUI facts and figures:

Note: MUI’s stats continue to climb. These facts were accurate as of Jan 2022.

• MUI started in 2014 as Material UI but decided to change its name to differentiate itself from Google. Many people assumed Material UI was a Google product.
• MUI has over 2,200 open-source contributors.
• There are over 2,3 million NPM downloads of MUI per week.
• Over 73,700 stars on GitHub.
• Of the 1,488 respondents to MUI’s 2020 survey, 35% of developers worked in an organization with less than five people.
• In the survey, 27% of developers use MUI for enterprise applications, while 20% use the library for admin dashboards.

UXPin’s MUI 5 Kit

Using UXPin Merge’s MUI integration, you can leverage the power of prototyping with UI React components.

MUI helps you create designs with fully functioning code components. With a single source of truth, designers, developers, product teams, and others can collaborate more effectively with fewer errors and friction.

Higher fidelity means better usability testing with meaningful feedback from participants and stakeholders. The result? A better overall user experience and increased business value.

Find out more about UXPin’s MUI kit and how you can sign up to request access to this revolutionary code-based design technology: MUI library in UXPin: Design Faster.

Syncing a Component Library With UXPin Merge

With UXPin Merge, you can build fully functioning high-fidelity prototypes with an open-source component library. With complex UI components like menus, forms, tabs, data tables, date pickers, accordions, and more, you can build beautiful and functional layouts in minutes. Check out Merge.

The post What Is MUI and What Do You Need to Know About It? appeared first on Studio by UXPin.

Data tables are essential components for many enterprise UX projects. UX designers must find the best UX table design solution to visualize and sort data according to user needs.

This article explores table UI design best practices with examples to solve common content and usability issues. We also provide links to resources to help research specific topics further.

Key takeaways:

• Data table UX design involves organizing and presenting data in a way that allows users to easily find, understand, and interact with information.
• Effective data table design involves layout selection, data organization, legibility, and user task functionality.
• Data table designers should prioritize readability, create visual hierarchy, ensure responsiveness, order columns sensibly, and focus on accessibility for a better user experience.

Data table UX design and prototyping are challenging for designers using image-based design tools. These tools lack features to create basic table functionality like sorting, search, scrolling, actions, etc. 

With UXPin Merge, designers can sync a fully functioning data table or use a component library like MUI to design, prototype, and test table UX.

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Data Table Design

First, let’s break down the data table anatomy and how these elements fit together so users can visualize information.

• Table Header: The labels for each column in the data table
• Rows: Each entry from the database
• Toolbar: Tools to work with the data (search, edit, delete, settings, etc.)
• Pagination: A UI pattern for displaying multiple pages of data
• Row checkbox: Used to select one or more rows to complete tasks, i.e., delete, copy, process, etc.
• Sorting: Allows users to sort a specific column, i.e., ascending or descending
• Horizontal rule: A horizontal line (the <hr> HTML element) separating each row

What Makes a Good Data Table?

There are four primary ingredients to designing good data tables:

1. Use the correct data table UI for the content you want to display
2. Prioritize table layout and content correctly
3. Make content legible
4. The data table provides users with the functionality to complete tasks

First and foremost, your table must be sufficient to display all the data users need. UX designers must also prioritize data correctly, with the most crucial information starting from the left.

A good data table has a clear header and description, so users know what they’re viewing. Designers must also use legible typography and adequate spacing between columns and rows to make it easy for users to read and absorb content.

Lastly (and most importantly), your data table must be user-friendly. It must solve users’ needs and be intuitive to use. There should be little or no learning curve, so users can focus on analyzing data rather than learning how to use the data table. 

How to Design User-Friendly Data Tables?

Here are some best practices for designing user-friendly data tables. 

Data Table Readability

Readability is crucial for data table UX. Designers must assess several elements to make data tables readable, including:

• Reduce visual noise: Only display content and UI elements necessary for users to read and manipulate data.
• Use legible fonts: The data table’s typeface, sizing, white space, and letter spacing must be adequate for users to read content–even if this means using a different font from the rest of your application.
• Create separation: Padding, spacing, alignment, and lines can help create separation so users can differentiate and absorb data easily.
• Consistency: Using fonts, spacing, sizing, etc., creates consistency and familiarity so users can scan tables faster to find what they need.
• Fixed headers: Keeps headers visible even when users scroll so they always have context.

Create Visual Hierarchy

Linked to readability is creating a visual hierarchy–where designers use typography, sizing, spacing, and other elements to differentiate data and make tables scannable.

• Use bold and slightly larger font sizes for column and row headers
• Use shading to differentiate between headers and table content
• “Zebra stripes” help create divisions between rows, making them easier to read
• Use a contrasting color for links, so users know what content is clickable

Data Tables Must be Responsive

UX designers must understand how users use these tables while completing day-to-day tasks to create a consistent and cohesive user experience across the organization.

Data tables must be responsive so users can analyze data anywhere in the business. The sales team might want to access the data from their mobile device on the go, while warehouse employees primarily use tablets.

Order Columns According to Data Relevance

An article from the NN Group recommends, “The default order of the columns should reflect the importance of the data to the user and related columns should be adjacent.”

UX designers must arrange and group columns according to their relevance. For example, location details like address, city, country, and zip code must be together. Placing these apart would create more work for users as they scroll or scan the table to compare columns.

Data Table Accessibility

WebAIM offers several tips for Creating Accessible Tables, including:

• Table Captions: An HTML element <caption> placed after the opening table element provides context for screen readers. While HTML falls on engineers, UX designers must provide the appropriate caption description based on user research and testing.
• Identify Row and Column Headers: UX designers must use appropriate row and column headers so screen readers can identify content correctly.
• Associate the Data Cells with the Appropriate Headers: The scope attribute tells screen readers whether a header belongs to a row or column. For example, <th scope=”col”>Name</th> and <th scope=”row”>Jackie</th>. The scope attribute makes it easy for screen readers to jump around the table like a user would scanning it visually.
• Use Proportional Sizing, Rather than Absolute Sizing: Using percentages rather than fixed pixel cell sizing allows tables to automatically adjust to a screen’s dimensions, making it easier to read for visually impaired users.

More resources for data table accessibility:

• Creating Accessible Tables by WebAIM
• Accessible Tables by the University of Minnesota
• Tables Tutorial by Web Accessibility Initiative

Atomic Design for Complex Data Tables

Smashing Magazine outlines an atomic design approach to designing complex data tables. Atomic design is a technique for designing from the smallest UI element and progressively building to create more complex components, patterns, and entire user interfaces.

Smashing Magazine breaks down data tables using this methodology as follows:

• Atoms: Fonts, colors, icons
• Molecules: Cells, headers, and accessories
• Organisms: Rows, columns, pagination, toolbar
• Templates: The entire table

6 Great UX Tables Examples

Here are six examples of UX tables and the problems they solve for users.

Horizontal Scrolling for Large Datasets

Large datasets require horizontal scrolling to accommodate many columns. UX designers must decide which content is most important to users to prioritize what is always visible and what users must scroll to view.

This preference may change across an organization, so allowing users to personalize what’s visible by rearranging the columns is crucial for creating a good user experience.

It’s advisable to place identifiers in the first column and fix it so users always have a reference as they scroll. Allowing users to fix multiple columns can help when comparing different data.

Expandable Rows and Columns

Expandable or resizable columns serve two purposes for users:

1. Allow users to view cells with exessive content
2. Allow users to minimize cell widths for the content they deem less important

UX designers might also consider making rows and columns “hideable” to reduce visual noise and make it easier to read the content that matters most for the task at hand.

Expandable rows allow UX designers to include detailed information only visible when users need it. This example from CodePen shows a series of job cards with a brief description and status. Users can open the accordion to display additional notes and job costs.

Row Focus Data Table

This hover effect allows users to focus on a single row at a time. If you have multiple columns and data points, this effect enables users to highlight a row, making it easier to read. 

UX designers could also blur the other rows, making picking out a single row easier. 

In a similar example, this data table highlights a specific cell with a raised hover effect.

Infinite Scroll Data Table

Infinite scroll is helpful for tables with lots of data. It’s an excellent alternative to pagination, where instead of having to click, users only have to scroll to see more content.

Column Sorting

Column sorting is essential for users to reorder data according to their preferences. For example, a warehouse manager can sort orders from the earliest first to monitor progress and address issues early. They can also sort by shipping preference and ensure that same-day orders are on track to leave before the deadline.

Inline Filters

Data table filters help users narrow their preferences to only display relevant entries. This data table example allows users to apply multiple filters to find exactly what they need. These inline filters are especially helpful for large datasets where users can eliminate irrelevant content.

How to design a table in UXPin

UXPin is an advanced prototyping tool for building interactive, high-fidelity prototypes. Instead of creating multiple static artboards to simulate one interaction, UXPin enables designers to utilize States, Variables, and Conditions to design functional components using just one artboard (‘Page’).

To insert a table in UXPin, click on the “Search All Assets” search icon (command + F / Ctrl + F), type “table” into the input field, and then click on “Table” under the “Components” heading.

Importing data into a table component

To populate the Table Component with real data, connect it to an external data source such as a JSON file, CSV file, or Google Sheet. It’s best to do this before styling the table to get a better idea of the content that you’ll be designing for.

First, you’ll need to ensure that the Layer names match that of the JSON/CSV/Google Sheet table headers. See the image below to understand how this would work with a Google Sheet.

To sync the data, select the Layers that you’d like to populate, click on the “Fill with Data” icon in the horizontal toolbar, navigate to “JSON / CSV / Sheets”, and then either click on “Browse File…” (to import data from a local JSON or CSV file) or paste a URL to an external JSON, CSV, or published-as-CSV Google Sheets file into the “Import from URL” input field.

After that, the data will appear in the Table Component (if the structure matches up correctly).

Adding sorting functionality to a table component

It’s also possible to make the data sortable using States and Interactions.

First, select all of the Layers that would be different in the new State (which in this case would be all of the Text Layers from a specific column). After that, click on the “Add state” (command + shift + S / ctrl + shift + S) icon in the horizontal toolbar and then give the new State a name using the “Set state” input field.

Next, reorder the table cells (e.g. numerically, alphabetically, or however you want). The best way to do this is by creating an alternative external data source (Google Sheets would be best in this case) and then repeating the previous steps to pull in the new data.

After that, switch back to the original State (which should be called “Base” by default).

Finally, select the relevant table header, click on the “New Interaction” icon (“+”) in the “Properties” panel, choose “Set State”, choose the relevant element under “Element”, and then choose the State that you created under “Set state” (plus any additional settings that you’d like to specify).

Styling the table component

Next, you’ll want to style the Component. It’s already structured and styled in a way that commits to the UX design best practices outlined in this article, however, you can still use the Properties panel to adapt it to your design’s visual aesthetic.

If you’re using Design Systems in UXPin, you can speed up this step by reusing your Design System’s Color Styles and Text Styles. To do this, select the Layer that you’d like to style, navigate to your UXPin Design System Library by clicking on the “Design System Libraries” icon (⌥ + 2/ alt + 2), and then selecting the Style you’d like to apply.

Design Better Data Tables With UXPin Merge

UXPin Merge allows you to sync your company’s design system or an open-source component library so designers can use code components to build prototypes that look and function like the final product.

Traditionally, UX designers would need programming skills or have to rely on engineers using HTML, CSS, and Javascript to build functioning data tables. Merge puts UX designers in control, and they don’t need to write a single line of code to use components. They can also make changes and iterate without input from engineering teams.

The post Table UX Best Practices – What Makes a Good Data Table? appeared first on Studio by UXPin.

Well-designed microinteractions enhance the user experience by providing reinforcement and feedback. Without microinteractions, user interfaces would be dull and lifeless.

Like it or not, digital products play on human psychology. When you see the flashing “typing…” in chat or social media apps, you want to stick around to see what the person’s going to say.

These microinteractions keep users engaged, so they’re more likely to continue using the product, make a purchase, or share a positive brand experience.

Microinteractions can also distract or impede the user from completing user flows, resulting in a negative experience.

Finding the right balance comes down to UX teams testing high-fidelity prototypes with end-users through usability studies and feedback from stakeholders.

If you want to speed up the process of adding interactions, use UXPin Merge to have UX designers create high-fidelity prototypes using fully interactive components from a Git repository or Storybook. By using code-based prototypes, UX teams can test the exact microinteractions used in the final product. Get started with a free trial to experience advanced prototyping with UXPin today!

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What Are Microinteractions?

Microinteractions provide feedback based on triggers from the system (system-initiated triggers) or end-user (user-initiated triggers). This feedback helps users know when a task is completed or alerts them when action is required.

Microinteractions work in trigger-feedback pairs. First the trigger, then the feedback in acknowledgment:

• Trigger: user action or system state change
• Feedback: visual, audio, haptic changes to the user interface

An excellent example of a microinteraction we mindlessly use every day is swiping away preview notifications. If you receive a notification while using your mobile, you often swipe it, and the notification popup slides off the screen.

In the above example, we can define the microinteraction trigger-feedback as:

• Trigger: user swipes the notification popup
• Feedback: notification slides off the screen

The notification appearing in a popup is also a microinteraction.

• Trigger: system receives a notification
• Feedback: notification popup animation

The notification popup is a fantastic example of a microinteraction serving more than one purpose:

• Helpful: notifies the user of a new message
• Marketing: encourages the user to use the product that sent the notification

The Four Stages of Microinteractions

To the user, microinteractions happen as trigger-feedback. But as product design teams and engineers know, there’s more happening behind the scenes.

There are four stages or parts of a microinteraction:

• Trigger: user action or system state change
• Conditions: system rules that define what microinteraction is triggered
• Feedback: visual, audio, haptic changes to the user interface
• Loops & Modes: those are the meta-rules of the microinteraction and determine what happens once the microinteraction is complete—state or UI changes (modes) and how long it will last (loops)

UXPin provides UX designers with various user-initiated triggers, including click/tap, mouse actions, and gestures. You can also set “if-then” conditions for the prototype’s next actions (including microinteractions)—similar to running a Javascript function.

Try it for yourself. Sign up for a free UXPin trial to play with the world’s most advanced prototyping tool.

Why Are Microinteractions Important?

Microinteractions allow a brand to communicate with the user—providing clarity, validation, brand engagement, and more.

Provide Clarity & System Feedback

For example, when you pull down on your Instagram feed (or most apps), a loading animation appears at the top to indicate that the system is working to refresh the feed.

Without that microinteraction, the user wouldn’t know if the system had A, complied with their action, or B, completed the task.

Take Action

Microinteractions also help guide users to take action. The most common of which is a call to action, such as the “add to cart” microinteraction that we see in eCommerce.

When a shopper adds a product to their cart, the cart icon jiggles or changes color in the header. In some cases, the cart might slide in from the side of the screen—prompting the user to checkout.

Branding

Microinteractions also enhance the brand experience. Those small moments provide the user with positive reinforcement or they are a fun animation.

A great use case for this is DuckDuckGo’s app experience. If you’ve ever used DuckDuckGo’s app, when you click Clear All Tabs And Data, a flame appears to indicate that the browser has erased your browsing history.

This microinteraction affirms DuckDuckGo’s commitment to providing users with browsing privacy and blocking tracking cookies.

More Examples of the Importance of Microinteractions

• Improve navigation and user flows
• Provide prompts and direction—especially during the onboarding stage
• Indicate or prevent user errors—a red highlight around a required incomplete form field
• Encourage engagement and sharing

Types of Microinteractions

The possibilities are endless when it comes to microinteractions. UX designers often have fun showcasing their creativity while designing microinteractions.

These are some of the most common examples of microinteractions and how they enhance the user experience.

Mouse Hover Effects

Mouse hover effects are some of the most common microinteractions for desktop users. These microinteractions can provide clarity through tooltips or change the cursor to indicate a clickable element.

Hover microinteractions can also initiate or stop image carousels or preview a video, so the user can “browse” across the screen before deciding where they want to click.

Click/Tap Effects

Most interactions occur when a user clicks or taps an element on the screen. There are endless microinteractions and possibilities for click/tap interactions, but most of the time, they provide a way to navigate through a product or website.

Click/tap actions might trigger a microinteraction on the element, like a button press effect, triggering a page slide transition to show the user they’ve navigated to another screen—typical microinteractions for an eCommerce checkout flow.

Tap/Click and Hold Effects

Tap and hold microinteractions are fantastic alternatives to dropdown menus, especially for mobile devices with limited screen space. Users can tap and hold an element to get more options—usually activating a popup with some sort of microinteraction.

A perfect example is Facebook’s like button. On desktop, you can hover over the like button for more post reactions. You don’t have a mouse cursor on mobile, so you must tap and hold the thumbs up button to get the same functionality.

Haptic Feedback

Apart from visual feedback that we discussed, mobile apps and gaming controllers feature haptic feedback—vibrations that correspond to a user or system action.

Games often use haptic feedback for action sequences, like when you’re getting shot or punched. These vibrations create an immersive experience where the user hears, sees, and feels what’s happening on screen.

If you use thumbprint biometrics on your smartphone, you’ll feel a slight vibration under your thumb if the authentication fails. This haptic microinteraction lets you know that you must reposition your thumb and try again.

Data Input & Progress Microinteractions

Microinteractions are highly effective for data input and progress. Often when you create a new password, a progress bar will appear starting from “weak” and progressing to “strong” or “very strong” as you go.

The Signup or Confirm button might also remain shaded dark/unclickable and illuminate once you have created a strong enough password to proceed.

Progress bars at the top of a flow can tell users how far they still have to go to the confirmation page. The bar might animate or change a different shade as they progress to encourage completion.

Swipe/Slide Microinteractions

UX designers often use slide microinteractions, such as scroll bar, to indicate movement or navigation. These microinteractions are most effective on mobile but also work well on desktop screens for image carousels, sales funnels, and checkout flows.

On mobile devices, swiping can replace tapping for smoother, faster navigation. Slide microinteractions work well with swipes because they correspond to the action.

An excellent example of slide microinteractions is the swipe left or right on dating apps. As the user swipes, the potential match slides off-screen. If it’s a match, the app rewards the user with “It’s a Match” microinteraction and a button or link to start chatting.

System Feedback

Microinteractions play a crucial role in communicating system feedback to the user. Spinning loading icons are the most common system microinteractions. These microinteractions let the user know to wait while the app or website is loading.

Without the spinning icon, the user might think the app has crashed, or they might keep clicking or tapping, resulting in multiple server requests.

Message notifications are also great examples of system feedback. The app receives a new message (from another user) and alerts you to open the app.

Effective Microinteractions Enhance UX

We’ve demonstrated the importance of microinteractions and how to use them to enhance the user experience. Like anything, less is more. Don’t overuse microinteractions or create long, unnecessary animations that slow user progress or derail users’ attention.

UX designers must use feedback from usability studies to determine where users might need microinteractions to help with navigation or if they’re missing vital instructions—like creating a strong password.

Creating Microinteractions for Your UXPin Prototypes

UXPin provides UX designers with Triggers, Conditions, and Interactions to create immersive user experiences for their high-fidelity prototypes.

You can also create variables to personalize microinteractions. For example, capturing a user’s name from a signup form to personalize a welcome animation when the user signs in successfully.

You can also activate page transitions, show/hide elements, toggle, set state, create an API request, and much more. UXPin provides the tools and flexibility for UX teams to exercise their creativity by building fully functioning high-fidelity prototypes.

Get started designing your next prototype with UXPin. We offer a 14-day free trial to let you experience the power of prototyping with the world’s most advanced code-based design tool.

The post Powerful Microinteractions to Improve Your Prototypes appeared first on Studio by UXPin.

When it comes to web design, the concept of contrast is often discussed in terms of aesthetics and visual appeal. However, the truth is that contrast plays a much more important role in the overall usability and accessibility of a website. We’ll explore the basics of contrast in web design and show you how to use it to improve the user experience for all visitors, regardless of their abilities. 

Test website design tips right away. Design a website using contrast advice from this article in UXPin, a tool for building advanced prototypes that simplify design-development workflow. Try UXPin for free.

What is Contrast in Web Design?

Contrast in web design refers to the relationship between two or more design elements, such as text and background that stand out in relation to one another. It is about emphasizing the differences between these elements rather than their similarities.

The degree of contrast is inversely proportional to the level of similarity. The less similar two items are, the greater the contrast between them. High-contrast elements are very different from each other, while low-contrast elements are more similar.

Contrast plays a crucial role in making the design elements on a website stand out and be more easily noticed by the viewer, making the design more aesthetically pleasing and user-friendly.

Types of Contrast in Web Design

There are several types of contrast that can be used in web design to enhance the visual appeal and user experience of a website.

• Color contrast is the difference in light between the font (or anything in the foreground) and its background. This type of contrast is essential for ensuring that text is easily legible and that other design elements stand out.
• Size contrast relates to the multitude of different sizes in a graphic interface. By leveraging it, you can emphasize certain elements, as well as generate a visual depth and create a sense of hierarchy.
• Space contrast, also known as negative space, is the emptiness around an element, whether created by white space or any other type of visual spacing. This type of contrast highlights the contrast between the element’s background and the design details surrounding it.
• Foreground and background contrast refers to the visual relationship between an element in the foreground of an image and the background behind it. In web design, this type of contrast is unique in that the background can change dynamically as the site visitor interacts with it.
• Shape contrast is achieved by making things notable by their difference in physical shape compared to other things on the page. This type of contrast can be used to create interest and to guide the viewer’s eye.
• Elements contrast refers to the different types of media that can be used in web design, such as photographs, illustrations, or hand-drawn sketches. The choice of media can have a significant impact on the overall look and feel of a website. It should be chosen based on the website’s goals and the type of content being presented.

Why is Contrast Important in Web Design?

Contrast affects more than just aesthetics. It has strategic and usability purposes.

• Supports visual hierarchy. Emphasizing the difference between two design elements supports intuitive design. It also helps users hone in on the important actions and elements.
• Ensures accessibility. Heavily contrasting colors or elements can be very helpful in making your design more accessible. The goal is to make sure no one – particularly those with visual disabilities – is blocked from using a website.
• Compliance with local & international web regulations. There is an international standard, which outlines these rules for contrast accessibility in web design – the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG). There are also governmental ones, like compliance with the USA’s Title III of the Americans with Disabilities Act. Lack of ADA-compliance has resulted in thousands of federal lawsuits against non-accessible websites. So, it’s imperative to adhere to best practices for accessibility.

Contrast in Web Design – 7 tips 

Contrast in web design is a crucial element in creating visually appealing and user-friendly websites. However, it’s not always easy to know how to effectively use contrast in your designs. Here are a few tips you can follow. 

Check your text contrast ratio 

This is an important step in assessing the overall contrast in your web design. One of the best ways to do this is to use a contrast ratio calculator.

The golden rule is to keep the 4.5:1 ratio for text and text-based images. However, there is an exception for logotypes and large text, such as headings. In these cases, using contrasting typefaces for headlines versus body copy can help create hierarchy and improve readability. This helps readers skim or search through your page for the information they need.

One tool for this is the UXPin built-in contrast checker, which you can try out for free.

Create large spacing to bring attention to detail

Creating large spacing, also known as negative spacing, is a powerful design technique that can be used to bring attention to specific elements on a website. This is achieved by strategically placing large amounts of empty space around a particular element, which serves to highlight the contrast between the element and its background.

By creating a sense of emptiness around a design element, you create visual tension and the element will stand out more. The viewer’s attention is naturally drawn to the element that stands out in the emptiness. Negative spacing is also effective in creating a sense of hierarchy within the design, which can make it easier for the viewer to navigate and understand the content.

This technique can be achieved by using white space, or by using other types of visual spacing such as margins, padding, or line spacing. It is also highly useful when creating call-to-action buttons, separating different sections of your web page, and creating visual interest.

Look at these two examples from Apple’s announcement of the iPhone 14. Notice how both images have a copious amount of space around them, bringing the visitor’s attention to underline the key message, i.e., the phone has a great camera and superb battery life.

Use sufficient color contrast 

When text contrasts poorly with its background, it makes reading more difficult, especially for people with impaired vision, or even strained/tired eyes. The same goes for icons and situations where highlighting is used to draw attention (such as the hover effects on links).

This example shows two color combinations: one that has a low contrast ratio and one that has a high contrast ratio.

Here, in the case of text, make sure that the contrast ratio between text color and background color is at least 4.5:1. There are color-contrast tools that can help you test color pairs for contrast and adjust the values as necessary.

Such a contrast checker is built into UXPin, so you can easily check the values as you work on your prototypes. It also features a color blindness simulator – so, you can make sure that the color contrast you put the effort into building out is genuinely seen by all user groups.

With that in mind, it’s advisable to avoid very high contrast. Be aware that for some people, especially people with dyslexia, a very high contrast color scheme can make reading more difficult. It’s a good idea to choose an off-white background color rather than a white background to aid on-screen reading.

Use a background with vivid imagery 

If you are creating a page for a travel agency, for example, you can always choose to put a background that represents some of the travel destinations where you offer tours to.

Always keep in mind how the different background types will affect such other important factors as loading speed and site performance. Awesome video backgrounds might have a huge impact on the overall design, but if they take too long to load, they may defeat the sole purpose of engaging the user.

With UXPin, you can fill your prototypes with real data. Make your prototypes look and feel more real. Fill them with auto-generated names, cities, and even images. It just takes two clicks using UXPin’s built-in data. That’s right, no more lorem ipsum or searching for images on stock sites. 

Let the size variation be noticeable

When all elements in a design are the same size, it can be difficult for the user to understand which ones are most important and where to focus their attention. Size contrast can be used to create emphasis on particular elements. 

By making certain elements larger or smaller than others, you can draw the viewer’s attention to specific parts of the design. This technique is especially useful for headings, calls-to-action, and other important information that you want to stand out. Additionally, it can be useful to make sure that the font size of the text is easy to read and accessible, to follow the general design principles.

Scale is also a powerful tool for creating a dynamic and interesting layout. By using different sizes in elements, you can create a sense of depth and movement, which can add drama to a design and make it more engaging for the viewer.

It is worth noting that when using size contrast, it is important to keep the overall design in mind and make sure that the size variations used are proportional to the other elements on the page. Size variations that are too extreme can be distracting, and it could cause issues in the overall readability and accessibility of the website.

Use textures and patterns 

Textures and patterns can help you create high-contrast designs when their characteristics are significantly different from each other. For instance, pairing a rough textured background with smooth foreground text would add contrast to the design.

Textures give designs character. Rough, grainy textures will give your designs vintage qualities whereas a subtle noise texture will help create a natural variation similar to one you’d find on printed newspaper. Similarly, photographic textures give realistic-looking results and are another popular way of adding contrast to your designs.

As it takes trial and error to get the textures and patterns right for your web design project, it’s worth using a prototyping tool that will enable you to save and repurpose the ones that work. UXPin lets you incorporate them into your design system and repurpose the components in your future work – and this means a faster product design process. 

Experiment with shapes: organic vs. geometric, edges vs. corners

Most shapes can be categorized as either geometric (rectangles, triangles, circles, etc.) or organic (fluid, nature-inspired). 

Here, a label design incorporates organic, almost abstract shapes that complement and enhance the straight, clean lines of the typographic choices.

One more way you can subtly use shape in your design is on the edges and corners of your design elements, whether typography, boxes, or buttons. If you use a more rounded shape, you’ll get a softer, more friendly appearance. Sharper shapes, on the other hand, create a more ordered and crispy style. You can contrast these qualities against each other, as in the example below.

Using Contrast in Web Design

Using contrast in web design is a powerful tool for creating visually appealing and user-friendly websites. The types of contrast include color, size, space, shape, and elements. By using them effectively, designers can create designs that are both aesthetically pleasing and easy to navigate.

One important aspect of contrast in web design is ensuring that text and text-based images have a ratio of 4.5:1. The only exceptions are logotypes and large text-like headings.

Creating large spacing is another technique that can be used to bring attention to specific elements. And the use of size contrast can also help create hierarchical relationships between elements, making it easier for users to understand their importance. 

To ensure proper web design contrast, use a prototyping tool like UXPin – not only will you be able to create visually appealing prototypes; you’ll also have access to a built-in contrast checker and real-life interface texts. Create a web design using UXPin. Start a free trial.

The post What is Contrast in Web Design? [+7 Tips How to Use it] appeared first on Studio by UXPin.

We’ve put together some of the best website design ideas to delight and inspire you. We’ve also created a seven-step process to generate ideas based on your target audience’s needs and business goals.

Whether you’re a design agency, startup, small business, or solopreneur looking for inspiration, this article will guide you through the best web design trends and how they solve users’ problems.

Prototype and test your website design ideas with UXPin–the world’s most sophisticated design tool. Sign up for a free trial to explore UXPin’s advanced features and create better user experiences for your website’s visitors.

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How to Create Website Design Ideas

For most businesses, the goal is to attract customers using your website. While aesthetics and visual design are essential for great website design, a user-centered mindset is crucial for your website’s success.

This seven-step process will help determine which website ideas and features work best for your target audience.

Conduct thorough user research

User research includes gathering data about your target audience, their needs, goals, and motivations. UX designers use various methods to collect this data and create user personas, including interviews, surveys, usability testing, and focus groups.

Identify the website’s main objectives

Use your research to determine your website’s primary goals and how it will serve users. It’ll also help you create the messaging and language. For example, a website targeting a teenage audience will look very different from one designed to attract retirees. These users will have different needs and priorities, which is why step one is so important.

Create a user journey map

A user journey map is a visual representation of the steps users take to achieve their goals on the website. It helps to understand the user’s perspective and identify potential pain points and areas for improvement.

Generate design ideas

Use your user research and journey maps (you may have several user flows) to brainstorm design ideas that can help users achieve their goals and solve any pain points identified. UX designers often use sketches and paper prototypes to generate many ideas quickly.

Refine and prioritize the ideas

Review your ideas and select those that align with the website’s objectives and offer the most value to the users. Prioritize the ideas based on their importance and feasibility.

Create wireframes and prototypes

Use the best ideas to create website wireframes and prototypes. Wireframes help visualize the website’s structure and define the information architecture.

You can use the wireframes as a foundation for high-fidelity prototypes to test your ideas and gather feedback from your target audience, other designers, and stakeholders.

Iterate and refine

Use the feedback to make changes and refine your designs. Repeat this process until you have a final website that meets user needs while achieving your business goals–i.e., more signups, sales, blog views, etc.

5 eCommerce Website Design Ideas

Creative hover effects

Ukrainian-based brand Mr. Pops uses a clever emoji hover effect for its product images. This small design choice surprises users while creating a fun and positive brand impression–perfect for an ice cream store.

Key takeaway: be detail-oriented and find subtle ways to be creative and engage users. These small details help brand awareness and encourage people to buy from your online store.

On-brand color palette

Popcorn eCommerce brand Popcornopolis uses bright colors to increase brand awareness and highlight each page’s most important features. Designers have also done a fantastic job of keeping the most important content and CTAs (call-to-action) above the fold on product pages, enabling users to get to the checkout and complete a purchase fast.

Key takeaway: your color scheme is one of the most critical brand elements, but it must also help users complete their goals. It’s also vital to prioritize content and display the most important design elements above the fold to reduce scrolling–this will get users to complete purchases faster.

Bold minimalist typography

Wukiyo uses bold minimalist typography to make text easy to read. The website also uses oversized buttons with a bright blue for the most important CTA–”ADD TO CART.” The blue stands out from the website’s otherwise muted color palette.

Key takeaway: choose a legible font that’s easy to read. You also want to prioritize content, so you only present enough for users to make decisions. And lastly, always make sure your most important CTA is prominent using size and color.

Shopping cart drawer

Premium soda brand Perfy uses bold colors and UI elements to reinforce its brand and product range. A drawer opens when someone adds a product to the cart, revealing the shopper’s basket with a CTA to checkout.

The drawer also provides important messaging to help alleviate any hesitation, including Perfy’s shipping and refund policy. Below that, there are recommended products to increase business value.

Key takeaway: design ways to get users to checkout effortlessly while anticipating and addressing any hesitations. Make sure you use clear, succinct language so users can comprehend messaging quickly and make a decision.

Above the fold product page

Like Popcornopolis, Verve Coffee Roasters uses an above-the-fold, 3-column product page layout. Ample whitespace surrounds the primary CTA with price and quantity selection to help the most important prominent. The product details use keywords rather than lengthy descriptions so that users can make a decision quickly.

Verve’s cart drawer informs shoppers about free shipping while recommending related products to increase transaction value.

Key takeaway: optimize product pages for scannability and reduce the need to read whenever possible by combining text and graphics. Less is always more–don’t be afraid of using white space to make important content stand out. eCommerce web design must incorporate opportunities to increase transaction value with upsells and cross-sells.

5 SaaS/Digital Product Web Design Ideas

Minimalist pricing page design

11Sight’s pricing page uses a black-and-white design with bright green accents to highlight important content and actions. Designers also use a contrasting layout to draw attention to the product’s premium plan, which offers the most value to users and the business.

Key takeaway: design pricing pages that are easy for 

website visitors to understand with minimal text and distractions, and prominent CTAs.

Draw attention with white space

Agorapulse’s homepage uses a single-column design with lots of white space, instantly drawing your eyes to the title and CTAs. Designers also do an excellent job summarizing the product’s key benefits from a user’s perspective. While there are two CTAs, it’s obvious which one is the most important with its bright background and light text.

Agorapulse uses a sticky header navigation bar to keep these CTAs visible as users scroll, so they can take action whenever they’re ready.

Key takeaway: if you have more than one CTA, always ensure the primary action is more prominent than the other. Highlight your product’s benefits over features as high on the web page as possible so your site’s visitors know precisely what your business can do for them.

Tell your story

Venture capital firm Nordic Eye uses video for its homepage hero to tell its brand story and connect with website visitors immediately. Video and visuals are excellent ways to tell users who you are and what you do. Short product demos, walk-throughs, etc., allow users to explore your product and determine whether it solves their problems.

Key takeaway: video is a powerful medium for creating instant connections and demonstrating your product/company’s strengths. Learn about the video optimization tips for user experience.

Speak to your target audience

Investment app Alinea speaks directly to its target Gen Z audience using relatable, empathetic language. Designers use a clever homepage hero design with a prominent CTA, an app store review widget demonstrating social proof, and leading media publications that have featured the product.

Key takeaway: understanding your target audience and what they value most is critical for successful web design. A homepage hero must describe why your product exists and eliminate any doubts before website visitors will take action.

Cross-functional app website

Many digital products offer web and mobile applications. Weera’s homepage gives users three options to use their family-orientated app–web, iOS, and Android. These choices enable users to try your product using their preferred medium, increasing the likelihood of signing up.

Key takeaway: if you have a cross-platform application, allow users to choose how they want to experience your digital product. Placing these choices as high on the page as possible reduces scrolling while increasing conversions.

Resources for website design ideas

Here are some excellent resources if you’re looking for some web design inspiration.

• Awwwards: a vast collection of some of the world’s best web designs
• Themeforest: the world’s largest marketplace for WordPress themes, website templates, plugins, and digital tools
• Behance: a social network for designers to share UI design ideas
• Dribbble: a Behance alternative

Build Great Websites With UXPin

UXPin’s advanced design technology enables designers to prototype and test their web design ideas with functionality and fidelity comparable to the final product.

With UXPin, designers get meaningful feedback from end-users and stakeholders to iterate with better accuracy, delivering high-quality results.

Whether you’re designing a new website, landing page, eCommerce store, or cross-platform application, UXPin offers the tools and features to create interactive prototypes that look and feel like the final product.

Take your web development to the next level with the world’s most advanced design tool. Sign up for a free trial to explore UXPin’s advanced features.

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With an ever-growing list of devices, operating systems, and technologies, cross-platform experience design is an essential component of the product development process. 

Many organizations have dedicated teams for iOS, Android, Windows, etc., to ensure products meet platform-specific requirements and user expectations.

Create seamless cross-platform customer experiences with the world’s most advanced UX design tool. Sign up for a free trial to discover interactive prototyping with UXPin.

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What is a Cross-Platform Experience?

A cross-platform experience (also called platform-agnostic design) describes the user experience comparison across multiple devices, including Web, mobile, tablet, and wearables, in addition to operating systems like iOS, Android, Windows, Mac, etc.

The aim for product developers is to create a comparable, seamless user experience across different platforms and operating systems to ensure their products serve all users.

Designers also want to ensure end users can access the same features and complete tasks regardless of device or operating system. For example, the ability to make a payment from your bank account whether you use the bank’s web portal or mobile app.

Responsive design vs. cross-platform design

Responsiveness is one facet product teams must consider when designing cross-platform experiences. Responsive design is specific to web browsers and how user interfaces look across desktop, tablet, and mobile viewports.

Cross-platform design is a broader concept where designers must consider web browsers, devices, and operating systems, in addition to a product’s user experience on a web, tablet, and mobile apps on iOS, Android, Windows, and other operating systems. For example, a simple alert component will look completely different on iOS, Android, Windows, macOS, Safari, Chrome, and Edge.

Why Designing Cross-Platform Experiences is Important

Business value

From a business perspective, cross-platform design is crucial. In the United States, iPhone enjoys a 65% market share, but there are 2 billion global Android users or a 71.35% market share. Android makes up more than 90% of the market in some countries where iPhones are unaffordable. Not serving either of these markets means you’re leaving a lot of money on the table!

Companies must also consider responsive design and how their website and web applications render across desktop, tablet, and mobile. Many people only use their smartphones to browse the internet; if they can’t purchase products and services efficiently using these mobile devices, these companies lose valuable revenue.

Competitiveness

People expect products to work comparably across multiple devices. If users can’t complete the same tasks on your Web and mobile applications, they’ll find a competitor that does!

Nowhere is this more apparent than in FinTech. Mobile-first/only banking and investing applications have exploded in the last decade as startups aim to fill the gap left by traditional financial institutions. Many of these legacy institutions have been slow to deliver mobile solutions, allowing FinTech startups like Robinhood, Monzo, Chime, Revolut, and others to capture significant market share.

Inclusivity

If you want your products to be inclusive for everyone, then cross-platform design is essential. Apple products like iPhones and Macs are at the high end of consumer electronics–many people cannot afford these luxuries. 

If your products only serve Apple devices or don’t provide a comparable experience on Android, Windows, and the Web, then you’re excluding a massive part of the global population, including marginalized communities who cannot afford Apple’s products.

6 Key Principles of Designing Cross-Platform Experiences

Consistency

The first rule for cross-platform design is maintaining a consistent user experience across Web and mobile applications and operating systems. This consistency includes user interface design, functionality, features, interaction design, and branding, to name a few key factors.

It’s impossible to get precise UI consistency across multiple platforms and devices, but designers can control messaging, interactions, performance, and timing, which must always be consistent.

Seamless experience

A seamless cross-platform user experience means people can complete the same tasks across multiple devices. Additionally, they can start a task on one platform and complete it on another.

For example, you can create an email on the Gmail mobile app, save it to drafts and finish it on your desktop computer at another time. This seamless user experience gives users the flexibility to work and complete tasks according to their specific schedules rather than structuring their lives around technology–i.e., waiting until they get to a desktop to send an email.

Cross-platform usability (Interusability)

Cross-platform usability or interusability describes the user experience and coherency across multiple devices in an Internet of Things (IoT) ecosystem.

Netflix is a familiar example where users can watch on mobile phones, tablets, laptops, and Smart TVs. Within each category are multiple devices, operating systems, and screen sizes. 

Charles Denis and Laurent Karsenty coined interusability in a 2003 publication, Inter-Usability of Multi-Device Systems – A Conceptual Framework, which describes three key components for designing coherent cross-platform experiences:

• Continuity: facilitating a seamless flow of content and interactions across products, tools, and devices
• Composition: organizing functionality across products and devices
• Appropriate consistency: designers must balance UI design consistency with native layouts and patterns

Prioritization and visual hierarchy

Prioritizing content and layouts is crucial for designing cross-platform user experiences. On desktops and Smart TVs, users can see more content and features. On mobile apps and other small screens, designers must prioritize content, often using personalization.

For example, no two Netflix or YouTube accounts look the same. Product developers use personalized algorithms to prioritize content and features to meet each user’s needs and preferences.

Prioritization also includes visual hierarchy. On large screens, there’s space for more content and features. On mobile devices, designers must determine what content is always visible and where they must hide content using accordions, navigational drawers, dropdowns, and other space-saving UI patterns.

Accessibility

Cross-platform accessibility is essential for compliance and ensuring products are fully inclusive. Designers must ensure users can use built-in assistive technologies like voice commands, screen readers, font adjustments, etc.

Designers must also provide dark and light modes to accommodate users with visual impairments. Colors render differently across devices, which impacts contrast and readability.

Adaptability

It’s not always possible to create a product for every device. For example, an enterprise warehouse management system won’t work on smartwatches–the UI and architecture is too complex. But you can create a smartwatch app that receives critical notifications so the user can get to a mobile app or desktop as soon as possible.

While adaptable experiences aren’t always in line with the product’s goals and features, they can provide value and even attract new customers.

3 Tips to Design Cross-Platform Experiences

Design for familiarity

Many apps use native styling and components to create platform familiarity. For example, using the iOS and Android icons instead of your custom set. While these features don’t conform to your brand, they can make the product feel like it was built specifically for the user’s device, thus elevating your cross-platform user experience.

Create design system

Design systems create constraints and solutions for maximizing cohesion and consistency. They also provide product teams with patterns and components to meet platform-specific rules and guidelines.

Material Design’s documentation tells designers how components will look on Android and iOS. For example, this Top App Bar from Material Design provides examples of how each operating system will render the component. The icons, alignment, spacing, and app bar height differ between iOS and Android.

Creating these cross-platform components ensures designers conduct accurate testing during the design process for the operating systems your product supports.

Use a design library

UXPin includes canvases for the Web, iOS (including iPhones, Apple Watches, and Apple TV), and Android so that you can create layouts for each device. You can also use a custom canvas size to meet your platform’s screen width.

UXPin’s built-in design libraries include iOS and Material Design components, so you can build cross-platform experiences without installing plugins or extensions. Drag and drop platform-specific UI elements to prototype products across both operating systems.

Use the UXPin Mirror app (available on iOS and Android) to test your cross-platform apps on multiple devices. You can also preview prototypes in the browser for testing on smartphones, tablets, desktops, Smart TVs, etc.

Building Cross-Platform Prototypes With UXPin

UXPin includes canvases for the Web, iOS (including iPhones, Apple Watches, and Apple TV), and Android so that you can create layouts for each device. You can also use a custom canvas size to meet your platform’s screen width.

With UXPin’s Design Systems, you can create a cross-platform component library and share it across your organization to keep teams aligned and UIs consistent. Use descriptions to include documentation for each platform and set permissions to prevent unauthorized changes to your design system.

Design better cross-platform user experiences with the world’s most state-of-the-art UX design tool. Sign up for a free trial to explore all of UXPin’s advanced features.

The post Cross-Platform Experience – An In-Depth Guide for Product Designers appeared first on Studio by UXPin.

Website scannability is essential for creating a positive, user-friendly experience. Users want to find content that solves their problem and return to their lives. Facilitating that by designing for scannability creates trust, increasing the likelihood that visitors will return or convert.

This article describes the various scanning patterns users adopt for different tasks and best practices to increase your website’s scannability.

Build high-fidelity prototypes that deliver accurate results during usability testing. Learn what your end-users value most and prioritize web content to increase scannability. Sign up for a free trial to discover advanced prototyping with UXPin.

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What is Website Scannability?

Website scannability describes how easily users can find content by scanning a web page. UX designers use subheadings, white space, bulleted lists, and visual hierarchy to help users find what they need faster.

For example, we use a table of contents and subheadings to make this article more scannable. Our blog generally attracts people interested in product design, so we use eye-catching CTAs to try our design tool for free.

Why is scannability important for web design?

Users are spoilt for choice on the Internet. If your website doesn’t solve their problem, they’ll find one that does! Often you might have the answer users need, but a poor user experience and cluttered user interfaces force them to find a better alternative.

Designers must optimize web design for a user’s attention rather than beautiful look and feel. People want to scan web pages to find what they need and exit. 

Nielsen Norman Group research found that “79 percent of our test users always scanned any new page they came across; only 16 percent read word-by-word.”

In another NN Group study, “Users often leave Web pages in 10–20 seconds, but pages with a clear value proposition can hold people’s attention for much longer. To gain several minutes of user attention, you must clearly communicate your value proposition within 10 seconds.”

Your website must not only provide users with the features and content they need but present it in a way that it’s quick to digest and take action if necessary. If you don’t deliver this user experience, a competitor will!

Scanning Patterns–How Users Scan Web Pages

The NN Group’s famous 2009 Eyetracking Web Usability study identified several scanning patterns people use to scan web pages.

• F-pattern
• Spotted pattern
• Layer-cake pattern
• Commitment pattern
• Zigzag pattern
• Exhaustive review

F-Pattern

The F-pattern is the most common scanning pattern, especially for articles or pages with lots of text. Users scan the first few paragraphs from left to right (or opposite for right-to-left languages) and then the beginning of each line as they scroll down the page, occasionally reading a heading or sentence/paragraph of interest–creating an F shape.

To grab these “f-pattern” users, including a summary or table of contents at the top of the page will grab their attention and entice them to read further, increasing the likelihood of action (purchase, lead, etc.).

Spotted pattern

Users adopt a spotted pattern when searching for something specific–for example, a word, heading, address, or date. Different content types and formats can also influence spotted pattern scanning, like bulleted lists, styling (bold, italics), prominent CTAs, typography, etc.

The NN Group eye-tracking study asked users to find information about an individual’s education on Wikipedia. The eye-tracking software found that users scanned around the page searching for relevant keywords, eventually focusing on the word “studies,” where they found the answer.

Layer-cake pattern

The layer-cake pattern describes how users scan a page’s headings and subheadings to find a specific body of text. For example, if someone were looking for information about layer-cake patterns on this page, their eyes would jump from heading to heading, locate this subheading and read the content below.

Commitment pattern

The commitment pattern describes users who read every word on a page rather than scanning. They usually trust the source, are highly interested in the topic, or need detailed instructions (recipes, directions, documentation, etc.).

Zigzag pattern

Users digest two-column layouts using a zigzag pattern. Many websites use these designs to describe their services or how a product works. Designers typically place text in one column and an accompanying image in the next in two styles:

• Alternating layout: images and text alternate from left to right for each row
• Aligned layout: images and text appear in one column (either left or right)

An NN Group study found that “an alternating list layout caused users to stumble.” Conversely, “users scanned efficiently on pages where text and imagery were vertically aligned.”

While the alternating list might keep things interesting, it’s probably not a good option for complex topics or if you’re creating content for users with cognitive disabilities.

Exhaustive review

An exhaustive review describes users who repeatedly scan the same page or content, looking for something–for example, scanning up and down a product’s documentation repeatedly, unable to find an answer to your problem.

But this pattern has some nuances. The exhaustive review may indicate heightened interest. Users interested in something will fixate on it over and over–like an outfit on Pinterest or a dream destination on Instagram.

Users also adopt an exhaustive review of landing pages or high-cost products to decide if the item will solve their problem adequately. They may read parts of the page, returning to specific texts to ensure they make the right decision.

How to Make Websites and Pages Scannable

Visual hierarchy

UX designers use visual hierarchy to attract attention to important content through:

• Size: using larger text, images, buttons, etc., to differentiate from similar UI elements
• Gestalt principles: how UI elements appear related through proximity, similarity, symmetry, etc.
• Color: using a specific color or contrast only for important content immediately attracts attention

For example, our pricing page highlights UXPin Merge’s bestselling plan for companies using a color hierarchy.

Limit choice

Pages with too many options take longer to scan and digest. If you’re trying to get users to take a specific action, limiting their choices will help them focus and decide.

Negative space

Negative space (whitespace) creates separation to make pages more scannable, but designers can also use it to attract attention. We use ample whitespace around our homepage feature boxes, headings, and text, making the content easier to read and digest.

Google’s homepage uses a more extreme negative space design to draw attention to most users’ primary reasons for visiting the page, search!

Headings and subheadings

Headings (h2 elements) create an anchor for a specific topic–in this case, How to Make Websites and Pages Scannable–while subheadings represent sub-topics or provide context, i.e., Headings and subheadings. Users can scan pages easier and only read content relevant to their needs.

Pairing these headings with a table of contents at the top of the page enables users to locate content faster.

Short paragraphs over blocks of text

Blocks of text (walls of text) are difficult to read on screens. Search engine optimization (SEO) experts Brain Dean from Backlinko and Neil Patel advocate using short paragraphs (usually one or two sentences) to optimize for readability and scannability.

Notice how we use short sentences and paragraphs in this blog post. We also create space between paragraphs, headings, and other content to make text, making the page more scannable while increasing text legibility.

Bulleted lists

If you’re making more than two points, using a bulleted list is easier to scan and digest than a paragraph. For example, under the subheading “Visual hierarchy” above, we used a bulleted list for size, Gestalt principles, and color. If we had to write this as a paragraph, we’d have to increase the word count, making it more difficult to scan and read.

Typography

Designers often use different typography for headings and body text. This differentiation creates visual anchors for users to scan a page much faster. Font weights, sizing, and color are also effective.

Prominent Call-To-Action (CTAs)

Users often visit web pages to complete a specific task, like contacting a business, completing an application, or buying a product. Prominent CTAs draw attention, so users save time searching for specific information and get persuaded to complete the task.

Design Better User Experiences With UXPin

Prototyping and testing are the core of user experience design. Designers learn from testing designs with their target audience, iterating until they find a solution that meets their needs.

Unfortunately, most image-based design tools don’t offer prototyping features that allow accurate testing. Designers must rely on external platforms or UX engineers to build prototypes–increasing time and costs!

UXPin’s advanced design tool enables UX teams to build advanced interactive prototypes that look and feel like the final product–allowing designers to identify UI pain points and opportunities during testing.

Increase your design team’s prototyping speed and capabilities with the world’s most advanced design tool. Sign up for a free trial to discover interactive design with UXPin.

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One of the simplest ways website owners can improve user experience is by implementing videos onto their site. Why spend hours revising instructional copy or guides when a video can condense it in a few minutes? Using videos wisely can be a great way to put users first and boost your site’s UX. 

You’re about to read a guest post by Sam Jagger from Website Builder Expert about the tips on optimizing a video for better user experience.

Videos may seem like an unlikely target for optimization, but you’d be surprised at the complexity they carry under the hood. Are they in the right file format? The right size? Do they slow the site down? Are they too distracting? Are you correctly sharing them for the best SEO results? 

I’ve collated a quick rundown of the best optimization techniques for video to improve website UX, so you can be a video whizz and create a smoother experience for your customers than ever before.

Want to see what others think of your site with a video content? Create a prototype of your site with a video in it. UXPin is a prototyping software that will make adding a real video that can be played to the prototype quick and easy. Sign up for a free trial now.

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The Fundamentals of Video Optimization

Creating videos for your site can be great fun! Who hasn’t wanted to take a seat in the director’s chair and be an auteur for a day? But there are some important technical details that you must see to.

You don’t want to go through the effort (and money) of creating content only to find the video is unusable on your site. And you don’t want to add a video if it risks ruining your site’s UX instead of improving it! 

Speed is key

Videos can be pretty intense on a website’s memory. Slow loading is the bane of all computer users, with Google’s research showing that the chance of a bounce increased by 32% when a page load time went from one to three seconds, and by 90% when the page load time went from one to five seconds. 

The smaller the file size, the less your CPU struggles and the faster your site is for your audience.

On the flip side, you also want your video to look good. You may get a smaller file size but if your resolution is too low then your customers won’t even be able to see what’s on your video. 

An 8K video will probably run your website to a standstill trying to play, while a 144p video won’t be that intensive but it will have that “potato quality” that you should avoid if you want good UX. We recommend a nice solid 1080p video, but you could even go all the way down to 480p and still have quality video.

If you find you just need the best-looking video with the fastest bitrate at 60 FPS, possibly think about upgrading your hosting provider. Providers such as IONOS can offer up to 64GB RAM and 800GB of storage if you’re willing to pay, which is more than enough to even get the most data-heavy videos working like a charm.

The right format

A lot of what was mentioned above comes down to what video format you use. There are many ways to host a video, from embedding a YouTube video to exporting it into a unique format. Let’s go over a few options:

Online Services: Sites like YouTube and Vimeo often use MP4 and are the easiest way to host videos on your site – they won’t slow down your site since they are being hosted on other platforms anyway. 

During the designing process, you should be able to embed a line of code from your video so it appears seamlessly on your site. Additionally, having a presence on YouTube is great for getting your site noticed by others (but we’ll cover more of this in our dedicated SEO section!)

A downside to this is that you are dependent on these services for the upkeep of your video.  If any of them have to go down for maintenance you won’t be able to remedy it. YouTube can be particularly problematic when it comes to copyrighted material, as well as airing ads before videos. 

Ads can really harm your site’s UX, so make sure you have your videos set to “Private”, though that will mean you’ll be unable to collect views and spread your video around YouTube. Vimeo also has an upload limit, so if you plan to use it multiple times you may need to pay a subscription, which begins at $6.75 per month.

WEBM: Using HTML5 is the most popular and safe way of uploading a video to your site, as you have complete control over its design, though it may take some trial and error to get it to the exact size and shape you need for your site.

Luckily, you can insert a video into your UXPin prototype, allowing you to change and alter to your heart’s content without it affecting the live site.

MPEG and MOV: While these formats have their merits, we wouldn’t recommend them if you’re looking to optimize your site. They have great quality for video and are the recommended formats for filmmakers, but they will definitely take a toll on your site’s overall speed. If you are planning to have a load of slick animations and transitions on your page, we recommend going with an embedded YouTube MP4 or HTML5.

Users should get control

An important part of having video on your site is allowing your visitors to control it. Let them pause the video, change the resolution, and increase or decrease the volume. Not doing so will most likely leave your visitors confused and frustrated, which is the last thing you want.

Video SEO Tips For UX

Now that we know how to optimize your videos so they actually work on your site, now comes the fun part! Optimizing your videos for SEO covers how you can use videos on your site to really enhance the UX. Videos can be effective weapons in getting users to your site, but you must learn how to wield them. 

Use YouTube and Google Search Bars

Creating topical, fresh, and relevant videos – and making them easy to find – is a big step to better UX. As we mentioned before, uploading your video to YouTube or Vimeo and then embedding it means you can then market your site through those social platforms. YouTube alone has 2.6 billion active users so it’s definitely worth your time to try and grow on the platform.

The first thing that will get your video seen and shared is the title. Simply try searching for similar content to your video on YouTube and Google and see what comes up. Trends are what keep YouTube as a platform running, so don’t be afraid to take inspiration from the competition. 

Additionally, take note of what appears in the recommended searches, as these will be based on past user activity. They could be the key to giving you the idea you need going forward.

Tools like Google Trends are key for all those trying to better their site SEO. Giving your users what they want and when they want it will lead to a great user experience, so keep this in mind when you edit your UX.

Don’t replace all the text with video

While videos can be great tools for UX, don’t go crazy. There is such a thing as “too-optimized”. Google needs text in order to place your site on the Google search results page, so don’t go getting rid of all your text boxes in place of video, because you may see your traffic start to go down.

Make sure it works for mobile users

Mobile users account for 59.72% of all internet usage, so it’s vital you make sure your videos are optimized for mobile use. This means making sure all your videos work great on mobile and have reactive aspect ratios, with a high enough resolution, so they can be seen clearly on mobile devices. 

Optimize Videos for Good UX

As you can see, optimizing videos for your website’s UX isn’t just a walk in the park. There can be a lot to check, but ultimately the results will be worth it. Remember to always keep the visitor in mind. Videos are certainly a flashy way to get someone’s attention, but if it starts to affect the visitor’s journey on your site, maybe think about dialing them back just a little. 

However, if you follow the points we’ve covered in this article, you should find that optimizing videos can go a long way to improving your site UX, and increasing your number of happy customers along the way!

Create Prototypes of Websites with UXPin

UXPin is an advanced prototyping tool that makes building and sharing prototypes with rich content, such as videos, playlists, sortable data tables fun and easy. The videos that you add are not only visual representations of what you’re going to put on your site, the people who interact with your prototype can actually play it! Try UXPin for free.

The post How to Optimize Videos To Improve Website UX appeared first on Studio by UXPin.

Website footers are essential UI patterns. They guide visitors to important content while providing an excellent opportunity to add business value and connect with new customers.

This article explores website footer design, do’s and dont’s, expert examples, and best practices to inspire your next web project.

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What is a Website Footer?

A website footer is a UI pattern at the bottom (or footer) of a website or application. Footers are important website components because they display helpful information, including navigational links, contact details, policies, copyright info, and social media links, so users can learn more about your business.

Link the primary header navigation; a website footer appears on every page so users can always access the links and content. Even though it sits at the bottom of a web page, footers are vital components for users and business goals.

What is the Purpose of a Footer?

How designers use a website footer depends on the business and content. Most websites use the footer for secondary navigation–important links that can’t fit in the website header like about, product docs, resources, etc.

With GDPR, CCPA, and other legal information, websites must include certain policies, like privacy, terms of use, etc. Designers usually have these links in the footer, so users always know where to find them.

Sales Benefits

Many UI/UX designers also use website footers for business purposes like a product CTA or capturing leads via contact page or a newsletter signup form. Footers help users to navigate to feature pages, best-selling product categories or more information about services.

Marketing Benefits

Many marketers also use website footers for SEO (search engine optimization) purposes. There are a couple of SEO benefits of footers:

• Help with boosting pages you want to rank
• Homepage links carry weight, meaning search engines see these internal links as important and prioritize accordingly
• Increases the likelihood of clicks, thus reducing bounce rates which improve domain authority and rankings

What Should a Footer Include?

Again, it depends on the website. An eCommerce website will have different priorities for the footer to a blog. Here is a list of items you might include in a footer:

• Navigation links
• Brand engagement and messaging
• Testimonials
• Copyright

Navigation Links

There are several types of navigation links businesses include in the footer. These include:

• Utility links: contact information, phone number, email address, physical address, customer service contacts, privacy policy, terms of use
• Doormat navigation: A copy of the main navigation for convenience (might be unnecessary for sticky headers)
• Secondary task links: job application, investor information, documentation/specifications, press information, affiliate signups, FAQs
• Sitemap: Links to multiple topic/product categories

Brand Engagement & Messaging

Another common use for a website footer is brand engagement and messaging–links and footer content that encourage people to connect with the company, including:

• Social media icons
• Social feeds with several latest posts (usually Instagram or Twitter)
• Brand logo
• Brand slogan or vision (1-3 sentences)
• Email signup

Testimonials

Some brands use the footer for testimonials and reviews. They might even include a Google Business or TrustPilot widget displaying their star rating. These UI patterns are excellent for social proof and creating interest in your product or service.

Copyright

The copyright symbol and notice at the bottom of a footer tell visitors that you own the website’s content. It’s not a legal obligation, but it is common practice to inform people that you plan to protect your rights to the content.

6 Footer Design Examples

We’ve chosen six footer design examples from different industries to show how designers create layouts that align with business goals and user needs.

The key takeaway from these examples is how different industries prioritize links and content. Each example also uses a clean, minimalist layout to help visitors find information quickly.

UXPin – Saas Footer Design

We decided to use our UXPin website as a SaaS footer example. You’ll notice we use a sticky header, so our primary navigation is always visible to desktop users.

UXPin’s footer includes key company, product, and marketing information. Customers often want to know how UXPin, an advanced tool, compares to popular image-based competitors, so we’ve included several product comparison links.

Other essential footer links for SaaS products are documentation, tutorials, educational content, and other helpful resources. UXPin also includes a language selector, social links, and policy information.

The BBC – News Footer Design

The BBC (British Broadcasting Corporation) is one of the largest news and media organizations worldwide. 

The media giant primarily uses its footer to display different 30+ language versions of the website with a separate section for popular news topics. The very bottom of the page features links to legal information, policies, contacts, and advertising with the BBC.

The clean layout is easy to read, allowing users to find content and links fast.

Asos – eCommerce Footer Design

Global eCommerce brand Asos uses a simple footer design with social media buttons, payment methods, and helpful links. Most important for eCommerce are links for delivery/returns policy, order tracking, and special promotions–in Asos’ case, they promote student discounts, gift cards, and Black Friday.

As a listed company (ASOMY), Asos must provide investor information and corporate responsibility. 

Lastly, as a global eCommerce brand, Asos shows customers which store they are viewing and a link to change to another region and currency.

Zorro Design – Agency Footer Design

Agencies generally use their websites for two purposes:

• Showcase their work
• Generate new leads

US-based Zorro Design uses a black and white footer design with a bright yellow CTA taking users to a contact form. Zorro’s designers have designed the footer perfectly, so the CTA sits in the center of the screen, with lots of surrounding whitespace screaming “CLICK ME!”

Lastly, Zorro places its logo and slogan to the left with several key links, including recent work, contact, about, and social media buttons.

Zorro’s footer design is clean and uncluttered, allowing users to absorb and find content quickly.

Alex Lakas – Freelancer Footer Design

Like agencies, freelancers need a portfolio website to showcase their work and get clients. Product Designer Alex Lakas uses his website footer primarily to connect with potential clients/employers and designers through his social channels.

As a remote worker, Alex also uses flashing text to tell visitors where he’s currently working–in this case, it’s Los Angeles.

Alex’s dark/light mode switcher is a nice touch for a UX design portfolio, showing he’s mindful of web accessibility. He also has links to past work and a contact page.

Booking.com – Travel Footer Design

Booking.com is one of the world’s biggest online travel agencies, with over 28 million accommodation listings in more than 70 countries. Booking.com’s goal is to sell accommodation, but they also want to onboard new properties, so their primary footer CTA is to “list a property.”

The website’s footer also features its five most important links using a large bold typography to stand out. Customers also have several search categories, including regions and accommodation options, for customers to find their ideal destination faster. 

As a listed company (NASDAQ: BKNG), Booking.com includes links to all necessary investor and corporate information.

At the bottom of the page, Booking.com features several logos of the company’s holding group, Booking Holdings Inc.

How to Design a Footer?

Prioritize Links

The first step to designing a great footer is prioritizing your links. Designers must consider user needs and business goals to create something meaningful and helpful to visitors.

Less is More

Cluttered UIs always perform poorly. They’re difficult to digest and can confuse users. Reducing UI elements, links, and text can help drive traffic to your most important content–which takes us back to point one, prioritize your links properly!

Use a Single CTA

A single CTA helps guide visitors to your most important task or business goal. Footer designs are usually two-tone, often black and white, providing the perfect background for a bright-colored CTA to pop and grab people’s attention.

Make Footers Mobile-Friendly

Mobile-first design is crucial for website footers. On a desktop, you may have 3-4 columns, while on a smartphone, you have one. The more columns and links, the more users have to scroll to find content. Place your most important links and content in the first column, so users see this first.

Use Hierarchy to Display Importance

The examples from Booking.com, Zorro Design, The BBC, and Alex Lakas used visual hierarchy to show users their most important links. Different sizes, colors, and weights are effective techniques for displaying importance.

Stay Compliant

Legal information like policies and disclaimers are crucial for modern web design. Designers must research their company’s obligations regarding where and how to display these links.

For example, financial and investment products in some countries must display their disclaimer information in the footer, so it’s always visible to customers. See this footer example from Chase Bank.

Branding Opportunities

Your website’s footer is a fantastic opportunity to connect users with your brand’s touchpoints, like social media, newsletter signup, and company links.

Be Helpful

Users often scroll to a website footer looking for help like documentation, tutorials, blog, and other resources. The UXPin footer design is a perfect example of providing multiple resources to educate customers about our products.

Designing Footers With UXPin

Create beautiful, interactive, responsive website footers in UXPin. With UXPin, designers can build prototypes with code-like functionality to improve user testing and get better feedback from stakeholders.

UXPin also includes built-in accessibility tools, including a contrast checker and color blindness simulator to test designs on the flying without leaving the canvas.

Deliver better products faster with UXPin–the world’s most advanced code-based design tool. Sign up for a free trial and deliver better user experiences to your customers with UXPin.

The post Footer Design – Best Practices Together with 6 Examples appeared first on Studio by UXPin.

There are loads of web accessibility guidelines designers and engineers must follow when designing a website or application. It can be overwhelming to digest them all or know when to use the different levels. 

This article simplifies the official web content accessibility guidelines with a web accessibility checklist for designers. We also explain the difference between WCAG 1.0 and 2.0 and the different levels (A, AA, and AAA).

With built-in accessibility features, designers never have to leave UXPin to test UIs for contrast and color blindness. Sign up for a free trial to discover the ease of accessible websites and apps with UXPin.

What is the Purpose of an Accessibility Checklist?

A web accessibility checklist provides designers and engineers with a list of considerations for designing a website for people with disabilities and assistive technology.

Team members can reference the checklist against designs and code to ensure they meet Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG).

What is the Difference Between WCAG 2.0 and WCAG 1.0?

The Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) must update and evolve with technology. Each update adds new guidelines that align with new devices.

Aside from the guidelines, there are also two iterations of the WCAG system. The first iteration, WCAG 1.0, used guidelines and checkpoints with priority 1, 2, or 3. 

In 2008, WCAG 2.0 changed from checkpoints to level success criteria. The system we currently work with has:

• Four design principles
• Multiple guidelines within each principle
• Testable success criteria levels A, AA, or AAA for each guideline

According to official documentation, WCAG 2.0 provides several key improvements:

• Applies to more varieties of technologies and devices
• Designed to evolve with future technologies
• Requirements are easier to test with automated testing methods & human evaluation
• Input and collaboration from the international community
• Improved support material and documentation to make guidelines easier to follow and implement

Check out the official WCAG 2.0 presentations for more details.

3 Success Criteria Levels of Accessibility Compliance

WCAG 2.0 introduced three success criteria levels (or levels of conformance) to evaluate each guideline based on the product’s intended purpose and target audience.

• Level A – Basic
• Level AA – Acceptable
• Level AAA – Optimal

WCAG Level A

Level A ensures websites meet the bare minimum accessibility standards. Level A compliance addresses core issues and elements to make websites more accessible, like responsive design, non-text alternatives (icons), keyboard navigation, and video captions, to name a few.

WCAG Level AA

Level AA covers a broader range of UI elements and best practices to ensure everyone can use your website. Most government websites worldwide require WCAG Level AA so that everyone in the population can access public content and services.

The idea is that able-bodied users and those with disabilities can digest content and complete tasks with a comparable user experience, functionality, and efficiency.

Some Level AA requirements include:

• color contrast ratio (i.e., 4.5:1)
• Alt text for images and icons
• Navigation for all technologies
• Accurate form field labels
• Properly structured heading tags
• Variable text size functionality
• Assistive technology-specific requirements.

WCAG Level AAA

Level AAA is the highest conformance level, ensuring the maximum number of users can navigate your website and digest its content. As the Web Accessibility Initiative (W3C) notes on its website, “It is not recommended that Level AAA conformance be required as a general policy for entire sites because it is not possible to satisfy all Level AAA Success Criteria for some content.”

Designers should use Level AAA if the website or content caters to a specialized audience. The guidelines for Level AAA impact styling significantly (color contrast 7:1) and require sign language interpretation for audio and video.

Website Accessibility Checklist for Designers

We’ve selected the most important WACG guidelines for designers. These guidelines apply to visual elements, but these often relate to HTML elements, so designers and engineers must collaborate on accessibility. You can find the complete list of Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 2.0 on the official W3C website.

Content

• Use descriptive link labels (Level A) – buttons and links must provide users with context. For example, a button that says “Click Here” is meaningless and might be misleading. See Info & Relationships SC 1.3.1.
• Lower secondary reading level (Level AAA) – text must be in “plain language” free of jargon, idioms, slang, metaphors, sarcasm, and other complicated terms, ideally at an 8th-grade reading level. See Reading Level SC 3.1.5.
• Text formatting (Level AAA) – text must not be justified (aligned left or right according to the language) with the ability to resize up to 200% without assistive technologies. Users must also have control over the foreground and background colors–i.e., dark/light mode switching. See Visual Presentation SC 1.4.8.
• Test designs on specialized screens & devices (Level A) – visually impaired users use high contrast or inverted color modes. It’s important to test how content performs under these conditions. See Use of Color SC 1.4.1.

Page Titles, Headings, & Labels

See Headings and Labels SC 2.4.6. The following guidelines have a Level AA conformance.

• One H1 tag per page – the H1 header tag must describe what the overall webpage or article is about.
• Structure headings in a logical sequence – nested headings must follow the conventional order of H1, H2, H3, H4, H5, and H6. For example, you would never have an H2 followed by an H4 and then an H3. You should never skip a header tag either, like going from an H2 to H4 instead of H2, H3, and then H4.
• Headings and labels must describe a topic or purpose – headings and labels help users, and assistive technologies, like screen readers, find and digest content easier.

Images

See Non-text Content SC 1.1.1. The following guidelines have a Level A conformance.

• Non-text content must have a text alternative – images, icons, etc., must have descriptive alt text or a text alternative. Furthermore, if the image has text, this must be included in the alt text.
• CAPTCHA – websites must provide alternative confirmation methods when using CAPTCHA, like human verification or text-based authentication, for example.
• Decorative non-text content – alt text for images and media that are purely decorative must use “null” so that assistive technologies ignore this content.
• Text alternatives for graphical representations – Graphs, charts, and other graphics must include text alternatives so assistive technologies can read them.

Lists

See Info and Relationships 1.3.1. The following guidelines have a Level A conformance.

• Choose the appropriate HTML markup – lists must use ol, ul, or dl syntax relating to the content and have a list’s appearance (or structure) so as not to confuse users.

Controls

Controls include all navigable UI elements like links and buttons.

• Opening a new tab or window warning (Level A) – users must know if a button or link opens a new window or tab using text or an icon. People with cognitive disabilities often get disorientated when a new tab/window opens unannounced. See On Focus SC 3.2.1.
• Focus states (Level A) – controls must have focus (or hover) states, so users (including those with assistive technologies) know when they’ve selected a link or button to activate. See Focus Visible SC 2.4.7.
• Make links recognizable (Level A) – designers must use a combination of color and underline styling so users can quickly identify links. See Use of Color SC 1.4.1.
• Use “skip links” (Level A) – skip links allow assistive technologies and keyboard users to bypass navigational menus and other blocks to jump straight to a web page’s content. See Bypass Blocks SC 2.4.1.

Forms

• Form labels (Level A) – designers must label every input for visual reference and use the HTML ‘label’ tag for assistive technologies. See On Input SC 3.2.2.
• Error messages (Level A) – place error messages above the corresponding input field with clear instructions for users to fix the problem. See Error Identification SC 3.3.1.
• Message states (Level A) – don’t rely solely on color for error, warning, and success message states. Adding an icon or text can help visually impaired users identify the type of error state. See Use of Color SC 1.4.1.

Multimedia

• Disable autoplay by default (Level A) – autoplay can be problematic for users with cognitive disabilities or seizure disorders. See Audio Control SC 1.4.2.
• Video captions (Level A) – videos must have captions with a notice confirming their presence. See Captions (Prerecorded) SC 1.2.2.
• Remove seizure triggers (Level A) – strobes or flashing video can induce seizures. W3C’s documentation recommends no more than three flashes on a web page or video. See Three Flashes or Below Threshold SC 2.3.1.
• Transcripts for Audio (Level A) – including transcripts in the audio description allows hearing-impaired users to digest audio content. See Non-text Content SC 1.1.1.

Color Contrast

• Test color contrast for text (Level AA) – use a contrast checker and color blindness tester to ensure visually impaired users can read body text and UI elements. See Contrast (Minimum) SC 1.4.3, 
• Text contrast for non-text (Level AA) – non-text elements like icons, form inputs, etc., must be distinguishable for visually impaired users. See Non-text Contrast 1.4.11.

Mobile and Touch

• Avoid horizontal scroll on mobile (Level AA) – horizontal scroll can be difficult (or impossible) for users with hand or finger disabilities. W3C provides guidelines for horizontal and vertical scrolling. See Reflow SC 1.4.10.
• Website orientation (Level AA) – websites must be visible in any orientation for mobile and tablet devices. See Orientation 1.3.4.
• Ensure adequate target sizing (Level AA) – there’s nothing more frustrating than not being able to activate a link or hitting the wrong one because they’re too close together–test targets with a wide range of hand and stylus sizes. See Target Size SC 2.5.5.

Extra Web Accessibility Resources

Web accessibility can seem overwhelming at first, but there are many helpful resources to help find and test your user interfaces.

• Official Web Content Accessibility Guidelines Website
• The A11Y Project
• Essential Accessibility
• UXPin’s Web Accessibility Guide

Streamline your web accessibility testing with UXPin’s build accessibility tools, including a contrast checker and color blindness simulator. Sign up for a free trial to discover how code-based design can enhance your prototyping and testing to deliver more inclusive user experiences.

The post Web Accessibility Checklist – 28 Points You Must Comply With appeared first on Studio by UXPin.

Material Design is one of the most popular design systems. If you own an Android device, you use Material Design daily. Many companies use the Material Design System as a foundation for building mobile and web applications.

The system’s comprehensive component library and resources, including Material Icons (now Material Symbols), give organizations and startups the building blocks to scale products infinitely without designing from scratch.

This article explores Material Symbols and other Material resources you can use for your next product development project.

Material Design UI and Icons come standard with every UXPin plan. Sign up for a free trial to build beautiful apps with UXPin and Material Design today!

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What is Material Design?

Material Design is a design library developed by Google, including UI components, icons, typography, and more. Every Material component includes guidelines for implementation, usage, anatomy, behavior, and more to help designers and engineers achieve the best results while delivering high-quality user experiences.

Google launched the first version of Material Design at the 2014 Google I/O Conference. In May 2021, Google released Material Design 3, including notable features like Dynamic Color, foldable device components, and design tokens.

Material Symbols Launch

One of Material Design’s most exciting recent updates was the launch of Material Symbols–a customizable icon set with over 2,000 open-source icons in five styles. You can still find all your favorite Material Icons, but now you have more flexibility and customization to meet your product and brand’s requirements.

Material Icons are still available but don’t offer the same customization as Symbols. You can only adjust the size and density versus the four variable options with symbols.

Material Icons Set

Google has kept the old Material Icons, albeit fewer than the Symbols catalog. Icons are available in five styles, Outlined, Filled, Founded, Sharp, and Two-tone.

Material Symbols – What’s New?

Material Icons has moved under Google Fonts, offering a variable icon set in three styles, Outlined, Rounded, and Sharp. Designers also have the option to customize the icon set with four variables or axes:

• Fill: Fill or unfilled appearance
• Weight: Defines the symbol’s stroke from 100 to 700 weight
• Grade: Granular adjustments to the symbol’s thickness to convey emphasis
• Optical size: Size icons to 20, 24, 40, or 48 pixels

The variable methodology allows engineers to store multiple variations in a single font (or icon) rather than several files. By reducing the file size and number of files, engineers enjoy better performance and fewer assets to manage.

Three Styles

Google also introduced three new styles to match a brand’s identity and UI design.

• Outlined: Clean and light. Designers can adjust the icon weight to complement the product’s fonts.
• Rounded: The curved aesthetic works well with rounded logos and heavier fonts.
• Sharp: Designed to match UIs with straight edges and 90-degree corner styling.

Build Your Own Material Icons

If you can’t find the icon you need in Material Symbols’ vast catalog, Google includes guidelines for designing custom icons, including:

• Design principles: best practices to create clear iconography that’s meaningful and helpful to users.
• Icon sizes and layout: how to set up the grid size and layout for designing icons using a design tool.
• Grid and keyline shapes: techniques for creating consistent a consistent icon set.
• Icon metrics: icon design anatomy including corners, weight, stroke, and complexity.

Following these helpful guidelines, you can utilize Material’s comprehensive icon set while including a few relevant to your brand.

How to Use Google’s Material Icons & Symbols

There are several ways designers and engineers can use Material Icons and Symbols. 

Downloading SVG or PNG

You can download Icons and Symbols in SVG or PNG format. We recommend using SVG for its performance and customization benefits. PNG files are much larger and more complicated for designers and engineers to edit and resize.

Google allows you to customize your Icons and Symbols before downloading, so you have a finalized asset to use in your project.

CSS/CDN

Material Symbols provides a CSS file for website installations similar to what you use for Google Fonts. The problem with this method is that it requires your website to make additional requests, which can severely affect performance.

If you’re planning to use more than one Material Symbol, it’s better to use another method for installation.

Operating Systems & Frameworks

Material Icons and Symbols offer downloads for Android and iOS to install as project assets, with code snippets for implementation. Material Design includes instructions for Flutter (a Google-developed programming language) and Angular. React instructions are available in MUI’s documentation.

Designer Usage

Most design tools offer plugins or extensions for Material Icons. If you’re using UXPin, the complete Material Icons set comes standard with every plan.

You can also import your own SVG icons, edit them in UXPin and save them to your Design System to share with other team members.

Using Material Icons and Symbols With Typography

Google’s Material 3 documentation offers tips and best practices for pairing icons with typography.

Weights

Never use different weights for your icons and text. Google makes it easy to pair these assets with Material Symbols’ Weight customization variable. Ensure you always match the font weight with the icon weight to achieve a clean and consistent aesthetic.

Correct font weight.

Incorrect font weight.

Sizing & Alignment

Always match the icon size and alignment with the text. Users must be able to read both and recognize they’re related. Google recommends designers “shift down the baseline of symbols to approximately 11.5% of the type size.” This technique will keep icons and text uniform and aligned.

Material Icons Accessibility

Google provides brief but helpful advice to designers about icon accessibility. Designers must always use meaningful, descriptive labels with icons, especially for navigation. Icons without text labels can appear ambiguous and confusing to users. Designers must also include alt text for screen readers and other assistive technologies.

Target size is also a crucial factor for icons. People with large fingers or hand disabilities might accidentally hit the wrong icon button, causing confusion and frustration.

Google recommends designers use a minimum target size of 48 pixels. If you’re using a 20-pixel icon, provide enough padding to make the total target area 48 pixels.

Designing with Material Design’s Icons in UXPin

With several icon sets, including Material Icons, preinstalled with UXPin, designers don’t have to install plugins or upload external files. Here’s how easy it is to add icons to your project.

Step One – Click the icon element

Click the icon element in the Quick Tools panel to the left of the canvas. Alternatively, you can use the keyboard shortcut OPTION+I (on Mac) or ALT+I (on PC).

Step Two – Draw an icon on the canvas

Click and drag a square where you’d like the icon to appear on the canvas. Hold down SHIFT to maintain an equal width and height.

Step Three – Icon properties panel

Once you draw an icon, an icon properties panel will appear on the right Properties Panel. You can select Material Icons or one of the other sets, including Fonts Awesome, Retina Icons, and a UXPin set, to name a few.

Step Four – Select an icon

Scroll through the available Material Icons to find what you need. Click on any icon in the properties panel (while you have the icon selected on the canvas) to make your selection.

Step Five – Adjust icon properties

Once you have chosen an icon, you can style it using the Properties Panel above the Icon section. Below the Color Picker is a dropdown with available design systems, including Material Design, so designers don’t have to copy/paste HEX codes from elsewhere.

Step 6 – Add interactions

At the top of the Properties Panel, you’ll find Interactions. Add interactions, animations, transitions, etc., to make your icons interactive. For example, we might want this user icon to open a personalized profile page.

Check out UXPin’s Interactive UI Patterns and App Examples to see how UXPin’s features work and what’s possible with code-based design.

Improve Prototyping and Testing With UXPin

Material Icons are just one convenience of working in UXPin. Our goal is to help designers build prototypes quicker and with greater functionality and fidelity as image-based design tools.

Using one of UXPin’s built-in design libraries, designers can drag and drop elements to build interactive prototypes in minutes. We’ve included five popular design libraries to accommodate every type of project, from websites to web and mobile applications for enterprise and B2C products.

Every UXPin plan includes Material Design, iOS, Bootstrap, Foundation, and User Flows, with each library’s interactive elements, colors, text styles, and icons.

UXPin’s Design Systems feature allows designers to build a design system from scratch, automatically categorizing the library into Colors, Assets, Typography, and Components. You can also set up permissions and include documentation for designers and engineers to follow.

Build better prototypes that accurately replicate the final product experience using UXPin’s code-based design tool. Sign up for a free trial to discover the possibilities of designing with UXPin.

The post Material Design Icons – Building Blocks of Web and App Design appeared first on Studio by UXPin.

When you look at the apps that have hit thousands, if not millions of downloads (and boast thousands of happy reviews!), you might wonder: is there an ‘it’ factor they all share? Among others, whether an app has a high download and retention rate comes down to great app design. Namely, there are certain UI/UX design principles that can keep users coming back for more.

Use UXPin and design a prototype that will surely become the next great app! Sign up for a free trial and use its incredible component-driven prototyping approach to build your app’s user interface. Leverage the tool’s power to create a design using a single art board that you can add interactivity to instead of linking multiple art boards to simulate interactions.

9 App Design Examples – What Makes for a Great App Design

We’ve reached out to a group of product and design experts to learn about their favorite app design examples and what exactly makes them love their favorite mobile apps. Here’s what they told us.

1. Wolt App – putting great user experience first 

Uladzislau Luchkouski, Head of Design at Orangesoft

The Wolt app is a prominent example of great app design that’s user-friendly. Wolt is a food delivery app that prioritizes superior UX design by offering unmatched categorization, search, and content display, no matter whether you download its iOS app for Iphones or access it on Android devices.

But what makes Wolt a standout in the niche is the overall flow of order placement and wait time in their user interface. Every single step is thought out and aims to address all possible customer needs.

• Delivery Settings – an in-built translator, customization tools, and the ‘Order Together’ feature drive maximum personalization for the app user, thus improving the user experience.
• Search – an intuitive search user interface with easily discoverable food items, meal categories, and dynamic pricing leaves no place for uncertainty and displays accurate pricing for each option.
• Checkout – the app implements an innovative ‘Slide to Confirm’ form instead of the usual ‘Tap Yes’ feature. This nice touch ensures that there is no accidental touch and the customer is fully aware of placing an order.
• Wait time and delivery – the Wolt app turns the hangry wait times into a quirky tapping game. Thus, the ‘In Delivery’ interface displays a timer with a big tappable button where the user needs to tap as many times as possible. If the user beats the target number, the delivery fee is completely free.

2. Google Maps – function over form

Can Burak, Executive Creative Director at 2fresh.com

When it comes to app design, form follows function. Being able to deliver the promise you give to users is far beyond having a cool user interface design. In that regard, Google Maps delivers great value, and it’s one of the best app designs.

The app brings the world onto your screen and is an example of responsive app design done well. It’s available both as a web and native mobile application. While I opt for a web app on my laptop or desktop, I use it as a native app on my mobile device. I use the offline maps functionality particularly often. 

I like the integration of the target destination in the form of text, photos, and comments. And I find great value in its core functionalities. As demonstrated, product design is all about the value and experience.

The app’s UI design is decent to deliver this promise. Nothing fancy or nothing to show off in here. When it comes down to functionality, subtle UI design is the best, which goes for any app, be it a banking app, a fitness app, and more.

If I were to name a downside of Google Maps from a user perspective, I’d say that I’m disappointed by the fact that resolution is crippled over time and that high-resolution satellite images are reserved for Google Earth.

3. Pocket – example of app redesign powered by users

Jay Soni, Marketing Director at Yorkshire Fabric Shop.

Another app design example worth looking at is Pocket. This amazing software allows you to save articles or movies to watch later, even if you don’t have access to the Internet, which is an awesome design concept. Pocket, in fact, recently received a Webby Award for user experience design. The app was reworked in large part thanks to Google Ventures. 

They enlisted the help of five users from their target audience who had never used the app before, and they used their feedback to design the app’s simple interface. The end outcome is visible to all with improved usability and a better experience.

4. Pinterest – simplicity of use

Sharon van Donkelaar, CMO and Head of Growth at Expandi

I really love Pinterest’s mobile app, not only because of its minimalist and visually appealing display but also because of how simple it is to use it and find what you’re looking for.

The app certainly has a clear and comprehensive UI design that, without taking much space on the screen and taking the focus away from all the beautiful visuals, allows users to move from one place to the next in the smoothest fashion.

Besides, the fact that with the mobile app you can do everything you’d do on the Pinterest website is the cherry on top of one of the most neatly designed mobile app UI designs I’ve recently used on my smartphone.

5. Viber – super fun to use 

Adam Moore, Founder of SocialPlus

I love that you can video chat with high-quality resolution, and also text people anywhere in the world. It is perfect for work as you can also communicate with this app through your computer. This multi-platform application is also highly protected, and you will feel secure that only you are seeing your own content between other people.

You can also join groups of people with similar interests to you, not unlike Facebook. This all-in-one app can also nurture your creative side as you can create your own stickers to send to others.  This app is fun, simple to use, and overall is a really pleasing app to look at. 

6. Uber – simplicity and user-friendliness 

Daniel Florido, Chief Web Development & Designer, Director of Pixelstorm

As a website and app designer, I’m always looking for inspiration in the form of well-designed UIs and clever UX. One great mobile app design example is the Uber app.

Uber is a popular ridesharing app that makes it easy to get around town quickly and conveniently. I love Uber’s design because of its simplicity and user-friendliness. The interface is intuitive, with large buttons that are easy to tap and clear information displayed uncluttered.

One of the standout features of the Uber app is its map view, which makes it easy to see exactly where your driver is in your current location. Another feature that I love is easily splitting fares with other riders, which can be a real lifesaver when traveling in a group or with friends.

So those are just a few of the things that make the Uber app’s design great. If you’re ever looking for inspiration for your web or app design projects, I highly recommend checking out Uber and seeing what makes it such a great user experience.

7. Etsy – great app design doesn’t overwhelm you 

Granger McCollough, CEO & Founder, Elite Patio Direct

As someone who works in eCommerce, I really love the design of the Etsy app purely due to its simplicity and the fact that it doesn’t overwhelm you with products from the start. A lot of eCommerce apps can really throw products in your face with sales and featured products. Etsy simply gives you a search bar and some suggestions for the type of product you may be looking for. 

The homepage of the app doesn’t give any prices or product names and is very visual, using only images and headings to narrow down your search. Because of this image-based design, it makes scrolling through the different headings feel very smooth.

8. Airbnb – setting a new standard for easy search

Trevor Larson, CEO and Founder of Nectar

I have always loved and tried to base a lot of what I do at my business off of the app design and UX of the greats. One great app design example is the Airbnb app. The overall experience is fantastic, irrespective of the device you use thanks to the responsive app design. But one particular feature that stands out to me is the search – the way that users can easily search for and find exactly what they are looking for. 

Whether it’s a room in a specific location, or an entire apartment to rent, the app makes it quick and easy to find exactly what you need. Overall, the Airbnb app has set the bar high for other apps in terms of great design and UX, and I believe that it truly exemplifies what great app design and UX should look like.

9. TripAdvisor – great app design for various user goals

Patricio Paucar, Co-founder of Navi

I’m awed by Tripadvisor’s app. Intuitive? Check. Great graphics? Definitely. Consistent branding? Yes. Tripadvisor’s overall user experience is the promise of the digital revolution bringing the world to your hand, realized. 

The app’s unique differentiator is versatility. It caters to people looking for guided experiences in trip planning as well as users looking for a restaurant recommendation nearby. That’s a rarity in travel apps but not surprising from a company that’s been in the travel business for over two decades.

What’s Your Example of Great App Design?

What makes an app great goes beyond responsive app design. Among others, it involves simplicity of use, which allows users to quickly meet their goals, minimalistic design that isn’t overwhelming and prioritizing function over form. Feel free to inspire yourself with our list while designing your own mobile app.

It’s your turn now. Use the powerful lessons you’ve just discovered and design a fully interactive prototype using UXPin’s best features. There’s no limits to what you can build if you put your mind to it. Sign up for a free UXPin’s trial.

The post 9 Experts Share Examples of Great App Design appeared first on Studio by UXPin.

It takes 50 milliseconds for visitors to form an opinion about your business from your website’s design. A poor user experience creates a negative sentiment resulting in high bounce rates and conversion loss.

Understanding UX design’s impact on a website’s conversion rate is key to removing potential roadblocks, creating business value, and delivering a higher ROI for design projects. This article explores how website design impacts conversions and how design teams can improve marketing campaigns.

Design better user experiences using meaningful insights from prototyping and testing your conversion rate optimization ideas in UXPin. Discover how code-based design can enhance UX workflows, increase website conversions, and create better experiences for your customers. Sign up for a free trial.

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What is Website Conversion Optimization?

Website conversions include successful sales, leads, form completions, and other tasks you want visitors to complete. Website conversion optimization is a practice of increasing opportunities for visitors to complete these tasks.

Much of this conversion optimization comes down to web design and user experience–a task for UX designers. Designing for optimization means UX teams must understand what users need and how the user interface can guide them to that goal quickest.

Why is Design Important for Conversion Rates?

Web design plays a crucial role in conversion rates. Here are some stats to support this case:

• 38% of the website visitors will stop engaging with a website if it has unattractive content or layout.
• 48% of visitors consider a website’s design the number one factor in determining a business’s credibility.
• 68% of companies with mobile-first web design reported increased sales.
• Most visitors leave a website after eight seconds, so designers must prioritize user interfaces and content to meet users’ needs.

Setting the First Impression

A website’s design is often the first customer touchpoint and how people perceive your brand. Impressing customers with an aesthetically-pleasing user interface, experience, and content is the first step toward converting website traffic to revenue-generating customers.

Enhances SEO

Search engine optimization (SEO) is vital for websites because it delivers free organic traffic. UX designers must understand how search engines crawl and index web pages to optimize content, layouts, and hierarchy.

Read more about UX and SEO on our blog.

Accessibility

Web accessibility is another SEO factor, but it’s also critical for creating inclusive website experiences. UX designers must factor in disabilities like low vision, color blindness, blindness, cognitive disabilities, deafness or hearing impairment, and mobility impairments to ensure websites meet Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG)–a legal requirement in many jurisdictions.

Promotes Trust

Trust is a significant factor in converting visitors. Customers want to know they can trust your company and website before handing over money or personal information. Good web design tells customers you care about your brand, value their business, and want to give them a good user experience–like welcoming people into a physical store.

Design ROI

Aside from user experience, designers must also recognize the importance of increasing conversions for design’s return on investment. Increasing opportunities and conversions establishes design’s value within the organization.

Design Tips and UI Patterns That Boost Conversions

1. Call to Action (CTA)

CTAs are crucial for conversion optimization. They grab users’ attention with an offer with a UI element to take the desired action–like call-to-action buttons or an email form. CTA buttons are usually colorful and larger than other content to signify their importance and encourage engagement.

2. Landing pages

According to HubSpot research, “more landing pages a business has on its website, the more leads it generates.” Designers and marketers can collaborate to design high-quality, lead-generating landing pages.

Unlike regular web pages, landing pages remove all navigation and links to eliminate distractions and focus users on a single product or CTA.

3. Testimonials

Testimonials or reviews are vital for displaying social proof, especially if they’re from prominent figures or brands. Testimonials tell website visitors that others are using your product and are happy with what they received.

According to marketing software giant HubSpot, “People consult reviews and testimonials to determine whether or not they trust a product, service, and even a seller.”

4. Value Proposition

Your value proposition tells customers what problem your product solves. For example, if you’re selling high-speed internet, your value proposition is that customers can “stream Netflix and YouTube videos with no buffering or interruptions.” Nowhere do you mention high speed or internet; you’re selling the solution.

Marketers generally put value propositions above the fold, next to the CTA. Customers see the solution (value proposition) to their problem and follow the link to sign up.

5. Contact Information

People often visit business websites to find contact information like email addresses and phone numbers. Many websites include these contact details in a header bar above the main navigation, so users don’t have to scroll or navigate to another page to find them.

Designers must instruct engineers include a “tel:” or “mailto:” HTML link attributes so users can click to email or call.

6. Pricing

Pricing is another reason people visit company websites, particularly SaaS and other service-based businesses. A pricing table UI pattern comparing your product’s plans is helpful for users, and the transparency builds trust. Designers must always include CTAs for users to sign up for their preferred option and begin the onboarding process.

7. Human Faces

Using relevant human faces for product images is crucial for creating a human connection while making the content relatable. Your about page must also include profile images of team members to give your brand a personal touch.

Onextrapixel has an interesting article, “On How To Use Human Face To Improve User Experience,” with examples from some of the biggest brands’ websites.

8. Negative Space

Negative space or whitespace is an excellent web design technique for drawing attention to specific content, like a CTA, important elements, or copy. Designers must also use appropriate negative space for text and UI elements to enhance readability and separate content.

9. Case Studies

Case studies are essential for B2B websites to demonstrate how your product solves problems and delivers results.

For example, our UXPin blog features a case study about “How PayPal scaled How PayPal Scaled Their Design Process with UXPin Merge.” Adoption from one of the biggest tech companies in the world gives Merge significant credibility and demonstrates that the product works.

10. Loading Speed

While loading speed optimization is typically the engineering team’s responsibility, designers can do a lot to reduce the page load time, including:

• Use responsive design best practices and optimize layouts and content for desktop, tablet, and mobile devices.
• Eliminate unnecessary “nice-to-have” features and functionality that don’t get users to their goals faster.
• Find ways to reuse components and microinteractions to minimize CSS and Javascript file sizes.
• Use JPG rather than PNG and scale and optimize images according to placement and web layout.
• Use SVG for logos, icons, and other graphics.

Conversion Rate Optimization

Here are some tips design teams can use to analyze and optimize a website’s conversion rate. Designers can use these tests for existing websites or test new ideas.

A/B testing

A/B testing (split testing) is a technique for comparing two designs to determine which performs better. It’s an iterative process where UX designers make small changes to optimize websites and landing pages.

The secret to successful A/B testing is to compare minor changes, like color, copy phrasing, fonts, images, etc. Comparing two completely different designs makes it difficult to tell what specifically increased conversions.

Multivariate Testing

Multivariate testing is similar to A/B testing, but design teams test multiple designs instead of only two variations. Designers can test multiple layouts simultaneously to arrive at the best option faster.

These tests only work for high-traffic websites where designers can split visitors into multiple groups and still have a large enough sample size to achieve accurate results.

Heatmaps

Heatmaps provide insights into how website visitors engage with a webpage and content, notably hover, scroll, and click/tap interactions. Design teams use this data to determine:

• Are CTAs and user journeys obvious?
• What navigational links are most important?
• How far do users scroll?
• Are there any UI elements distracting visitors from desired actions?
• Is there a link or content further down the page that users find more valuable than what’s above the fold? i.e., does the visual hierarchy match user behavior?

Google Analytics for Designers

Google Analytics (GA) can tell designers a lot about demographics, user flows, traffic sources (organic, social media, referrals, etc.), and behavior. It’s a fantastic tool for identifying the best and worst-performing pages and where users often exit funnels. Designers can use GA data to identify issues and run tests and interviews with end-users to pinpoint the problem.

We recommend reading Alice Walker’s “The ultimate guide to Google Analytics for UX designers“ to understand the tool and its capabilities better.

Improve Prototyping and Testing to Enhance Website Conversions in UXPin

One of the challenges UX teams have when prototyping and testing website designs are that image-based design tools lack fidelity and functionality.

Without replicating a user flow or code’s fidelity and functionality, UX designers cannot get accurate feedback and insights. They must rely on front-end developers to program code-based prototypes.

With UXPin’s code-based design tool, designers can achieve the same fidelity and functionality without writing a single line of code. UXPin prototypes deliver accurate, actionable results during testing, allowing designers to solve more usability issues before the design handoff.

Designers can build exact replicas of website user flows, landing pages, eCommerce checkouts, and more to test, iterate, and optimize prototypes with real end-users.

Get a clearer picture of your website’s user experience with accurate prototyping and testing in UXPin. Sign up for a free trial to discover how code-based design can optimize your website design for higher conversion rates.

The post Website Design for Higher Conversions – A Quick How-To Guide appeared first on Studio by UXPin.

We see lists in just about every application we use daily. The contacts in your phone, CRMs, email inbox, tasks apps, and social media apps all contain lists.

List design is a crucial part of mobile app and web design projects, where designers must research and test the best ways to display content to users. 

Design list prototypes with code-like interactions using UXPin’s code-based design tool. Import ready-made UI code components from Git, Storybook or NPM, such as list elements, and see how much quicker fully interactive prototyping can get. Request access today.

What is List Design?

List design is the process of designing, prototyping, and testing lists to display multiple items of similar content. These list items could include a single line of text or a card component with an image thumbnail, text, and icon.

Designers must decide on the best list item design based on the content they want to display. 

UX designers have three primary ways to structure content lists: horizontally, vertically, and grid layouts. An excellent example of these lists in action is Instagram:

• Main feed = vertical list
• Story feed = horizontal list
• Search feed = masonry grid list

UX designers have seemingly endless options and variations within these three list structures.

What is the Difference Between a List and a Table?

Designers use tables to display a dataset to users. Tables have a specific structure, including a header, rows, and columns with sorting and filters to find and manipulate data.  

Lists don’t have a fixed structure. Each list item is independent rather than part of a structured dataset with rows and columns. The list item could feature a single line of text in a menu dropdown or a complex card component with lots of data.

In summary, the most significant difference between lists and tables is the data structure. Tables have a specific design, while lists can exist in many formats.

Anatomy of a List Design

There are three components to a list design:

• The list: All list items together
• List item: An individual item in the list
• List content: The content that makes a list item–image, text, metadata, title, subtitles, and other user interface elements

It’s helpful to use an atomic design approach when deciding how to put these pieces together. 

• Atoms: The content within each list item–individual images and text
• Molecules: The components within each item–a profile image component
• Organisms: Each list item
• Templates: The entire list with a search field, filters, etc.

What Makes a Great List UI Design?

Good list UI design follows design thinking and user-centered design principles. The list design must match user needs while providing appropriate fields for the content. UX designers must pay attention to responsiveness and how the list will look across multiple devices and screen sizes.

Material Design UI’s Principles of List Design

Google’s Material Design UI defines three principles for designing lists:

• Logical: Lists should be sorted in logical ways that make content easy to scan, such as alphabetical, numerical, chronological, or by user preference.
• Actionable: Lists present content in a way that makes it easy to identify a specific item in a collection and act on it.
• Consistent: Lists should present icons, text, and actions in a consistent format.

Make Lists Scannable

One of the keys to designing a great list UI is making it easy for users to scan content to find what they need. The quicker someone can find what they need, the better the user experience and the more likely they are to use and recommend your product.

Hierarchy

Hierarchy plays a vital role in making lists scannable and easier to read. UX designers have several ways to create this visual hierarchy, including typography, color, spacing, images, etc.

For example, this eCommerce list uses color, size, and typography to separate content and create a visual hierarchy:

• Product name: bold black and white typography top center
• Product description: smaller grey text
• Price: Large dark text
• Reviews: Small text with bright star icons
• Image: Large circular product image

This product list is an excellent example of a visual hierarchy that makes it easy for customers to scan products by the content that matters most to them–i.e., by product name, description, price, etc.

In a more simplified example, Spotify uses font size and color to create a visual hierarchy between the song title and the artist. The different size and color make it easy for users to scan a playlist accordingly.

Accessibility

Lists can cause problems for screen readers, creating a poor user experience for visually impaired users. For example, screen readers can’t decipher nested lists correctly. So, designers should use a heading with an unordered or ordered list instead.

Further reading on list accessibility:

• Lists in HTML from Penn State
• Lists from NC State
• Lists Accessibility from Oregon State University

Types of List Designs

There are three types of list designs:

• Text lists
• Image lists
• Card lists

Text List Design

There are three types of text lists. These lists typically include text and an image, icon, and other UI elements like a checkbox or radio. 

• Single-line lists
• Two-line lists
• Three-line lists

Image Lists

Designers use image lists when visuals are the primary content–like an image or video gallery. Sometimes a single line of text will accompany the image to provide detail or context.

Where image lists don’t include text, designers must ensure to use descriptive alt attributes so screen readers can navigate the content accordingly.

Card Lists

Card lists typically include visual content and text and may also include a CTA. We often see these card lists in eCommerce store product lists that feature an image, title, short description, category tags, price, and “Add to cart” button.

List Design Patterns and Interactions

Here are some common list design patterns and interactions that you can apply to website and mobile app design projects.

Checkboxes & Radiobuttons

Checkboxes and radiobuttons are essential UI elements to allow users to make selections and actions on list items. As a general rule, designers use checkboxes for selecting multiple list items and radios for a single selection.

Scrolling & Swiping

Scrolling and swiping allow users to perform multiple actions. For example, many apps allow users to swipe list items left or right–one way to delete the other to archive.

Designers must also create scrolling interactions and lazy loading to optimize performance.

Select Lists

Select lists or dropdown menus allow users to select from several options–like choosing which shipping method they want at checkout. UX designers might also include a search feature for long dropdown menus, a feature we often see for state/province or country lists.

Collapsing & Expanding

Designers can use collapsable lists to hide and show details. Reducing the amount of content that’s always visible is crucial for usability and minimizing cognitive load. Collapsable interactions are also useful for nested lists or submenus.

Reordering & Sorting

Reordering list items gives users control over how they prioritize and experience data. Depending on their preference, they can move items manually up or down the list, usually by dragging and dropping. This customization creates a positive user experience because users can arrange content to suit their needs. 

Sorting works similar to reordering, except users choose from predefined categories rather than reorder list items manually. For example, Spotify allows users to sort a playlist by title, artist, album, or recently added.

Filtering

Filtering helps users find what they need much faster. Accommodation booking platforms like Airbnb and Booking.com allow users to apply multiple filters to list properties that suit their needs and preferences.

Dividers

Dividers help create separation between content; however, they can add unnecessary “visual noise.” If your lists get too busy, try testing white space as an alternative content separator. 

List Design in UXPin

With UXPin’s code-based design tool, UX designers can build list prototypes that accurately resemble the final product. Our Multilevel Dropdown Navigation example demonstrates how designers can use States and Interactions to build a functioning dropdown list–using only a single frame.

Increase Fidelity and Functionality with UXPin Merge

Take your prototypes to the next level using UXPin’s proprietary Merge technology. Sync your product’s design system or an open-source component library from a repository to UXPin’s editor so designers can build prototypes using fully functioning code components.

You can see Merge in action with our MUI library integration. Using MUI’s React library, designers can build fully functioning list prototypes. MUI’s React components come complete with states and interactions, so designers only have to focus on product design rather than building everything from scratch. Everything you see in MUI’s documentation, designers can replicate in UXPin without writing a single line of code.

The post List Design 101 – A Short Guide for Beginners appeared first on Studio by UXPin.

FinTech is a challenging industry for any discipline, but especially so for UX designers. FinTech design requires designers to study financial regulations, which could differ between states and countries. These financial regulations are often detailed and extensive, meaning lots of reading before designers can even begin a project.

This article explores the basics of FinTech product design, including best practices to ensure your products are user-friendly, compliant, and provide maximum value to your customers.

Whether you’re a FinTech startup designing a cryptocurrency product or an established multinational looking to revolutionize its mobile banking app, UXPin provides a technology that allows you to design prototypes with interactive components that come from your design system. Find out more about it.

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What is FinTech?

FinTech (Financial Technology) describes a market sector that produces financial technology products and services. These financial products include applications, APIs, or even algorithms that seek to innovate and improve the industry.

What are examples of FinTech?

Here are some FinTech examples:

• Digital banking (also called Neobanks): Monzo (UK), Chime (US)
• Digital wallets: Payoneer, Skrill, Revolut
• Payment services: PayPal, Venmo, Cash App, Stripe
• Investment services: Robinhood, Betterment
• Crypto products: Coinbase, Ripple

Check out Insider Intelligence’s article on FinTech startups for more FinTech examples.

Fintech UX Design Challenges

1. The Challenge of Compliance

Regulatory compliance is one of the biggest FinTech design challenges. If you’re designing a product for multiple countries or a global audience, your designs might change for each market to comply with different laws.

For example, regulations like Anti-Money Laundering (AML) and Know Your Customer (KYC) have detailed protocols which impact onboarding and user flows. These regulations add extra layers of complexity relating to user identification, privacy, fraud prevention, accessibility, and even terrorism, to name a few.

To complicate things further, states and countries update these laws or introduce new ones regularly, meaning UX researchers and designers must revise designs to maintain compliance–which could disrupt the product roadmap or UX strategy.

2. Meeting Customer Expectations

Aside from regulation, user experience designers also have to overcome customer expectations from legacy banking and financial services. For example, many neobanks don’t have physical branches for customers, so the app must provide tools and features that replicate the in-person experience.

3. Embracing Product Complexity

Another challenge for FinTech design is the product complexity and how UX designers create a cohesive ecosystem. Something Forbes refers to as a “switch from fragmentation to ecosystem.”

Traditional banking and financial providers have different departments working on each product—for example, credit, cheque, savings, mortgage, loans, etc. Design teams risk designing fragmented products rather than a holistic ecosystem with a seamless customer experience without proper communication and collaboration.

4. Security Protocols

FinTech security protocols impact UX workflows and how designers conduct, share, store, and analyze research. UX teams must comply with various security protocols, like ISO-27001 and ISO-27002.

UX designers must also encourage users to adopt safe practices, like secure passwords, not sharing OTPs (One Time Pins), or being cautious with text and email links.

8 FinTech App Design Tips

1. Clean UI Design

Clean, minimal UIs are essential for any digital product, but more so for FinTech designs which must often make space for disclaimers, policy links, and other required information. 

Progressive disclosure is a popular strategy for designing complex FinTech UIs. UX designers only display critical and required content to users with additional information “hidden” behind tooltips, dropdowns, accordions, modals, and other UX patterns.

Using a progressive disclosure approach helps designers create clean UIs while providing users with content when they need it.

2. Clear and Simple Language

Financial products and services are notoriously difficult to understand, with terms and conditions too long and complicated for most people to comprehend.

Simplifying language and providing users with clear expectations are crucial for FinTech product design. It also helps build trust with users who may not understand financial jargon or the implications.

For example, a credit application could affect a user’s credit score. UX designers must explain this and other critical information within the constraints of a mobile screen, usually in a few bullet points.

3. Accessibility

Accessibility is essential for any digital product, but it’s especially crucial for FinTech designs. In countries like Norway and Australia, products must meet Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.0 level AA standard. 

This article from PowerMapper provides a list of countries and their relevant accessibility requirements.

4. Helpful Visualizations

Visualizing data helps users digest and understand information quicker. UX designers can also use colors to separate figures, like income vs. outgoings.

5. Use Appropriate Keypads

Completing forms on a mobile device requires users to switch between numbers, letters, and special characters. FinTech forms are typically longer than other digital products, with more fields for users to complete.

UX designers can streamline this process by telling mobile devices which keypad to use, including:

• Number-first keypad
• Date picker
• Email field (ensures @ and .com appear on default)

6. Use Descriptive, Helpful CTAs

There must be no misunderstanding about what will happen when a user clicks a CTA. For example, if someone is completing a loan application, the form’s CTA must “Apply” rather than the usual “Submit” or “Send.”

7. Help, Don’t Hinder

Sadly it’s still common to see digital products hiding features that allow customers to cancel or downgrade a service. UX designers must always seek to help users complete tasks, including those that would enable customers to end a subscription or opt-out.

There might be clear guidelines for opting out of paid services in some jurisdictions, so always ensure your designs meet regulations and best practices.

8. Optimize for Mobile

Many users (especially under 30s) want to complete tasks on their mobile, either through a mobile application or browser. If your FinTech product doesn’t have a mobile application, ensure the website/web app is optimized for mobile users, providing the same experience as desktop.

If you have a mobile application, make sure users can complete the same tasks as they would using a desktop. Many products limit what users can do via a mobile app which can cause frustration or have negative implications–like not being able to downgrade a service or canceling a recurring payment.

Overcoming Common FinTech Usability Challenges

Here are some common FinTech UX scenarios and how to overcome them. We’ve taken these examples from Google’s UX Playbook for Finance.

Educating & Converting Users

One of the challenges designers face is educating users about complex financial products while getting them to convert. Here are some recommendations for a typical mobile onboarding flow:

• Use bullet points to summarize your offering and regulatory information
• Keep value proposition above the fold with CTA to reduce scrolling and increase the likelihood of conversion
• Reiterate value proposition at the top of onboarding forms
• Include social proof (TrustPilot widget) to build credibility and trust
• Use clear CTAs, i.e., “Sign up and Get Quotations.”
• Prefill form fields when an existing user applies for a new product or service
• Use progress bars to show users where they are in the process

Displaying Large Amounts of Data

FinTech products often have to display lots of data on a single screen, especially challenging on mobile devices with limited real estate. Here are some recommendations to help maximize space and reduce cognitive load:

• Ensure primary CTAs standout with descriptive labels
• Use outline/ghost buttons for secondary CTAs
• Use color and consistent spacing to separate content
• Create a clear distinction between headings and body copy
• Use an easy-to-read, legible typeface
• Hide secondary content behind carousels, accordions, and tooltips

Streamlining Long Forms

FinTech products often have to collect a lot of personal information to comply with legislation. These forms can take a long time and could appear overwhelming to users. Here are some tips to streamline long forms:

• Tell users how long you predict it will take to complete the form at the beginning to manage expectations.
• Divide your form into sections and separate these into steps (make sure users can easily navigate forward and backward at all times).
• Use progress indicators to show how much users must still complete.
• Only ask for the information required to complete the application. Avoid redundant fields like the person’s title, gender, and race that aren’t irrelevant to financial institutions.
• Don’t use dropdown menus for fewer than three options. A radio or checkbox makes for quicker selection.
• Allow users to save progress to return when they have time.
• Use numeric keypads for appropriate fields (date of birth, contact numbers, US zip codes, credit card numbers, etc.)
• Provide helpful placeholders and error messages to guide users. Error messages must have clear, actionable instructions for users to fix the problem.

Build Products 8X Faster With UXPin Merge

Merge is a design technology that allows orgs to sync a component library to UXPin’s editor, so designers can build prototypes using fully functioning coded UI elements that developers use to at the production stage.

Curious to see how UXPin Merge could revolutionize the workflows of your business? Learn more about Merge and see how you can get started with it.

The post Fintech Design – A Compilation of the Best UX Tips for Product Designers appeared first on Studio by UXPin.

One of the challenges with prototyping using a design tool is the lack of fidelity and functionality, preventing designers from completing comprehensive and accurate user testing.

Live-data prototypes seek to solve this prototyping issue by replicating the dynamic experience of code with data from user inputs. Designers must work with a front-end developer or UX engineer to build a code-based prototype capable of performing live-data functionality.

What is a Live-Data Prototype?

A live-data prototype uses information from user inputs, databases, and APIs to create dynamic, customized experiences–like the final product. For example, capturing a user’s name from a signup form to create a custom welcome message.

Live-data prototypes usually test a single task or sequence triggered by a user, like an API, a one-time-pin email/text, or other complex user interactions. The prototype might be one or two screens or even a single component.

Due to it being a resource-intense process, designers reserve these live-data prototypes for features that could involve usability issues or cause product failure–thus justifying the time and resources to build it.

Unfortunately, designers can’t build live-data prototypes using image-based tools. They usually have to rely on engineers to develop something in code when using those vector design tools, which is a rather time-consuming and expensive exercise.

Nevertheless, there’s an alternative. An advanced prototyping tool, such as UXPin and its revolutionary Merge technology that empowers teams to use the same UI elements in design and code, thus using the same source of truth. We will see how it works in just a moment.

Reach a new level of prototyping

Design with interactive components coming from your team’s design system.

Discover UXPin Merge

How do you Build a Live Data Prototype?

Product design teams have a few options when building a live-data prototype:

• Code: HTML, CSS, and Javascript provide the same functionality and fidelity as the final product giving accurate and actionable feedback, but designers need engineers to build them.
• Low-code builders: Gives designers control to build prototypes without engineers but within the platform’s constraints, limiting what designers can test.
• Design tools: Code-based design tools like UXPin provide designers with complete control to build, prototype, and test with live data, APIs, code components, etc.

Live Data vs. Real Data

It’s important to distinguish the difference between live data and real data prototypes.

Live data prototypes provide live, dynamic data. The information changes dynamically in sync with the source. Let’s look at a basic signup form with a name and email address as follows:

• Name: Joe King
• Email: joeking@uxpin.com

A live-data prototype allows Joe to enter her name and email. Joe can change her mind and use a different email or even make a spelling error. A live-data prototype will capture the data Joe enters as is.

Real-data prototypes are static. Designers must pre-populate a real-data prototype using Joe’s information because the form fields don’t function and can’t capture data. While the prototype uses Joe’s real name and email, the information is static and can’t change or respond to interactions.

Live-Data Prototype Example

Designers can build live-data prototypes using UXPin’s code-based design tool. A great example is UXPin’s free signup form template which uses States, Variables, and Conditional Interactions to simulate email and password validation and personalized email confirmation.

The prototype reacts to user inputs with error messages for the email and password fields. The password must be longer than eight characters, and the email must be formatted correctly. If the user clicks the “SIGN UP” button without entering anything, an error message says, “Can’t be blank” below the relevant input.

You can follow these instructions to edit UXPin’s free signup form template.

When Should You Use Live-Data Prototyping?

This list is by no means exhaustive, but these are the most common use cases for live-data prototypes. 

1. User Triggered Features

Live data prototyping is beneficial for testing notifications or APIs that rely on user data or interactions. For example, if you’re designing a two-step authentication using text or Google Authenticator, testing this feature with a live-data prototype is crucial.

2. MVP Testing

Live-data prototypes are excellent for startups wanting to test an MVP (minimum viable product). The team can use this MVP to test an idea’s desirability, viability, and feasibility–testing and iterating before they commit to the product development process. 

These live-data prototypes are comprehensive enough to get accurate results for a proof of concept but lean enough that it doesn’t take long to build and make changes.

3. A/B Testing

Marty Cagan describes how SVPG (Silicon Valley Product Group) uses live-data prototypes for A/B testing during product discovery. The product team can build two lightweight options of the same screen or flow to test the best option before committing to development.

The Pros & Cons of Live-Data Prototyping with Image-Based Tools

Prototyping with live-data has its pros and cons. It can garner you a more meaningful feedback from decision-makers, get you more accurate tests results and help you make fewer errors. The downsides of live-data prototyping are slower work, limited scope, and a need to get buy-in for that approach.

Pro #1 – Meaningful Stakeholder Feedback

One of the challenges with image-based prototypes is that designers aren’t able to create a realistic product experience for stakeholders–making it difficult to get buy-in.

With image-based prototypes, stakeholders and usability participants have to “imagine” that they’ve entered their details or the app has performed a complex task.

Live-data prototypes give stakeholders an accurate representation of the product. It responds to their inputs, creating a dynamic, personalized user experience.

Pro #2 – Improved Usability Testing

Every UX designer’s goal is to test and solve usability issues before the design handoff. Live-data prototypes significantly increase fidelity and functionality, giving design teams actionable feedback from user testing.

For example, how do designers test whether form errors help solve a user’s problem? The dynamic nature of a live-data prototype allows designers to test multiple scenarios, like spelling errors, password validation, email formatting, etc.

Pro #3 – Fewer Errors

Live-data testing allows designers to solve more usability issues during the design process. Fewer errors mean less rework, saving companies labor costs.

Con #1 – Slow Prototyping

Live-data prototyping relies on engineers to develop prototypes. Unlike drag-and-drop design tools, coding takes time. It also requires more team members to build the prototype, resulting in higher costs and a slower time-to-market.

Con #2 – Getting Buy-In

Unless you’re a designer with coding skills or a UX engineer, building a live-data prototype isn’t possible without a developer. This means you must get buy-in from the engineering team and stakeholders.

Con #3 – Limited Scope

The time and resources needed to create a live-data prototype mean designers are limited by what they can build and test. For this reason, designers usually reserve these prototypes for big problems that require accurate results.

Live-Data Prototyping Without Engineers Using UXPin

With a design tool like UXPin, designers can build advanced live-data prototypes without involving engineers so much, thus amending for some of the downsides of live-data prototyping we’ve mentioned above.

UXPin prototypes don’t only benefit designers during testing; they also streamline the design handoff process because engineers can see exactly how everything is supposed to function with minimal documentation and explanation.

Functioning User Inputs

Most prototyping tools don’t have functioning form inputs–making it impossible to test features that rely on user data. UXPin’s code-based prototypes feature functional inputs that designers can program to imitate code.

UXPin’s Signup Form example demonstrates how designers can test common errors and validation that typically require code prototypes. 

Using APIs with UXPin

Designers can use IFTTT to connect UXPin prototypes to other products and services via webhooks. For example, sending a Google Calendar invitation for a meeting booking app.

IFTTT has over 700 services you can connect to your UXPin app, including email, SMS, project management, internet of things products, chat, social media, and more.

By integrating external services through IFTTT, designers can connect live-data prototypes in a few clicks without the help of engineers. UXPin provides actions for GET or POST HTTP requests so designers can send or receive API data.

Importing Real Data

Designers can also import real data into UXPin prototypes using JSON, Google Sheets, or CSV. UXPin also allows designers to populate fields using dummy data using the Match Content by Layer Name feature or Unsplash for images.

These content and data features allow designers to populate any field no matter the source–live data, real data, or dummy data.

Fully Functioning Prototypes with UXPin Merge

Designers can take live-data prototypes to the next level with UXPin Merge. Sync a design system or component library to UXPin so designers can build fully functioning prototypes using code components.

With Merge, designers can build high-fidelity prototypes with the same functionality as engineers using code. Instead of writing code, designers simply drag-and-drop components to build live-data prototypes.

Here are some examples of live-data prototypes designers can build using Merge:

• Fully functioning date pickers
• Graphs and charts that change according to user inputs
• Data grids that users can filter, sort, and edit
• Functioning pagination and search fields
• Various forms, including signups, email subscriptions, etc.
• eCommerce and ordering flows

Live-data prototyping in Merge means designers don’t have to rely on engineers to build prototypes. They also don’t have to get buy-in from stakeholders every time to justify the additional resources.

Merge also makes code-based prototyping more accessible to the rest of the organization. PayPal’s product team, who had little experience with design tools, can build prototypes 8X faster with Merge than experienced UX designers using traditional design tools.

With UXPin Merge, every prototype can be an immersive live-data prototype. And, designers can build these fully functioning prototypes faster than traditional image-based design tools.

The post What is Live-Data Prototype and How to Create One? appeared first on Studio by UXPin.

Building a website is more accessible than ever. There are tons of web design tools catering to everyone, from newbies to professional designers and developers.

We’ve put together a list of the best website design tools and we organized it into three categories (feel free to jump to the section that best describes your web design tool needs):

• Beginners: No experience with design or web development. You rely on templates and drag-and-drop tools to build and host your website without coding or design.
• Intermediate: You have some design or development experience, but you’re looking for the best content management system, tools, plugins, and integrations to complement your skills.
• Expert: You have a product team, UX/UI designers, and engineers, but you’re looking for tools to optimize collaboration and streamline workflows.

UXPin is an end-to-end code-based design tool for wireframes, mockups, prototypes, testing, design systems, documentation, and more. Sign up for a free trial and discover how code-based design can enhance your UX workflows to deliver superior user experiences for your customers.

Build advanced prototypes

Design better products with States, Variables, Auto Layout and more.

Try UXPin

Web Design Software for Beginners

These beginner web design tools will allow you to build a professional website or minimum viable product without any design or coding experience.

1. Squarespace for Websites

Squarespace is a popular no-code website builder and content management system for people with little or no web design experience. Many freelancers, including professional designers, also use Squarespace because the platform is so user-friendly.

Squarespace is a better option than popular no-code web builders like Wix or Weebly because it offers more functionality and the ability to scale.

You can choose from a wide range of professionally designed templates to customize to meet your needs, like changing colors, fonts, layouts, and assets. Squarespace features one-click hosting, so your website is live as soon as you’re ready. You can also purchase a custom domain or use an existing one from another platform, like GoDaddy or Google Domains.

2. GetResponse

GetResponse is an all-in-one business solution with a website builder, landing pages, email marketing, conversion funnels and automation, signup forms, webinars, and much more! If you’re looking for an affordable, comprehensive web design tool, it doesn’t get better than GetResponse.

GetResponse also has a Free-Forever Plan, including one website, one landing page, forms, and email marketing for fewer than 500 subscribers. The platform features a drag-and-drop editor for websites, email templates, and forms, so people with no design or coding experience can manage the technical aspects of their business.

3. Bubble for Web Apps

Bubble is a fantastic no-code platform for building web applications. You can’t deploy Bubble apps to mobile app stores like Apple App Store or Google Play, but users can access them through desktop and mobile browsers.

You can build a Bubble app from scratch or choose from hundreds of templates for apps, including chat/forums, social media, project management, accounting, property listings, holiday listings, and more.

Bubble also has many plugins and integrations to extend your app’s functionality or integrate with other digital products. 

4. Glide for Web Apps

Glide is similar to Bubble but uses Google Sheets or Glide’s Data Editor for content management and database hosting. Like Bubble, Glide apps are only accessible through the browser, but users can download the application directly to their device, bypassing device app stores.

Intermediate Web Design Software

Here are four tools for designers, product managers, or developers to enhance their web design projects. 

1. Strapi for Content Management

Strapi is an open-source headless Node.js content management system you can use with almost any tech stack, website, web, or mobile application. This versatile CMS integrates with many programming languages and front-end technologies, including, React, Vue, Gatsby, Next.js, Flutter, and others.

Strapi is an excellent alternative to popular content management systems like WordPress, Drupel, and others because you’re not confined to a specific programming language, like PHP or Javascript. You can use any tech stack with Strapi for eCommerce sites, static web pages, blogs, and applications.

Contentful offers similar features to Strapi, but it’s not open-source with high monthly subs.

2. Ghost for Publishing

Ghost is an open-source content management system that also offers hosting plans. Ghost is designed specifically for publishers–like bloggers, magazines, subscription sites, etc.

With a focus on publishing, Ghost doesn’t have the same complex dashboard layout as WordPress and other content management systems. The headless CMS is far more lightweight, with a beautiful user interface that’s easy to navigate. Ghost comes with SEO features built-in, so you don’t need extra plugins or integrations.

Some major tech companies use Ghost, including Unsplash, DuckDuckGo, Airtable, freeCodeCamp, CloudFlare, and many others.

3. UXPin for UX Design

UXPin is a code-based end-to-end UX design and prototyping tool with advanced features allowing you to create UI mockups and prototypes with higher fidelity and functionality.

You can work with UXPin in the cloud or download the software to your Windows or Apple desktop.

Some of UXPin’s advanced features include:

• Auto Layout: Allows designers to distribute, size, and align elements fast. UXPin’s Auto Layout works on Flexbox principles, making it easy for engineers to understand at design handoff.
• Components: Reusable UI elements designers can use to build consistent digital products. You can also share Components through UXPin’s design system feature.
• Design Systems: UXPin’s Design System feature lets you build, manage, share, and scale a custom design system with a style guide and documentation. Several built-in design libraries, including Material Design UI, iOS, and Bootstrap, allow you to start prototyping immediately.
• States: Create multiple States for a single component with different properties to replicate CSS and Javascript interactions like hover, tap, active, disabled, etc.
• Variables: Capture data from user inputs to take actions or use the information in other parts of your prototype–like a personalized welcome message or populating a user’s profile page.
• Expressions: Take Interactions to the next level with Javascript-like functions that allow you to create code-like dynamic prototypes. With UXPin’s Expressions, you can update a shopping cart, validate forms, or check passwords meet specific criteria–functionality that’s impossible to achieve with traditional image-based prototypes.

Check out how UXPin stacks up to traditional image-based tools like Adobe XD, Figma, InVision Studio, Framer, and Sketch. 

Sign up for a free trial to explore all of UXPin’s advanced design, prototyping, and testing features.

4. Google Web Designer

Google Web Designer (GWD) is a free graphic design tool for creating HMTL5-based videos, animations, and motion graphics. Designers can use GWD to create engaging HTML5 content and assets for their website projects.

GWD is a fantastic tool for creating custom ad banners or eye-catching CTAs with motion or video. You can even set an exit URL if someone clicks the content, taking them to a product or promotion.

If you’re using a code-based tool like UXPin, these HTML videos will have full functionality for prototyping and testing.

Web Design Software for Teams & Experts

These advanced web design tools are perfect for cross-functional product development teams to optimize processes and workflows. 

1. UXPin Merge for Design & Web Development Collaboration

Merge is a powerful UXPin add-on that allows you to sync a component library hosted in a repository to UXPin’s design editor for designers to build fully functioning high-fidelity prototypes.

These code components have the same fidelity and functionality as those hosted in the repository, so your prototypes look and work exactly like the final product or website.

Design handoffs are much smoother because engineers already have copies of the components in the repository. UXPin renders any component changes in JSX, so engineers simply copy/paste to start the development process. 

If developers update components in the repository, the changes automatically sync to UXPin, notifying design teams of the new release. This single source of truth enables you to ship consistently with a quicker time-to-market, even for enterprise products–discover how PayPal scaled its design process with Merge.

2. Storybook for UI Components

Storybook is an open-source tool for front-end developers to host, review, edit, and share individual UI components. Storybook also works with Merge, allowing you to sync React, Vue, Angular, Ember, and other front-end components to UXPin.

Engineers can share Storybook components with leads and stakeholders for review and feedback before publishing. You can also embed Storybook components in your design system documentation to provide context and examples for team members.

3. GitLab for DevOps

GitLab is a DevOps platform encompassing multiple tools for an end-to-end development process. With GitLab, your team has a simplified development workflow to ship products faster with enhanced consistency and cohesion.

GitLab allows leads and stakeholders to visualize and monitor the development process to track projects and identify bottlenecks. Whether you’re a startup looking to scale or build enterprise products, GitLab has a solution to meet your development workflow.

4. LambdaTest for Product Testing

One of the challenges with building websites, web, and mobile applications is testing across multiple browsers and devices. LambdaTest is a cloud-based tool that automates your product testing across 3000+ browsers and operating systems.

You also get geolocation testing to ensure your customers enjoy a consistent user experience, no matter where they are in the world.

LambdaTest’s integrated debugging tool flags issues for developers to fix. You can integrate LambdaTest with many tools and platforms to optimize workflows and collaboration, including GitLab, Asana, GitHub, Bitbucket, and others.

Design for the Web with UXPin

Web design can become much faster if you use the right tools. One of the best tools is UXPin. It’s great for high-fidelity prototyping with advanced interactions at scale. Try it for free for 14 days.

The post Web Design Tools for Fast and Efficient Design appeared first on Studio by UXPin.

Without the right app design steps in place, it’s like rolling a dice and wishing for a six. Sure, the app you unleash into the marketplace may be a hit. More likely, it risks sinking without a trace because it didn’t appeal to the target audience and didn’t work the way it should. 

Effective mobile app design processes are laser-focused on testing, from that exciting initial concept, and continuously post- launch. Testing functionality and usability. Testing user demands. Testing the boundaries of what your design and dev team can achieve.

Design your first app with UXPin. An end-to-end design tool for building interactive prototypes that behave like a fully developed app. Sign up for a free trial and see how fast you can design your app and share it with your stakeholders.

3 Major Benefits of Creating an Effective App Design Process

If you’re creating a new mobile application, an effective app design process brings three major benefits. You’ll get your product to market faster. You’ll build a successful app that really hits your users’ spot. And you’ll stop wasting unnecessary time and money on an app that doesn’t work (or, at least, doesn’t work for your users). 

The app design steps aren’t set in stone – every business is different, after all – but we’ve mapped out the general process every successful design and development team follows to reach a successful launch, and well beyond. Along the way, you’ll learn more about your users, your market, and your business.

Explore how to get from that first spark of inspiration to a fully-fledged and fleshed-out app. 

3 Steps that You Should Follow in the Mobile App Design Process

To build a successful product, your process needs three core app design steps:

• Plan & research
• Design & app development
• Launch & continuous testing

Let’s look at what you’ll need to apply at each stage of the mobile app design process. 

1. Plan & Research

What are your business goals?

Your app design process starts with a solid foundation: what do you (and your end-users) want? 

Start broad. Write down every goal. Every problem and every solution. Then step back and assess. Now you’ll be able to see a path towards your true goal – tangled and overgrown and only just visible, but it’s there. 

It’s really important, here, to have a single vision. One that can be easily communicated to all stakeholders including the C-suite. 

‘Create a mobile app’ doesn’t tell anyone anything. 

‘Create a mobile app for stockbrokers’ offers the team direction. 

‘Create a mobile app that lets stockbrokers share professional advice’ gives everyone a clear objective, and how their work will make that vision a digitally tangible product. 

With your business goals and specification in place, you can then work up a design team’s to-do list and define the delivery time frame.

Who will the user be?

Next, it’s time to dig deeper into who your user is and the broader market. That “sharing app for stockbrokers” only tells half the story. It doesn’t contain any detail about the target audience, demographics or how their use computers or mobile devices. These are the sort of factors that now need to be built up.

Don’t let assumptions run the mobile app design process. Run user research. Assess your initial ideas through:

• Focus groups
• Surveys
• Phone and face-to-face interviews

This feedback will tell you what your users really want, what are their pain points, and what they like. So, you don’t spend months building an app that doesn’t meet their expectations.

When you run the user research, turn it into personas that will guide you throughout the full application design process and refine your app idea.

Who are your competitors?

You know the user and their needs. But how much does the team know about the market you want to operate in? The most successful app design processes include a heavy dose of competitor analysis. It’s like a CEO of a retail company ordering products from a competing store online or browsing around their brick-and-mortar store, aiming to understand the way they operate (and, ultimately, defeat them). What’s working, what isn’t? What do they do well, what don’t they do at all? What makes top competitors popular, what misses the mark completely?  

Ideally, you should analyze only a few companies – especially when developing an MVP. It will keep your research hyper-focused (and won’t overwhelm you as you refine your vision). 

Try out existing android, iOs, and web apps on the market. You might spot an opportunity straight away by reviewing the existing use cases and checking what the real users think about one app or the other.

To see what users make of the same product, head to review sites like G2Crowd, Capterra, and Serchen. The findings can be revealing. Don’t neglect social media, either. Undertake a deep dive of competitor profiles using social listening tools to make the research phase more efficient. 

2. Come up With a Design & App Development Process

Engage in wireframing

Wireframing is a 2D mock-up of a product. It’s typically simple, lacking color and styling, and it won’t feature any functionality. Wireframes help visualize your app information architecture without wasting tons of precious resources on a product that isn’t viable, doesn’t meet business goals, or just doesn’t work at all. During the wireframing stage, remember to make sure that your app design layout is in line with the Apple and Google app store guidelines. Otherwise, your app could be rejected. 

Hopefully your wireframes are bang-on target. All that user and competitor research has paid off. Which means you can begin scraping feedback from real users, or even colleagues, and key stakeholders across different departments.

It’s really easy to collect and collate this feedback using UXPin for wireframing. Just to make it easier, those serving up their views don’t even need a UXPin account to leave feedback. They can just add comments in the Editor and on Preview screens. The tool lets you add two kinds of comments in UXPin: 

• Team comments.Team comments are internal – only those added as team members via Team Management can leave and see them. 
• Public comments. Public comments are visible to everyone – even if they don’t have a UXPin account. You can explore more about how to ask the right questions in our guide Tips on Asking for Feedback. Use that feedback to refine the vision, direction, and scope of your app design layout.

Start thinking about the design system

After you’ve started working on your wireframes and collected feedback, it’s a good time to also start considering your design system. It entails a style guide with visual elements such as:

• Color & typography
• Sizing and spacing
• Imagery and animations
• UI components

Having a design system in place will help you speed up your work as you engage in the next steps and ensure that your design is consistent as you bring your app to the market. A step-by-step guide on design systems is here: Creating a Design System: The 100-Point Process Checklist.

In UXPin, you can create and maintain your own Design System or use one of the available design system library that are already in the app. Sign up for UXPin’s trial and see how easy prototyping is when you have a design system in place.

Proceed with high-fidelity prototypes

Low-fidelity prototypes like wireframes give you a good idea of how the app will look. But it doesn’t tell you how it works. For that, you’ll need to work up a high-fidelity prototype. 

There’s more to this than just an app design layout. Hi-fi prototyping blends user interface (UI) considerations like how the app looks with user experience (UX) factors like how the app behaves and how users interact with it. 

UXPin is tailor-made for this prototyping phase of the app design process. Your team can build clickable prototypes that are fully interactive. That’s because UXPin’s powerful advanced features, such as variables, expressions, and states. Elevate your prototyping to be more life-like than vector-based prototypes. Sign up for a trial.

The aim is to create a functional product fit for usability testing. It’s a way to let potential users (and your testers) try out the app to see how well it meets their needs – and pick up on any possible problems to be addressed before you start product development. 

Develop the app

It’s time to see how well the groundwork was laid. Or, to put it in Star Wars terms, ‘this is where the fun begins…’ by handing off the app UI design to front-end and backend developers who will code it into reality. There’s that flurry of emotions welling inside. Excitement. Tension. Joy. Frustration as designs go back and forth between the teams until they finally do what you need them to do. 

Efficiency is critical. It’s not an effective app design process without it, and the endless back and forths can really put the brakes on your momentum, or worse, stall a project seemingly indefinitely. To harmonize the workflow, UXPin lets designers build clickable prototypes with the same code used by front-end developers. So, design team knows what’s possible and devs know precisely how to recreate the UI design in fully functional code. 

3. Launch & Continuous Testing

Test the app with real users (and launch a beta version)

You now have an app. Or something that looks and works a lot like the finished product should. So, it’s time to test it among your target market to see what they make of it. Just as you did when you were determining the end-user all that time ago, organize focus groups to assess the product. Throw in remote usability tests, as you did during the prototyping stage, to assess navigation and interactions. 

Don’t just seek praise. Seek feedback to make your app even better (and iron out any annoying bugs).

Here’s the step way too many mobile app developers miss: the beta phase. 

A beta version of your app is a great way to observe user behavior. It opens up your user base. More users means more feedback that can translate into meaningful design tips – and who doesn’t love exclusive access to an app, anyway?

Then there’s the financial factor. If you jump straight to launch, and find you need to make changes, it costs a lot more to make those tweaks to the ‘finished’ product. UXPin simplifies testing, since you can observe the user truly interacting with the app and design elements, such as signup forms, data tables, etc.

Test your app with a robust prototype before you expend time, money, and all those other far-too-precious resources on developing the final iteration of your mobile app.

Launch the app

Of all the app design steps, this is arguably the most thrilling. The launch. The moment when the hard work of your whole team is delivered into the world for all to see (and download and love and use on a daily basis). 

Ok, let’s not get carried away. Before you launch, give your app one final check: does your app still meet the Google and Apple app store guidelines? A lot may have changed from the last time you checked. You’ve come too far to have your app rejected at the final hurdle. You need to make sure your product is 100% ready. 

All right, after that check, it’s time to launch. 

Collect user feedback & refine the mobile app experience

But the launch doesn’t mean the story’s over. In user experience and visual design as well as app development, the product launch is really the beginning of the journey. Everything that came before was just a prologue. UI/UX design is all about refining and reiterating on the initial idea. It’s the reason why Facebook initiated so many UI and UX changes, particularly in the years when usage exploded. The core idea remained – how users accessed the platform’s options evolved. 

Your users know what they want. 

Their feedback tells you how you can give it to them. 

You should still continue running focus groups and usability tests. Alongside these, monitor social media platforms, app store reviews, and customer satisfaction and UX design surveys. Make use of all the feedback collection methods you can. Just like during the app testing stage, the more data you can collect, the more on-point your innovations will be.

If you have access to a tool that helps you filter feedback by user sentiment, then that’s going to be invaluable. Congratulations – someone left a positive review. That’s ripe for the marketing team to help build social proof. Oh no – several users said they found menu navigation slow and clunky. Now, you’ve identified an area where you can make your app even better. 

Continuous product refinement ensures you’re always meeting market and user needs. 

Build High-Fidelity Prototypes in UXPin

App design process is pretty easy to follow once you understand its distinctive phases. Yet, you can be almost certain that you will hit a lot of bumps, especially when doing the testing part.

Spending a lot of time on testing with real users, letting them interact with a prototype and experience it can help you save loads of money and ensure your success. Use the prototyping tool that helps you design real interactions, not simulate them. Try UXPin and check how much you can gain.

The post How to Create an Effective App Design Process appeared first on Studio by UXPin.

In a world filled with an extensive range of devices and different screen sizes, it’s safe to say that responsive design is design. Organizations cannot afford to build any website or application for a single device or screen size because they’ll lose out to a competing product that’s more accommodating to more users.

This step-by-step responsive website design guide walks designers through the process of designing for multiple viewport widths. Incorporating these processes into your UX workflow will ensure that design teams consider various screen widths when designing user interfaces.

Design responsive prototypes without adjusting multiple layouts for different screen sizes Try the power of UXPin’s Merge technology and bring React components to a design tool. Discover UXPin Merge.

Reach a new level of prototyping

Design with interactive components coming from your team’s design system.

Discover UXPin Merge

What is Responsive Design?

Responsive design is the process of designing user interfaces to accommodate multiple viewports. The aim is to provide a consistent user experience no matter what device someone uses.

Traditionally, responsive web design considered three primary screens, mobile phones, tablets, and desktops. Nowadays, designers have more screens and devices, including smartwatches, TVs, vehicle dashboards, and fridges, to name a few. Some products also include voice, meaning design teams must also incorporate VUI (voice user interface).

Understand Responsive Design

Before designers start designing responsive UIs, they must understand responsive design and the techniques developers use for their products. 

For example, engineers can use CSS to serve users different-sized images based on their screen size or use an optimization tool that does this automatically. If engineers use the former, designers must supply assets for multiple screen sizes, whereas the latter only requires one.

So, before designers start a project, they must consult with engineers to understand the technical requirements and constraints. Some questions designers need to ask include:

• Does the product use a responsive grid or a fluid grid?
• What are the product’s breakpoints?
• Does the operating system (Apple iOS, Android, Windows) impact the product’s layout?
• How do engineers scale and serve images?
• What formats do engineers use for videos, images, icons, and other media?
• What grid system does the product use?
• Does the product use Flexbox or regular CSS?

Responsive Grid vs. Fluid Grid

A responsive grid uses a standard 12-column grid system with pixels for sizing. Using pixels means engineers set the size of a component or container that only changes with CSS media queries. A fluid grid uses percentages, allowing UI elements to resize according to the available space.

Define Your Breakpoints

Listing the breakpoints allows designers to plan information architecture, layouts, and features for each device. For example, some complex features limit what you can do on mobile vs. desktop application versions.

The most common breakpoints include:

• Desktops – max-width: 1200px
• Laptops – max-width: 991px
• Tablets – min-width: 768px and max-width: 990px
• Smartphones – max-width: 500px

Designers must also consider screen orientation and how designs adjust to a landscape layout. For example, the iPhone 13 is 390 pixels × 844 pixels, more than double the width in landscape vs. portrait. 

Content Strategy Approach

Designing layouts around content enables designers to build intuitive, easy-to-navigate UIs. Defining your content hierarchy allows designers to organize layouts according to breakpoints.

Designers must consider hierarchy relating to the action they want users to take. For example, a blog feed’s purpose is to show users a list of articles and get them to click on something of interest. The blog feed’s most essential elements are the featured image and headline that entice users to click on an article.

On a desktop feed, designers have space to include more information, like the article’s excerpt, published date, author, and category tags. User research and interviews can guide responsive design according to what matters most to users. 

Mobile-First Design

Mobile-first design is a process of starting with the smallest screen size and scaling up. This design strategy offers two primary benefits:

1. The constraints of small screens force designers to include only the most critical features and UI components. Reducing unnecessary features reduces costs and time to market.
2. It’s easier and faster to convert a mobile layout to larger screens than the other way around. Designing desktop-first often leads to compromises and redesigns to scale down to a mobile version.

A mobile-first approach also makes business sense for web design. Google prioritizes mobile-friendly content, which means a responsive design could benefit SEO to rank higher and generate more clicks.

Prioritize Content

Part of a mobile-first and content-first approach is prioritizing content that is always visible on smaller devices and what to hide behind navigational drawers, dropdown menus, or accordions.

For example, on a desktop layout, designers often show the questions and answers to users for an FAQ section. This layout would mean users would have to scroll over every Q&A to find what they want on mobile devices. Instead, designers can show users the question on smaller screens with the answer hidden behind an accordion, reducing scrolling for mobile users.

Responsive Images & Videos

Deciding on media formats at the start of the project could save designers rework later. For example, designers might use PNG for icons, but engineers use SVG because they adapt better to responsive layouts and deliver better performance.

Engineers might require several sizes and formats to serve different media depending on the device or viewport for complex responsive designs. Agreeing on these formats from the beginning ensures designers test prototypes correctly while preparing assets for a smoother design handoff.

Responsive Typography

Typography is a crucial design component impacting brand/identity, readability, voice, and readability. Selecting a typeface that translates across multiple devices is something designers spend hours, days, or even weeks deliberating.

In A guide to responsive typography, UX designer Augustine Thomas talks about what designers must consider for responsive typography, including:

• Choosing the right typeface
• Selecting a typography scale
• Alignment and spacing

Your project’s content, like images, video, graphics, etc., has a significant impact on all three of these elements. So, always test your typeface pairings with real content and avoid dummy text to get accurate results.

Responsive Design Performance Optimization

While performance is often a developer’s job, there are some things designers can do to make their job easier:

Use System Fonts

Every operating system has a font stack. iOS uses San Francisco, Android Roboto, and Windows Segoe UI, to name a few. Using these default fonts means the responsive website or application doesn’t have to make additional requests, improving performance.

If your product prioritizes performance over aesthetics, consider using system fonts instead of a custom one. Make sure you test your product with each font to get consistent results across all operating systems.

Animations

CSS and Javascript animations impact performance and could adversely affect the user experience. Conversely, designers can use animations when engineers need a few seconds to load a feature. Finding the right balance between these two takes collaboration and testing with designers and engineers.

Responsive Design with UXPin Merge

One of the challenges with responsive design is that the static nature of image-based design tools doesn’t allow designers to test UIs and components across multiple viewports accurately. 

The only way to test a web page accurately is by using HTML, CSS, and Javascript–languages most designers don’t speak.

UXPin Merge is a code-based design tool allowing designers to prototype and test using the same components engineers use. Engineers can also program responsive properties, so UI elements function in prototypes as they do in the final product.

What is UXPin Merge?

UXPin Merge allows you to sync your product’s component library to UXPin’s design editor so designers can prototype using fully functioning code components.

You can connect a React component library direct to Merge using Git or our Storybook integration for Angular, Ember, Vue, and other front-end frameworks.

Creating Responsive Components Using Merge

Using a React component library, engineers can program an IFrame component to respond to responsive properties, media queries, and styling, providing the same responsive functionality as components in the final product.

Check out this step-by-step tutorial for building responsive components with UXPin Merge.

Enhance Testing

Instead of using multiple frames, designers can achieve the same responsive functionality as code using a single frame and component. These UI elements also have the same fidelity and functionality as the final product providing designers with meaningful feedback from usability testing and stakeholders.

With Merge, designers can prototype and test using fully functioning, responsive UI elements from a component library without writing code or relying on engineers to build it.

Streamlining the Design Handoff

These responsive Merge prototypes also streamline design handoffs, reducing time to market. Engineers no longer have to inspect multiple mockups and documentation to convert designs into responsive code; they simply copy/paste components from the repository plus any JSX changes from UXPin to start the web development process.

The post A Guide to Responsive Design – 8 Easy Steps appeared first on Studio by UXPin.

Many programming languages use packages to build and scale websites, software, and other digital products. These packages allow engineers to extend a project’s functionality without writing and maintaining additional code.

If your company uses Node.js, you’ve probably heard engineers talking about NPM, Node.js packages, or a package manager. This article will explain these terms from a designer’s perspective, so you get a basic understanding of how packages work and why engineers use them.

Do you want to build stunning apps with npm components? Take npm components and import them to UXPin. Assemble your layout and push it to development. Discover UXPin Merge.

Create beautiful layouts without designers

Take UI components directly from Git repo, Storybook, or through NPM and design production-ready prototypes.

Bring code to design

What is NPM (Node Package Manager)?

npm or Node Package Manager is an open-source repository of tools engineers use to develop applications and websites.

npm is two things:

1. A repository for publishing open-source projects.
   Simplified version: a digital storage and retrieval facility.
2. A command-line interface (CLI) for interacting with the repository.
   Simplified version: a tool to communicate with the storage facility.

What is a Package Manager?

Before we can explain what npm package is, it’s essential to understand the idea of a package manager. Think of a package manager as a toolkit for developers.

Let’s say you’re building an application that uses Stripe for payments. A package manager installs all the code your product will need to communicate with Stripe and process payments.

Instead of writing all that code or copy/pasting it from Stripe’s docs, engineers simply enter a command, and the package manager installs the code dependencies they need from Stripe.

There are millions of these packages for everything you can think of to develop an application–like different types of search functionality, APIs, payments, authentication tools, maps, icons, hosting, and more.

You get public open-source repositories (like npm) where anyone can upload and install packages, as well as private package repositories with restricted access.

What is a Command Line Interface?

A command-line interface (CLI) is a text interface developers use to interact with computer programs. This CLI allows you to execute commands to run background operations necessary for software development.

In the case of npm, the CLI allows you to interact with the package registry. For example, engineers can use commands like npm install followed by the package name to install a specific package.

The npm Registry

The npm website is where engineers can search and learn about packages. This website is just a registry and doesn’t host the packages. Instead, engineers use platforms like GitHub, Packagecloud, AWS CodeArtifact, and others to host and distribute packages.

For example, if we look at the UXPin Merge CLI on NPM, it has displays GitHub as the repository and relevant link. Above that is the command to install the UXPin Merge CLI and its dependencies: npm i @uxpin/merge-cli. The “i” after npm is an abbreviation for “install.” So, typing npm install @uxpin/merge-cli would render the same result.

What are Dependencies?

Packages consist of other packages that engineers call dependencies–we know, confusing, right! These dependencies are packages of code that perform different tasks within the project.

For example, the UXPin Merge CLI uses Typescript and therefore requires the typescript package as a dependency. Typescript is just one of the 41 dependencies UXPin Merge CLI requires. 

What are Devdependencies?

Looking at the UXPin Merge CLI’s dependencies, you’ll notice 41 Dependencies and 41 Dev Dependencies (also referred to as devDependencies–one word).

• Dependencies: The packages required to run a piece of software
• Dev Dependencies: The packages needed during the development phase only

Dependencies and devDependencies reside in a separate folder called node_modules, so your packages.json file and project code know where to find them.

What is the package.json File?

There’s a package.json file that provides its metadata and dependencies. When installing the project on your computer, npm will reference the package.json file to install the dependencies and devDependencies.

Instead of installing each dependency individually, you simply type npm install in the command line.

Hosting providers also use the package.json file to install the dependencies (excluding devDependencies) needed to run the project on its servers.

What is package-lock.json?

The package-lock.json specifies the exact version of the package used to build the project. This file locks the dependencies so that when the project is installed, it references the versions used during development rather than the latest release.

Engineers update packages regularly, often changing the way the package works. So, locking your dependencies ensures the project operates as intended.

How to use npm

Here are some common npm commands and what they do:

• npm init: Creates a package.json file for your project. If you’re building an application from scratch, npm init will be one of the first commands you use to include key project information. NPM will automatically update your package.json file whenever you install or remove packages.
• npm install: Installs all of the project dependencies in a package.json file.
• npm install <package-name>: Installs a specific package from the NPM registry and saves it to your node_modules folder. For example, npm install @uxpin/merge-cli will install the Merge CLI.
• npm install <package-name> –save: Installs an NPM package and adds it to the dependencies in your package.json file.
• npm install <package-name> –save-dev: installs an NPM package and adds it to the devDependencies 
• npm uninstall <package-name>: Uninstalls a specific package from your project.
• npm doctor: Runs diagnostics on your npm installation to check if it has everything it needs to manage your packages.
• npm update <package-name>: Updates a specific package to the latest version.

These are just a few of the most common npm commands. You can find the complete list in the npm documentation.

Understanding npm as a Designer

npm is simply a toolkit comparable to plugins or app extensions for design tools. You don’t need to know the ins-and-outs of how packages are created, but it may be useful to know a thing or two about it.

First of all, some of code component libraries are shared as npm packages, such as MUI, Ant Design, etc.

How to find component libraries that are distributed as npm packages? Let’s say you search through Adele, UXPin’s library of publicly available Design Systems, for a component library that you can bring in to UXPin. You pick Shopify’s Polaris and notice that it is distributed via npm.

So, you go to the NPM site, look for Shopify’s Polaris, and find it.

UXPin with Merge technology allows you to import UI elements from component libraries via NPM packages. Then, you can use those elements to put together fully-functional prototypes.

UXPin Merge is usually being set up by a developer. But if you lack the development support, you can use our new tool – Merge Component Manager and manage UI components by yourself.

However, if you want to enhance your programming knowledge to collaborate with devs better, then learning about basic code principles (HTML, CSS, Javascript) and component libraries is far more valuable for designers.

Improve Collaboration With UXPin Merge

Merge enhances collaboration between design and development because designers and engineers work with the same component library. 

Instead of having a UI kit for designers and code for devs, Merge syncs a repository to UXPin’s editor so design teams can build fully functioning prototypes using code components.

You can sync your company’s design system or a component library like MUI so that you only have to drag and drop UI elements to build interfaces. Request access to Merge.

The post What is npm? appeared first on Studio by UXPin.