Consistency is key. Every UX designer will insist on this. If you are developing a website that allows your customers to log in to, make sure it works clearly and simply. This also applies to software development. Get started with a specialist who is thinking about using a tool, a so-called UX designer, and let them work with the front end designer and developers. The UX designer thinks about the flow, about the frame and the graphic designer or the front end developer looks at the outside. A successful website or software tool is only as successful as its weakest link. As soon as you have to explain how to do something, you are too late and something is wrong. Most people don't read a manual. And if they do, they will have forgotten the content again if they don't log in for a while. That's why you need to make sure it's simple, clear.
What should you pay attention to?
- Consistency
- Direct access to help/explanation
- Clear use of color
- Clear notifications
Consistency
By consistency, we mean that you clearly build the screens according to a fixed setup. Consider, for example, the save and cancel buttons. Always place them clearly in the same position. Don't let users search for buttons. We see more and more that you don't have to save at all. That's easy, but we still see that people find that uncomfortable. Especially when different functions are used where you have to save sometimes and not the other time. In that case, you'd better choose to always show the save button. What you can do is let the save button change color when a change is made to the page. This way, people immediately see that they need to save for a while. In any case, don't mix it. Or never a save button, or always a save button and always place that button in the same place.
Direct access to help
What we also often see is that a handy help function is built into a tool, but you always have to search for it first. Why not show related help articles directly when you click help on a specific page. People will most likely need help for that specific position. Of course, you can still look for something else, but it's easy if you offer your help right away. Use text, videos, and clear screen recording explanations.
Clear use of color
When you work with colors, it's good to be consistent in that too. Use red for an alert, green for saving, or whatever, but don't mix it. For important buttons, use clearly contrasting colors. It should look nice, but at the end of the day, it's about user-friendliness. So a nice color that fits perfectly, but that doesn't stand out at all, is not what you want to do for the save button, for example. Deal with this consciously.
Clear notifications
You know those error messages when you haven't done something right or when you've forgotten something and you have absolutely no idea what they mean. Super frustrating. If you have a form with mandatory fields and someone forgets to fill in a field, let the browser jump directly to that field and/or give that field a clearly highlighted color so that people can immediately see what they forgot. Don't describe an error message by telling them what went wrong, but tell them what to do. So no: Upload CSV file is not good. However, your CSV file is a comma-delimited file, please change it to a semicolon separated file and try again. Download an example file here. By immediately adding an example file, you are really helping in a caring way.
If someone clicks close and forgets to save them, give an alert and immediately show two buttons in that alert. Are you sure you want to leave the screen? Your changes haven't been saved yet. Save Button, Continue Button. Clear, easy and immediately accessible.
