5 Common UX design mistakes

Its not too uncommon for a person to be browsing a website and becoming overwhelmed with the volume of content on it and swiftly exiting it to look elsewhere. The problem here is not the volume of information, websites are geared to handle large amounts of data, after all it is unintelligible to have 2 separate websites representing the same company. The problem lies in how the site has been constructed. It truly is an art to conceal large amounts of information on the website while retaining its clutter free look and excellent usability.

Making a website user friendly is probably the primary task of UX designers and developers, however this is easier said than done. Site architects spend endless hours t painstakingly develop a website that can be used by the masses seamlessly and making a few errors on the way is not unheard of.

Lets discuss a few of the common mistakes in UX design and how they can be mitigated:

Unintuitive site navigation:

This is probably the most common of UX design errors. This occurs mostly in sites which have a large scope. Site navigation is vital to a good user experience in using the site, no user wants to run circles around the site looking for what they want. A well structured site with clear and legible elements is one way to reduce this error. Yet another is a search box. Users seldom have time to explore a site to find what they are looking for and will naturally look for a search box to help them navigate to the page of their choice. Some designers employ a site map which is good but as designers one must always look to simplify and at times a site map can also seem illegible. Today with the advance of AI, chatbots have taken center stage to solve this problem, this however does not mean that the onus of navigation falls on the chatbot. Well defined, aesthetic, and clear cut navigational elements are self serving and help the user in satisfying his/her purpose.

Little or no text hierarchy:

Text is the primary unit of informational content, which is exactly the reason why it must always be legible and organized. Properly formatted text facilitates users’ perception of information.Have plenty of contrast between each style title: Use size, weight, and color to separate each style.For information hierarchy to be clearly visible, always start with a big title which should be the most prominent element of the page. Sub-headers and other text should be considerably smaller, and so on.Use adequate spacing and kerning. Separate your blocks of text clearly, use small amounts of space to connect related information and use lots of space to visually separate different blocks of information. It is vital to use a font that is decipherable, if a user has to squit to read text on the site rest assured the site will not get a repeat visit. Text contrast should also be able to stand out and be readable from afar. The general rule being if its easily read from 5 meters away it should be good enough.

Miniscule touch target for mobile and tablet:

Often while optimising a site for a mobile or a tablet a few important aspects are overlooked. Primary among them being the size of buttons and options on smaller devices. Large buttons take up too much space on a page leaving little room for other elements. Smaller buttons tend to be difficult to correctly select and this can cause much annoyance to a user. Sometimes clicking or tapping an unintended option can more than just mental distress and much care must be taken to optimise the buttons to just the right size to maximize user experience. Create finger-friendly targets by keeping in mind that the average width of an adult index finger is 1.6 to 2cm. Make your touch target at least 45–57 pixels wide. This will give users enough room to hit the target without having to worry about accuracy.

Mimicking other design trends:

While constructing a site, designers look at other sites for inspirational elements that may be incorporated in the new project. This however must be done with caution. Elements that suit one site may not necessarily fit into the architecture and design language of another. Forcing the issue may just make the site very obviously discontinuous and this can have a negative effect on the users experience.It is easy to get caught up in the Dribbble world, and all the pretty animations and gradients, then quickly forget about the objectives of our design. The site needs to be constructed taking in mind the users expected to visit and needs to be built around that.

Bad Forms:

Forms are a crucial part of the user journey; they are used to login, to sign up, check out, etc. So it’s important to provide clear guidance before and after submitting the form.

Here are some pointers for form design

Avoid only using color to indicate error. Always give actionable feedback to ease the process for a correct entry

If the form is too long, consider breaking it up into logical sections and show a progress bar to indicate what step the user is at.

The final goal for UI designers is to produce intuitive and aesthetic interfaces. It must generate trust, which leads to more conversions. Keep all these mistakes in mind as a checklist of things to avoid while designing, and pretty soon you may find that you already dominate these design principles and don’t need that list in front of you anymore. I really hope you find this guide useful and it helps you to create more polished designs.