11 User Interface Hacks

While acknowledging the importance of rules and logic in this context, it's essential to recognize that design decisions rarely exist in absolute terms. Rather than adhering strictly to mandates, it's more practical to view the provided advice as pragmatic guidelines that generally prove effective in achieving the desired outcomes.


Working with a structured set of rules can be a real game-changer in making design decisions efficiently. Without that logical system, it's like navigating solely on gut feeling, rearranging things until they seem visually appealing.

While I appreciate rules and logic, let's be real – design decisions rarely fall into black and white categories. Rather than strict mandates, consider the following advice as pragmatic guidelines that usually get the job done:

1. Use space to group related elements:

   Segmenting information into smaller clusters of related elements aids in organizing and structuring an interface. This enhances the speed and ease with which individuals can comprehend and retain the information.

2. Be consistent:

   Maintaining uniformity in UI design entails ensuring that akin elements exhibit a consistent appearance and functionality. This consistency should extend not only throughout your product but also when benchmarked against other established products. Such predictability enhances usability and minimizes errors, as users are not required to continually adapt to new ways of operation.

3. Ensure similar looking elements function similarly

   
   When elements share a similar appearance, users naturally anticipate them to operate in a comparable manner. Therefore, strive to maintain a uniform visual treatment for elements that serve the same function. Conversely, make an effort to distinguish elements with distinct functionalities by giving them a different visual representation.

4. Create a clear visual hierarchy:

   When designing, highlight important info to make it stand out. Create a clear order, known as visual hierarchy, for users to quickly scan and focus. This not only helps function but also boosts aesthetics by adding a sense of order, using variations in size, color, contrast, spacing, position, and depth.

5. Remove unnecessary styles

   Excessive information and visual embellishments can cause distractions and raise cognitive load, which is the mental effort needed to navigate an interface. Steer clear of unnecessary lines, colors, backgrounds, and animations to craft a streamlined and concentrated interface.

6. Use colour purposefully

   Be thoughtful about color choices. Resist the urge to use color just for looks; it can cause confusion. Start with black and white, then add color where it serves a purpose.

   A practical tip is to reserve your brand color for interactive elements like links and buttons. This guides users on what they can click. Avoid splashing the brand color on non-interactive elements.

7. Use a single sans serif typeface

   A typeface is a collection of fonts that share a common style. Helvetica serves as an illustration of a typeface. Fonts, on the other hand, represent different variations within a typeface, such as weights or sizes. For instance, Helvetica bold and Helvetica regular are distinct fonts within the Helvetica typeface.

   In interface design, it's advisable to stick to a single sans-serif typeface. They tend to be the most readable, neutral, and straightforward.

8. Limit the use of uppercase

   Using uppercase unless for emphasis can be excessive and challenging to read—it's like shouting in text form.

   When we read, we recognize words by their shapes, not individual letters. Uppercase words have a uniform rectangular shape, making it necessary to read letter by letter, hindering quick recognition.

9. Use regular and bold font weights only

   Avoid using all available font weights in your designs, as it can create clutter and inconsistency. Keep it simple by using regular and bold weights for a clear and concise design system.

10. Avoid pure black text

    In UI design, it's best to steer clear of pure black due to its high contrast with white, leading to potential eye strain and fatigue when reading text.

    Given that black has 0% color brightness and white has 100%, this significant difference in brightness strains our eyes. Instead of using pure black against white, consider opting for a dark grey for a more comfortable visual experience.

11. Use at least 1.5 line height for body text

    The space between lines of text is called line height. It stops you from accidentally re-reading the same line and just makes things feel nicer.

    To keep things easy to read, especially for longer texts, aim for a line height of at least 1.5 (150%). Keeping it between 1.5 and 2 usually works great.

I trust you're discovering that UI design isn't as tricky as it may seem. While it might have an air of magic, a good chunk of it boils down to logical rules and guidelines, much like the ones we just covered. By relying on objective logic rather than personal opinions, designing interfaces becomes a quicker and more straightforward journey, resulting in designs that are intuitive, accessible, and beautiful.

Happy designing!