Designing User Interfaces for Users

User interfaces are the access points where users interact with designs. They come in three formats:

  1. Graphical user interfaces (GUIs)—Users interact with visual representations on digital control panels. A computer’s desktop is a GUI.
  2. Voice-controlled interfaces (VUIs)—Users interact with these through their voices. Most smart assistants—e.g., Siri on iPhone and Alexa on Amazon devices—are VUIs.
  3. Gesture-based interfaces—Users engage with 3D design spaces through bodily motions: e.g., in virtual reality (VR) games.

To design UIs best, you should consider:

  • Users judge designs quickly and care about usability and likeability.
    • They don’t care about your design, but about getting their tasks done easily and with minimum effort.
    • Your design should therefore be “invisible”: Users shouldn’t focus on it but on completing tasks: e.g., ordering pizza on Domino’s Zero Click app.
    • So, understand your users’ contexts and task flows (which you can find from, e.g., customer journey maps), to fine-tune the best, most intuitive UIs that deliver seamless experiences.
  • UIs should also be enjoyable (or at least satisfying and frustration-free).
    • When your design predicts users’ needs, they can enjoy more personalized and immersive experiences. Delight them, and they’ll keep returning.
    • Where appropriate, elements of gamification can make your design more fun.
  • UIs should communicate brand values and reinforce users’ trust.
    • Good design is emotional design. Users associate good feelings with brands that speak to them at all levels and keep the magic of pleasurable, seamless experiences alive.

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