Category Archives: Demystifying UX Design

So far in the Demystifying UX Design series, I’ve covered several UX design issues that many people erroneously believe to be problematic: long pages and large number of clicks in Part 1; high information density in Part 2. Now, in Part 3 of “Demystifying UX Design,” I’ll discuss another widely held belief among UX designers: that making a user interface look simple is always good practice.

Simplicity Is Not Simple

When it comes to UX design, there is little doubt that simplicity is good. Simplistic design is one of Jakob Nielsen’s widely accepted Web-design heuristics. And the success of Apple user interfaces—which are remarkably simplistic, elegant, and easy to use—has further strengthened the belief that simplicity should always be our goal. Of course, there is much truth in this belief—especially for smartphone user interfaces, where limited screen real estate requires that a user interface be clean.

However, I’ve found that many UX designers adhere to this idearegardless of context, so take a minimalistic approach even when additional screen elements and content would result in a better user experience.

Simplicity is not that simple.

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Read the entire Demystifying UX Design series

By Frank Guo

Google

In Part 1 of my series Demystifying UX Design, I wrote about two design issues that people commonly and falsely believe to be problematic: long pages and the number of clicks it takes for users to get to information. In Part 2, I’ll discuss another common false belief relating to high information density and provide design recommendations for addressing this issue.

High Information Density Is Not Always Bad

Through my interactions with UX designers and Web product managers, I’ve found that many hold a firm belief that high information density is something to avoid at all costs. Granted, cramming too much information into a limited space in a disorganized manner makes it difficult for users to scan, read, and absorb the information. Besides, it seems to go against the popular usability heuristic of aesthetic and minimalist design.

However, if a page is well designed, high information density does notcompromise either the reading experience or usability. If anything, a very compact screen design could enhance reading. Not only that, it might help in achieving greater user engagement.

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Read the entire Demystifying UX Design series

By Frank Guo

Google

There are many common beliefs about UX design that are, unfortunately, based on casual and inaccurate observation. However, through systematically planned and conducted user research, we can see that some of these could not be further from the truth. In this series, I’d like to single out a few such design beliefs that meet two conditions:

1. Many product development professionals believe them.
2. Little user data supports them.

Such ideas may not be completely wrong—just oversimplified. But, if UX designers applied them indiscriminately, adherence to them would undermine user engagement and task completion. While many experienced UX designers have already realized the problems that result from adhering to these ideas, many others still firmly believe in them. In debunking these UX design myths, I’ll show that they’re just half truths that don’t fully account for the complexity of user experience and that there are better alternatives for achieving your design objectives.

There’s No Need to Worry About Long Pages

Many designers are overly concerned about page length, thinking that long pages impair information discovery. Much too often, I’ve heard, “The page is too long, users won’t scroll down.” This is not necessarily the case. Based on hundreds of user interviews that I’ve conducted, user expectations and contextual cues guide users’ behavior. You need not worry about long pages, as long as users know they should scroll down.

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Read the entire Demystifying UX Design series

By Frank Guo

Google