The main goal of any designer that offers UI/UX development services is to create smooth and frictionless user experiences at all stages of the design process. But, designers unknowingly make several UI/UX design mistakes that can hinder achieving this important goal and other associated ones. For example, a study found that 27% of US online shoppers ignored orders because of a “too long/complicated checkout process.” That must have been the result of overlooked UI/UX design mistakes.
This article will cover some of the major design flaws and how to avoid them. Read on till the end!
Navigation design enables users to move from one point to another without imposing a high cognitive load. These days, designers must be careful in throwing in creative design patterns or unconventional navigation approaches. Today’s users are accustomed to certain navigation patterns and expect consistency and familiarity in their interactions.
For example, using a hamburger menu for opening the navigation on a website or mobile app is a typical UI design pattern. A different approach may lead to confusion. Familiarity is key.
A smooth navigation experience can only be attained through consistency and clarity in the navigation elements. Designers must avoid complex navigation structures or excessive animations and effects that may hinder the user’s ability to navigate smoothly and understand the system’s functionality. The rule of thumb is to add navigation elements only for usability reasons.
Inaccurate representation of breadcrumbs is one of the common elements of complex navigation that is worth noting here. It can lead to confusing user experiences. To effectively serve their purpose, breadcrumbs must give accurate information about the hierarchy of pages and should include all levels. Each level of the breadcrumb trail should reflect the actual path the user has taken, helping them understand their position within the overall website or application structure.
Unnecessary Complication
An excellent example of a design that can complicate user experience is a mobile app with many floating action buttons on a single page. Imagine when users are presented with numerous CTAs following each other in succession, such as “Add to Cart,” “Share,” and “Bookmark.” This can create clutter and make it challenging for users to determine which action to take.
Ambiguous CTAs are common roadblocks to a good user experience that designers can be guilty of. A CTA should clarify, guide users in taking the desired action, meet their expectations, and be visually noticeable. While there may not be an established threshold for the number of CTA to add on a page, it is essential for designers to carefully consider the user flow and address the most important actions. It would be best if you did not stop conducting A/B testing with heatmaps to remove unnecessary complications.
Insufficient Feedback and Guidance
When users interact with a digital product, they expect clear feedback and guidance on meeting their needs or achieving their goals. Users will become confused and disappointed without thoughtfully implemented visual cues, error messages, or confirmation prompts. To remove friction, Designers should prioritise visual feedback mechanisms, such as animations, tooltips, and progress indicators.
Unresponsive Design
An all-too-common UI/UX design mistake is having an impressive desktop site but disappointing users with a lack of functionality on the mobile version. Even though designers plan and take some responsive design approaches in web or app development, having heavy videos or images, skewed headings or copy, and a cluttered layout are mistakes that can undermine the overall user experience on mobile devices. These elements can slow the loading time, cause visual distortion, and make it difficult for users to navigate and interact with the mobile version effectively.
Of course, not everything that goes into the desktop version will fit mobile devices. Netflix is a good example. The desktop version provides a more extensive browsing experience. But their mobile app offers a more streamlined interface for smaller screens. Even though the desktop features may not be available on mobile, the core functionality of watching movies and TV shows that fit users’ screens remains intact. That’s the goal.
The best practice required to overcome unresponsive design mistakes is testing and re-testing. For websites, Google provides a mobile-friendly tool to test usability. That’s never enough, real users need to be engaged in testing the site, and the design team must also work with developers to test for possible bugs that can lead to unresponsive design.
Use Google’s mobile-friendly tool: check that your site works for users on mobile devices by entering your URL into Google’s Mobile-Friendly Test. It’s free and provides a good starting point for further investigation.
Non-iterative Design Process
What happens when a designer creates a mobile app with fixed screen layouts that cannot accommodate new functionalities or device sizes? Adding new features or supporting different screen resolutions will become a significant challenge for such an app.
Designers should work with the mindset of continuous improvement, allowing room for enhancements based on user feedback. Keep a flexible mindset and resist becoming attached to your designs until you have validated them through testing. They should also consider the future growth and scalability of the UI or UX, ensuring it can adapt to changes and accommodate new features.
Summary
The best UI/UX designs are not usually based on the designer’s or clients’ subjective opinions or assumptions. Rather, they result from a thorough validation process through testing and constant improvement. The design mistakes mentioned in this article are general observations that have been validated from various webs and mobile apps out there. To be on the safer side, designers must never ignore the valuable insights and feedback provided by the end users.