How to Make a Good Design
Do you wonder how people out there can make a very good design? Now I will share to you about some tips that you can do to make a good design and I also will present to you the example of each of these tips that is taken from my current project’s design.
What is Usability?
Usability is a criteria that measure whether user can easily use a certain object to achieve a goal. The object that is measured is usually a real live product, but in this article we will apply the usability to the design of user interface of website or mobile application.
Usability Goals
- Security: We must provide a clear security assurance to user
- Efficiency: We must provide systematic structure of UI to help user
- Learnability: User must be able to understand the design easily
- Memorability: User can easily remember the design
Nielsen 10’s Usability Heuristics
The popular tips in making design is to follow some principle that is proposed by the expert. Jakob Nielsen propose 10 general principles for interaction design. These are called “Heuristics” because these are broad rules of thumb and not the must use usability guidelines. These principles are:
1. Visibility of system status
The design should always keep users informed about what is going on, through appropriate feedback within a reasonable amount of time.
2. Match between system and the real world
The design should speak the users’ language. Use words, phrases, and concepts familiar to the user, rather than internal jargon. Follow real-world conventions, making information appear in a natural and logical order.
3. User control and freedom
Users often perform actions by mistake. They need a clearly marked “emergency exit” to leave the unwanted action without having to go through an extended process.
4. Consistency and standards
Users should not have to wonder whether different words, situations, or actions mean the same thing. Follow platform and industry conventions.
5. Error prevention
Good error messages are important, but the best designs carefully prevent problems from occurring in the first place. Either eliminate error-prone conditions, or check for them and present users with a confirmation option before they commit to the action.
6. Recognition rather than recall
Minimize the user’s memory load by making elements, actions, and options visible. The user should not have to remember information from one part of the interface to another. Information required to use the design (e.g. field labels or menu items) should be visible or easily retrievable when needed.
7. Flexibility and efficiency of use
Shortcuts — hidden from novice users — may speed up the interaction for the expert user such that the design can cater to both inexperienced and experienced users. Allow users to tailor frequent actions.
8. Aesthetic and minimalist design
Interfaces should not contain information which is irrelevant or rarely needed. Every extra unit of information in an interface competes with the relevant units of information and diminishes their relative visibility.
9. Help users recognize, diagnose, and recover from errors
Error messages should be expressed in plain language (no error codes), precisely indicate the problem, and constructively suggest a solution.
10. Help and documentation
It’s best if the system doesn’t need any additional explanation. However, it may be necessary to provide documentation to help users understand how to complete their tasks.
That’s all about the tips and example I can give to you about how to make a good design by following Nielsen 10’s Usability Heuristics so that the user can easily use our product. Thank you for reading this article and I hope this article can help you in making a better design.
