User experience is at the very center of every product, interface, and design we create. We strongly believe it should always be.
The most challenging part about great UX design is figuring out what makes it great. As UX design grows in popularity in the business world, more information is becoming readily available. Businesses and designers are sharing their ideas and research to help others create better UX designs.
The good news is much of this information consists of a lot of exciting tips and ideas. Unfortunately, some of these ideas are preventing businesses from creating truly effective UX designs.
How do we fix this? We separate the truths from the myths. Here’s a closer look at 10 UX myths getting in the way of great design.
1. UX Design is a Fad
The purpose of UX design is to ensure the product or interfaces you’re creating effectively solves users’ problems. Your work should serve its purpose without making the user’s life more complicated.
There’s no reason this concept should disappear.
Everything we continue to design and build should continue to fix users’ problems with ease and improve their lives. The only part of UX design that might evolve or change is the name, but the concept will continue far into the future.
2. Accessible Sites Don’t Look Good
Accessibility simply means allowing the content on your site or application to be accessible by all people on any device. Excellent UX design should be accessible and eye-catching.
Designers can make this easier by separating their content or HTML from the visual aesthetics, or CSS. There’s no reason a site can’t be both accessible and marvelous to look at.
3. UX and UI are the Same
This is one of the most common misconceptions about UX design. UX and UI or user interface are not the same things.
While UI is a part of UX, UI refers to the visual assets a user will interact with. This includes items like color, typography, and layout of a webpage or app. UX consists of these assets, along with a company’s products and services.
4. Minimal is Simple
Minimalism in web design is a trending style in the design world. While minimalism offers many benefits, it shouldn’t be a designer’s primary goal.
Complex products requiring many features to function will not benefit from minimalist design. It can, however, benefit from a simple design.
Don’t want to get caught up, making all of your UX designs simple. Balance this by creating your products and UI as straightforward as possible. Don’t try to oversimplify your work, as this may become challenging for your end-users.
5. Users are Rationale
We would love to believe that every user is making rational decisions when using a product or UI, but this simply isn’t true. UX designers and researchers have learned many users’ decisions are emotionally driven. This means we don’t always carefully analyze every choice we make.
Fortunately, good UX design can predict this irrationality to influence users’ behavior. This will help users make better choices even when they’re making primarily emotionally-driven decisions.
6. White Space is a Waste
White space, also known as negative space, is the empty area between and around different UI or design elements. Some people believe it’s a waste as it leaves valuable screen space blank. In reality, this space is an active part of good design.
White space helps with:
- Easier readability
- Guiding users through a page
- Communicating important elements
- Creating a balanced layout
- Adding elegance and sophistication to a design
Without whitespace, a site or design can feel crowded, over-stimulating, and confusing. Keeping white space in your designs will make your designs better looking and easier to understand.
7. Usability Testing is Too Costly
Usability testing is a vital part of good UX design. The best part is you can test your products and interfaces without having to spend a lot of money. Testing can also be fast and doesn’t require highly detailed prototypes.
You can gain valuable insight into the usability of your product or design by using low-tech paper prototypes. This can test the layout of content, colors, typography, and other design elements. You can also do this with as little as 4-5 different users, requesting they complete a specific task.
Your usability testing volunteers don’t have to be in-person either. There are many affordable virtual options to complete testing remotely or unmoderated. Another bonus is testing early on in your design process will help you create a stronger, better final product.
8. Nobody Scrolls
Yes, people do scroll through websites and apps on computers, tablets, and mobile phones. When they don’t scroll, it’s not them; it’s you and your UX design.
There are a few reasons for this. The user finds the information they’re seeking right away or finds you content boring or useless. Users will continue to scroll as long as they have a reason.
Bring value to your UX designs by offering quality content. Organize the content in a way that is both engaging, easy to digest, and makes sense.
9. Good UX Design is Ugly
Unfortunately, there are sites and products with a fantastic user experience that also look ugly. The main goal of your design is to fix a user’s problem. If it doesn’t, your design or product is pointless regardless of the level of aesthetics and beauty you add to it.
But beauty does play an essential role in UX design. As you design your products and interfaces, make sure to include visual assets that enhance the both design and the experience.
10. Great UX is for Everyone
This is a great idea, but it’s not feasible and not necessary. As a business, you have a particular target audience and want to cater your products and interfaces to them. Trying to please everyone will cause you to alienate or discourage potentially valuable users.
Focus on creating a UX design for your client base rather than everyone.
Create with Excellent UX Design
By questioning these myths, you can start creating the best UX design for your users. Your customers will thank you for making their lives easier!
Do you have a website in need of some UX help? Let’s get in touch and start planning how to make your website and marketing strategies more effective!
