The Design Dilemma: Is Best UX Practice The Enemy Of Creativity?
Have you ever felt that the design of a website was too rigid and restricting, holding back your creative freedom? This article will explore the ‘Design Dilemma’ — What happens when best practice UX design clashes with creativity? We will look at the pros and cons of both and try to answer if they are, in fact, mutually exclusive.
As user experience (UX) design is becoming increasingly important for developing successful websites and digital products, it stands to reason that best practice UX should be considered when creating a Digital experience.
UX includes key principles such as usability, design conventions, and accessibility standards that ensure the product will be easy to use, thus improving its quality. However, good UX often comes with restrictions — meaning some creative ideas may not always be possible due to practical considerations.
At the same time, creativity is an essential ingredient for making attractive and inspiring websites. If too many restrictions are imposed because of rules or best practice guidelines, this can stifle creativity and limit a website’s or product’s full potential. Furthermore, discerning users know when a website does not feel special or when it follows too many of the same conventions leading to sameness — something that typically inspires lower engagement levels from users. So how do we balance good UX design and creative freedom? This is what we’ll aim to uncover in this article.
The Evolution of UX Design: From Efficiency to Empathy
There’s no question that following best UX practices can help improve the user experience of your product. But at what cost? Is adhering to these practices sacrifice creativity in design?
It’s a delicate balance, but it is possible to maintain a high UX standard and allow for design creativity.
User-centered design is a process that puts the user at the center of every decision made during the design process. This means understanding who your users are, what they need and want from your product, and designing with those objectives in mind. User-centered design typically results in products that are more intuitive and easier to use.
One of the key components of user-centered design is usability testing. This involves testing prototypes with real users to see how they interact with the product and identify any areas of improvement. Usability testing can be conducted at various stages of the design process, from early concept testing to final user acceptance testing.
Another important UX practice is information architecture (IA). IA is about how information is organized within a product and includes navigation, labeling, and search functionality. A well-designed IA can make it easy for users to find what they’re looking for within a product, even if they don’t know exactly where to start.
User-centered design and IA are rooted in traditional human-computer interaction (HCI) research. HCI was traditionally focused on designing efficient and easy products, ensuring it didn’t take an expert scientist to figure out how to use them.
Modern UX design has evolved from these older ideas and includes more user-centered approaches and a focus on emotion in addition to efficiency.
Finally, the importance of content strategy can’t be overlooked when it comes to UX design. The content structure should align with user needs so that information is presented in a way that makes sense for them — not just for SEO purposes.
In conclusion, the best UX practices come from a combination of research, testing, and iteration. User-centered design and IA are rooted in traditional HCI research, while content strategy provides a modern approach to presenting users with meaningful and relevant information throughout their journey.
Incorporating Interactivity and Visual Appeal in conventional design
It’s no secret that the multiple-choice component is one of the most commonly used tools in the design world. But many people don’t realize that the multiple-choice component has undergone a major evolution over the years.
Commonly used in websites and applications to allow users to select one or more options from a list. In the early days of the internet, multiple-choice elements were often designed as simple lists of options, with each option represented by a radio button (for single-select lists) or a checkbox (for multi-select lists).
While functional, these elements could have offered more visual appeal or usability. In recent years, multiple-choice components have become more interactive and visually appealing, such as toggle switches, which allow users to quickly and easily switch between options by sliding a button back and forth. These are often used in mobile applications, where limited space and simplicity are key.
From a Frustrating Convention to a Helpful Innovation: The Evolution of Validation Messages in UX Design
Validation messages are an important part of the user experience (UX) design process, as they help to ensure that users provide accurate and complete information when interacting with a website or application. In the early days of the internet, validation messages were often generic and could have been more helpful.
For example, a user might see an error message that says “invalid input” without any indication of what was wrong or how to fix the issue.
The transition to more sophisticated and user-friendly validation messages, such as instant live validation, was a major innovation in UX design.
Instant live validation provides specific and actionable guidance to the user in real time, helping to improve the overall user experience. Users who encounter an older website or application with generic validation messages may become frustrated and negatively perceive the product.
Instant live validation can be implemented in various ways, such as by displaying a specific message next to the field in question or by highlighting the field in a different color to indicate an error. This type of validation helps to make interacting with websites and applications more efficient and enjoyable for users. Overall, the evolution of validation messages in UX design has greatly improved the user experience, and validation messages are now expected to provide specific and helpful feedback to users.
So how do we balance usability and innovation to create a good user experience?
There are two schools of thought when it comes to designing a good user experience: those who believe in prioritizing usability and those who believe in pushing the boundaries of innovation. How do we strike a balance between the two to create a good user experience?
User experience is about creating a seamless and enjoyable experience for the user. This can be achieved through both usability and innovation. Usability means ensuring users can easily navigate and use your product or service. Innovation, on the other hand, refers to introducing new features or redesigning existing ones to make your product or service more unique and competitive.
Both approaches have their merits, but ultimately it’s up to you to decide which is more important for your business. If you prioritize usability, you’ll likely end up with a product or service that is easy to use but may be less unique and exciting than something that pushes the boundaries of innovation. If you prioritize innovation, you’ll end up with a product or service that is unique and exciting but may be more challenging to use.
The best way to balance usability and innovation is to focus on your users’ needs. Find out what they want and expect from your product or service, and then design accordingly. Keep in mind that user needs can change over time, so it’s important to stay up-to-date with their latest desires. By putting your users first, you can create a good user experience that prioritizes both usability and innovation.
May your 2023 be as unique and creative as you!
