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UX Guidelines- My 10 Rough Guides

UX Guidelines- My 10 Rough Guides

I’m really partial to a set of guidelines. I think guidelines provide a simple set of rules and best practice theories that aid both experts and novices in any particular task. Through a long process of trial and error, guidelines provide tangible evidence of where we have been and what we have learnt. Sometimes when I think of UX in a heuristic approach I wonder if that is just a massive contradiction. How can we claim a design is user-centred when we have not spoken to a single person within a target audience about it? I suppose, sometimes, you just have to expect when you have spoke to a thousand people you are going to produce repetition and patterns. Within my experience, I am able to put just a few of these patterns together to create my own set of guidelines. I’m not claiming these are any better or even on a par with the guidelines well documented by the likes of Jacob Nielsen or Steve Krug but these have worked best for the experiences put in front of me so far. They are themselves based on those I have read previously from Nielsen and Krug as well as other bloggers / writers I have come across, such as Whitney Hess and Andy Budd. I suppose it’s just a matter of adding your own flavour to these UX recipes that have been handed around. These are not meant to be strict rules, just simply a starting point. You may find some of these are more applicable to some set of circumstances than another and that’s fine. You may also find that commercial pressure makes all of these completely out of reach, or technically it’s really difficult to implement this – which is also fine. Just keep some values in the back of your mind as set of goals you are trying to reach with your projects.

Jay’s UX Guidelines

Establish what the user goal is for your site and design for this. Remove as much noise or obstacles as you can that do not relate to the actual task at hand.

Set metrics around this user goal before and after your design to measure success or failure. Think about where there are salient problems and how these can be recorded when fixed.

Always provide an escape route out. Users make mistakes, provide a way back without relying of the browser’s back button.

Let the user know exactly where they are. Remember not all users have navigated via the home page. Give them a sense of position within the site’s structure.

Give the user a sense of how they got to where they are now and how to proceed further. Good example, breadcrumbs or two level navigations.

Avoid tricking the user into something they was not expecting or doing something unexpected. For example, providing our partners with your email details check box checked as default.

Ensure the content is readable. Ensure text has sufficient contrast to it’s background, especially with apps that are designed for outdoor use. Paragraphs are short in size and are in easy bite size pieces.

Simplicity is usually the best option. Don’t over complicate a process or design that adds no real benefit.

Provide users with feedback based on their actions. If a user can’t add feedback on a product because they are not logged-in, tell them and provide clear instructions of how to overcome this.

Good design is about solving problems. Think it’s really important to remember we are not in the business to create digital art. We are here to find problems and respond with designed solutions, visual design is only means to aid the solution.

About the author!

Jay Heal

Jay Heal

Director, User Experience Consultant, Service Designer, Design Speaker, Technical Writer, Father, Husband, Brother, Son, Chelsea FC Fan, House Music Producer, Home Barista, Foodie.

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