SIT216 - Usability Guidelines Report: Current UI Design Principles

This report delves into current design and usability practices for software interfaces, with a focus on user experience (UX) and human-computer interaction (HCI). It examines key principles such as color usage, navigation, visible language, organizational layout, consistency, and simplicity, along with justifications for their implementation. The report references academic articles and highlights the importance of effective UI design in enhancing user engagement and achieving business goals, such as customer acquisition and retention. It also discusses the advantages of a well-designed UI, including lower development and support costs, increased productivity, and improved customer satisfaction. The report concludes by emphasizing the significance of adhering to established guidelines to create user interfaces that are both effective and user-friendly. Examples of real-world applications like Adidas are provided to demonstrate the successful application of these design principles.

Windows User
[COMPANY NAME] [Company address]
CURRENT DESIGN PRINCIPLES

Contents
INTRODUCTION.....................................................................................................................................3
INTERFACE DESIGNS...........................................................................................................................4
Colour.....................................................................................................................................................4
Navigation..............................................................................................................................................5
Visible language.....................................................................................................................................5
Organizational Layout..........................................................................................................................5
Consistency............................................................................................................................................5
Simplicity................................................................................................................................................5
JUSTIFICATIONS....................................................................................................................................6
CONCLUSION..........................................................................................................................................9
REFERENCES........................................................................................................................................10

INTRODUCTION
In the current society, the use of systems whether native or cloud-based has revolutionized the
way we carry out our operations. There is a niche for the developer to develop more effective
tools to help the user carry out their activities more effectively and efficiently. The number of
developers developing a similar system has flooded the market and maximizing on the user
interface gives the user an edge over other competing software.
In this report, we will discuss the details used in developing a suitable user interface. What are
the current guidelines proposed by the software firm on how the developer should implement
their interface? By the end of this report, we will be able to know the variable and degree of
specification required to developing a system that the users will be more receptive to.
In addition to elaborating the given guidelines for implementing an elite UI that enhance the user
experience, we will look into some of the guidelines implemented in popular sites. The structures
used in the site will be compared to the suggested schemes in this report.

INTERFACE DESIGNS
The success of a system does not entirely rely on how effective the system operates, one of the
factors that contribute to the success of the system is the human-computer interaction (HCI). HCI
can be described as a field that focuses on how the user interacts with the system. A major factor
considered in HCI is the user experience design (UX). The term UX can relate to terms such as
user interface and usability. This makes it relevant to describe UX as the entire process of
integrating products while ensuring factors such as functions, usability design and functions are
met (Al Rekhawi and Abu Naser, 2019.).
The scenarios used for this report will be an analysis system where the project manager can
oversee various branches and how they are faring. Some of the factors that need to be
emphasized when implementing the user interface include:
Colour
This is one of the most factors considered when comping up with user interfaces. To maximize
the potential invested in implementing a great colour, we can divide the colour into three aspects,
organization, communication and economy. Colour organization refers to the art of using a
definite colour for related items, the transition from one colour to another should be distinctive
but not diverse (Mira, Excell and Ali, 2020).
The second vital aspect of colour is colour-economy; this can be referred to as the number of
colour variants used in a single system. The suggested number of colours that can be in the range
of 5 plus or minus 2 colours. Each of the colour selected must have meaning with reference to
the items constituted in the UI. The base factor is using a colour that augments the black and
white text. The suggested technique is to use more contrast and easy catching Chroma to seize
the users' attention to high priority information.
The last aspect of communication is using an appropriate colour to communicate i.e. There is a
suitable colour for using in the periphery than at the centre. The colours used in the design
should be of different chroma values.
Navigation
There are various resources that the user needs to use to meet their requirements. Having the
item all clogged up in a tab makes the system more disorganized. Navigation recommendation

tries to create a structure that empowers the user to optimize using the products offered by the
system.
When using the app or website, the user should have a clear path on how to move from one
section to another, and in some instances backtrack (Garg. and Goswami, 2019). To facilitate this,
the UI designer must use a pattern that incorporates labels and links.
Visible language
Visible language includes all the aspect used in relaying the information or context to the user.
One of the factors to consider is the layout structure, the layout can either be in 3 dimensions or 2
dimensions. Another factor to consider is the font type used; the font style and size should be
appropriate and easy to read, one of the most readable fonts is Roboto style (Griffin, 2020). Other
factors are the icons visibility and animations such as real-time graphs come in handy when
representing data.
Organizational Layout
There are three main sections in a page, this includes the header, the body and the footer. An
organized system will be easier to relate and identify resources in the case where they are
organized (Zerella, Von Treuer and Albrecht, 2019). A good example is having the navigation bar at
the header and contact details at the footer.
Consistency
Consistency is the ability of a UI designer to implement the tabs or pages with a similar outlook.
In most factors, the header and the footer of each tab should be similar if not the same across the
entire system or website.
Simplicity
It is important to keep the user interface easy, most of the users do not need the hustle and tussle
of trying to figuring out complex user interfaces. It is important to note that the system can be
utilized by a vast range of users, both knowledgeable and ignorant. To have a higher success, the
system must be easy to use for all the parties. Other factors that increase simplify include clarity
and distinctiveness. A user should be able to have a clear distinction on the different resources
implemented in the user interface.

JUSTIFICATIONS
Implementing a good user interface design has benefits to the success of the application or
website. Having a suitable colour font makes it suitable for the user to read the information. A
captivating colour will also capture the users' attention to important content of the system, this in
return adds to the realization of requirements.
Another advantage brought by implementing a colour technique is that it helps in emphasizing a
brand. Selecting a great colour pattern can help the user in relating a certain colour to a certain
brand. This is a marketing strategy as well as a way of retaining customers since it creates a
sense of pride. Colour helps in communicating, for example, the colour red can be an indication
that the activities are not going as planned or loss. On the other hand, green can be used to show
progress and a colour such as magenta can be used to show impasses.
Having a proper layout and navigation eases increases the time a user sticks to an application or
a website. In the case where the user can access all the resources with ease, they are bound to use
the product repetitively. Some of the advantages are inclined to having all the aspects met.
According to World Health Organization, (2017) some of the general advantages of having an elite
UI design include:
 Acquisition of new customers- as earlier discusses, there are competing commodities in
the technological market. Having a better user interface gives a developer an edge over
other developers. New customers in search of better UX will be attracted to utilizing your
product.
 Increased customer retention – a good UX increases the engagement between the users
and the product. Optimum returns to the users will assure of having a higher retain curve
than other products in the market.
 Lower development cost – having a clear organized pattern makes it easier to design the
interface. This will reduce the time taken to complete the task and in return reducing the
cost of development. Such a system has a lower maintenance cost.
 Lower customer support cost – having a vast number of users utilizing your product
promises high returns. Such a service requires that there be a customer support team to
meet the users’ requirements in the case they encounter challenges. Well-designed UI
reduces the chances of users encountering errors, thus minimizing the support cost.

 Productivity – the sole course of having a product in the market is having profits. The
number of users utilizing the commodity is a sure way of increasing profits. Having a
great UI enhances user experience and increases productivity.
Adidas company has been rated in several articles as one of the companies with the best user
experience. Their website is easy to interact with, some of the factors evident in its website is
the use of a few colours (black and white mostly). The website is well organized and
consistent across the tabs.

CONCLUSION
From the above report, we have indulged deeply in the length explored in ensuring that the UX is
enhanced. There are various products in the market offering similar services, to have an edge
compared to other product. The designer needs to pay attention to the proposed guidelines for
developing a good user interface. Enhancing the UX is a key factor in ensuring success, thus
investing in designing and developing a great user interface is an asset to any company. The
advantages of this include better productivity and reduced cost of development.

REFERENCES
Al Rekhawi, H.A. and Abu Naser, S.S., 2019. An Intelligent Tutoring System for Learning Android
Applications Ui Development. International Journal of Engineering and Information Systems
(IJEAIS), 2(1), pp.1-14.
Garg, S. and Goswami, A., France Telecom SA, 2019. Content navigation service. U.S. Patent 7,689,556.
Griffin, D., 2020. The Role of Visible Language in Building and Critiquing a Canon of Graphic Design
History. Visible Language, 50(3).
Miraz, M.H., Excell, P.S. and Ali, M., 2020. User interface (UI) design issues for multilingual users: a case
study. Universal Access in the Information Society, 15(3), pp.431-444.
World Health Organization, 2017. Foundation for innovative new diagnostics, WHO Working Group on
HIV incidence assays: meeting report, Boston, MA, USA, 20–26 February 2016 (No. WHO/HIV/2017.04).
World Health Organization.
Zerella, S., Von Treuer, K. and Albrecht, S.L., 2019. The influence of office layout features on employee
perception of organizational culture. Journal of environmental psychology, 54, pp.1-10.