User experience design is arguably the most critical factor in creating a successful app. Users spend more time using an app than scrolling through their feeds, reading articles, or watching videos. Users will quickly become disinterested in your app if they don't find it easy to use and intuitive. To create a high-quality user experience, you need to code to make the app user-friendly and intuitive for users to navigate. The best way to ensure your app meets these standards is by following a few UX coding guidelines. In this blog post, we'll cover some of the main ways you can improve your UX by keeping these tips in mind when designing your next project.
Code with intention
Coding is an inherently technical process involving using specific rules and guidelines to create something new with existing materials. Code is the language of software, and all software developers are fluent in this language. It is essential to coding with intention when designing your app. In fact, UX design can often be subverted when you code without purpose. For example, let's say you're designing a new real estate app. You want the app's navigation menu to look like this: As you can see, the navigation menu is designed to look like a real estate agent's book. However, to code this feature, you would need to use a CSS rule that would cause the navigation menu to expand when the user hovers over the menu items. Let's say you code this feature without any intention behind it. What would happen if you wrote the CSS rule that expands the menu without considering the user's context in the real estate app? In this case, the menu might expand in the real estate app when a user hovers over the menu items. Still, it would look utterly unrelated to the app. To avoid this type of subversion, always code with intention.
Provide feedback
One of the most essential features of any UX design is feedback. During the design process, UX designers often sketch a mock-up of their app and use it as a guide when designing the final product. Feedback, however, is when you see the mock-up of your app, and it doesn't look like the mock-up you drew; it looks just like the final product you designed. Why is feedback so important? After all, you designed your app, and the user might not feel like they're using it the way you intended. To avoid this type of frustration, provide feedback in your app by placing visual indicators, such as a visual indicator next to the "back" button or a visual indicator next to the "x" in a "close" button.
Show, don't just tell
In the case of your real estate app, let's say you want the user to see the price of a house when they hover over the listing icon. However, the user can only see the cost by hovering over the listing icon. The problem with this scenario is that it is entirely unrelated to the app's core functionality. What if the user wants to see the price of a house but isn't interested in seeing the home's listing? The user has been frustrated and might be even more frustrated because they have no idea how to remedy the situation. To avoid these situations, always show, don't just tell.
Tell users how to succeed
When you design a user interface, you want the design to guide your users through a specific set of actions. However, there is a fine line between guiding and forcing your users through activities they aren't necessarily interested in. Take, for example, a navigation menu that looks like a real estate agent's book. In this scenario, you want the menu to expand when a user hovers over the menu items. However, in this scenario, you cannot know what the user wants to do. To prevent these situations, always provide visual indicators to show users when they should perform specific actions in your app.
Don't be afraid to use color-coding
Color-coding your course can drastically improve the ease of your app's navigation. When you color-code your navigation, it will become much easier to navigate your app because you know where you are headed. There are many ways to code your navigation using color-coding. Still, the most common way is to code your tab or menu items with a color corresponding to their sub-category. For example, you may code "Inbox" as a light color, "Sent" as a darker color and "All" as a still darker color.
Wrapping up
When you code your app with intention, provide visual indicators to show users when they should be performing specific actions, and use color-coding in your navigation, you will significantly improve your app's user experience. In addition, don't be afraid to use color-coding in your navigation; it will make your navigation much more accessible. Hands-on coding experience can significantly improve your apps' quality, visually and functionally. Start with these UX coding guidelines and be prepared to see a rise in your app's success.
