Essentials of UI Design XIV: How to Create Functional UI Designs

Clarity, functionality, and meaningful interaction have become increasingly important elements of digital product design. This means that trendy aesthetics alone will not cut it with your users. In this article, we pay attention to the relationship between User Interface (UI) and User Experience (UX), and how designers can leverage both to build digital products users would choose.

7 Steps to Creating Functional Designs

In the previous article, we introduced the research framework for producing functional designs that users want. This time, we’ll ramp things up by exploring the steps you need to build successful designs for any target audience.

Step 1 – Clarify user requirements

Before you select base designs from the vast UILand library, it’s recommended that you first know your users’ preferences. Detailed research will provide insights in the form of user requirements that reveal the needs of your target audience and prepare you to build a UI design that works.

Step 2 – Identify user personas

The next step is to create user personas to capture the key characteristics of your ideal users. This is your pass to create custom functional designs to meet their specific expectations.

Step 3 – Sketch wireframes

Here, you need to use wireframes to communicate the design layout and functionality that you envision. Wireframes are the blueprint that’ll guide the structure of your interface.

Step 4 – Develop interactive prototypes

With the wireframes in place, you need to develop interactive prototypes to test your design concepts. Prototypes make it possible to simulate user interactions, providing valuable insights into usability.

Step 5 – Conduct usability testing

Usability testing helps you collect feedback from real users. You need to be patient here because it’ll be the key to designing a product that’s painless to use and addresses users’ most critical concerns.

Step 6 – Analyze feedback and iterate

After testing, you need to analyze the feedback and iterate on your design as needed. Refining your design like this helps to achieve a functional design that users love and keep coming back to experience.

Step 7 – Ensure your design works for different screen types

After satisfactory iterations, it’s important to ensure that your user interface works well on web and mobile, neatly lending itself to different screen sizes. Responsive functional designs enhance user accessibility.

Conclusion

Functional designs ensure that designers can significantly enhance user satisfaction and engagement. As the digital landscape continues to evolve, functional UIs will likely grow in importance and demand, making resources like UILand even more relevant in the designer’s arsenal.