Major 8 Poor UI/UX Practices That Must be Avoided
When designing websites and applications, user experience is the key to success. Poor UI/UX design can frustrate users and drive them away. For anyone looking to stand out in the digital landscape, avoiding common website design mistakes that can harm your site’s or application’s user experience is crucial.
In this article, we’ll discuss 8 poor UI/UX practices that must be avoided. From confusing navigation to cluttered layouts, you will learn what not to do when creating an engaging digital experience for your users.
Major UI/UX design mistakes that must be avoided
Lack of consistency in UI elements
Discrepancies in the design or placement of UI elements on a website or application can significantly hinder the user experience.
This confuses users, disrupts interaction flow, and undermines the app’s credibility. Users may perceive the web or app solution as unprofessional or unreliable, impacting their trust and satisfaction.
Common causes of inconsistency in UI elements
Ad-hoc decisions due to the absence of comprehensive design guidelines
Contributions of multiple designers and developers resulting in divergent design choices
Updates made without considering the overall design coherence
Lack of user testing and feedback incorporation into design decisions
Dependency on third-party libraries or frameworks with inconsistent styles
Strategies to address UI element inconsistencies
Establish comprehensive design guidelines covering colors, typography, icons, and layout.
Utilize design systems or style guides to ensure consistency across all elements.
Regularly conduct design reviews and audits to identify and rectify any inconsistencies.
Ignoring text hierarchy
Ignoring text hierarchy can lead to confusion among users. Without clear distinctions between headings, subheadings, and body text, visitors may struggle to identify key points or prioritize information, resulting in frustration and dissatisfaction.
The image below demonstrates why a hierarchy is crucial for an effective UI design. The left side is overwhelming and challenging to navigate, while the right presents the same information clearly and concisely.
Why do text hierarchy issues occur in UI/UX design?
Below are the various reasons that lead to generating text hierarchy issues in website design
Lack of differentiation between headings and body text
Inconsistent font styles and sizes
Overuse of bold or italicized text
Excessive use of all-caps or underlined text
Insufficient spacing between lines or paragraphs
Best UI/UX design practices to ensure effective text hierarchy
Uniformity in font sizes and styles throughout the interface
Proper use of headings and subheadings
Effective utilization of white spaces
Overwhelming users with pop-ups
Despite being a good medium for presenting promotional offers, newsletter sign-ups, and other tasks that grab users’ attention, pop-ups can be intrusive if not used judiciously.
Using an excessive number of pop-ups is one of the worst UI design approaches that often causes a frustrating and overwhelming user experience. It disrupts the natural flow of interaction and makes it challenging for users to focus on their intended tasks.
Examples of worst pop-up designs
Multiple pop-ups appear simultaneously upon entering a website
Continuously prompting users with pop-ups for newsletter subscriptions, promotions, and surveys without allowing them to interact with the main content
Pop-ups that cover the entire screen and require users to search for the close button or opt-out option
Repeatedly displaying pop-ups even after users have dismissed them interrupts the browsing experience
Pop-ups that autoplay audio or video content, disrupting users’ focus
Best practices for displaying pop-ups
Here are the best practices that web developers must follow to mitigate the negative impacts of pop-ups on UX.
Display pop-ups at appropriate intervals and limit their frequency
Communicate the purpose of the pop-up clearly and concisely to ensure user understanding
Provide users with easy-to-find opt-out buttons or mechanisms to dismiss pop-ups effortlessly
Using ineffective or poor iconography
Though icons work as visual cues that help users navigate interfaces, perform actions, and understand functionality at a glance, poor iconography can lead to usability issues as users struggle to interpret icons correctly. This can decrease user satisfaction and ultimately label the site as having one of the worst UI designs.
Common issues with icon usage in UI design
Web designers must avoid using -
Unclear or ambiguous icons that don’t represent their intended functions
Icons with overly complex designs or excessive detail
Icons that are closely similar to each other
Tips to avoid poor iconography
To make efficient use of icons, web designers should follow the below best user experience design tips:
Aim for icons that are instantly recognizable and easily understood without the need for explanation
Maintain visual consistency in icon design across different devices and platforms to provide a seamless user experience
Perform user testing to evaluate icons’ clarity and effectiveness, making adjustments based on user feedback as needed
Using complicated or confusing forms
The use of complex forms overwhelms users with abundant information that impairs decision-making and increases the likelihood of users leaving the website.
Users are likely to abandon lengthy forms, especially when faced with tight deadlines or competing priorities in their tasks or schedules. Therefore, by simplifying forms, web designers can minimize user frustration and improve overall interaction with the site.
Common mistakes that make a form complicated
Long and convoluted registration forms with excessive fields
Confusing input fields with unclear labels or instructions
Overuse of mandatory fields, making the form daunting to complete
Asking for unnecessary or irrelevant information that adds complexity
Using complex validation rules that make it difficult for users to proceed
Strategies to simplify forms
Here are the website design optimization strategies that prominent web and app development companies often use to simplify forms.
Prioritize essential information and reduce the number of fields
Use clear and concise language for labels and instructions
Minimize mandatory fields to only those necessary
Provide helpful hints or tooltips to assist users where needed
Having unresponsive web pages
A webpage’s non-responsiveness can lead to a frustrating user experience. Users may face distorted layouts, overlapping content, or inaccessible features, which results in users abandoning the website and favoring competitors with better accessibility.
In addition to decreasing website traffic, a non-responsive site can suffer from lower rankings as search engines penalize sites that are not mobile-friendly.
Characteristics of a non-responsive web page
Inaccessible features or buttons on smaller screens
Distorted layout on mobile devices
Overlapping content
To ensure your web design is compatible with all devices, you might have to implement flexible layouts, optimize images, etc. This may necessitate the utilization of relevant technical expertise. To make this task easier, consider hiring a web developer to make the necessary adjustments.
Using ineffectively designed call-to-actions (CTAs)
Being a gateway to conversions, CTAs guide users toward desired actions such as making a purchase, signing up for a newsletter, or downloading an app.
However, poorly designed CTAs can sabotage the user experience and hinder achieving business goals. They can exhibit various shortcomings, such as ambiguous language, inadequate visibility, inappropriate placement, and lack of clarity regarding the action being performed.
Common mistakes when designing CTAs
Using generic phrases like “Click Here” or “Learn More” without providing context
Using small font sizes that are hard to read, especially on mobile devices
Including too many elements around the CTA, leading to visual clutter
Failing to incorporate visual cues such as arrows or buttons that indicate interactivity
Best UI/UX design practices for crafting effective CTAs
Ensure that the CTA message is clear and concise
Incorporate visually appealing design elements such as contrasting colors and bold typography to make the CTA stand out
Position the CTA prominently within the user’s field of view, considering the natural flow of the user journey
Make sure the CTA is sized appropriately for easy interaction, whether on desktop or mobile devices
Continuously test different variations of CTAs to identify the most effective design and brand messaging strategies
Incorporating irrelevant or low-quality images
Images serve as a powerful medium in shaping the overall perception of a website or application. They communicate information, evoke emotions, and enhance the user journey. However, using irrelevant or low-quality images can undermine the effectiveness of UI/UX design, leading to negative consequences like decreased user engagement and higher bounce rates
The primary problem with using irrelevant images is the distraction they create for users. When an image does not align with the content or context of a web page or application, it can divert the user’s attention from the intended message.
Various instances of irrelevant image insertion
Using a picture of a beach scene including furniture as the main product image on an eCommerce site selling furniture
A corporate website having outdated and low-resolution images of employees
A travel booking platform showcasing irrelevant stock photos of landscapes unrelated to the destinationsA healthcare app using generic animated images instead of authentic medical imagery
Conclusion
By identifying and understanding all the above-mentioned common UI/UX mistakes, you can proactively avoid them and create a more user-friendly interface. From cluttered layouts to confusing navigation, each practice discussed in this blog should be avoided for improving website design optimization strategies.
Remember, a well-crafted user interface is vital to creating a positive and memorable experience for your site visitors. So, take the time to refine your UI/UX practices and watch your website thrive!
Best of luck.
