Table of Contents
- Isn’t UI design just the “pretty” part?
- The foundations of UI design
- 1. Consistency
- 2. Simplicity
- 3. Feedback
- 4. Accessibility
- 5. Affordance
- UI design as a craft of storytelling
- 1. Color psychology
- 2. Typography and readability
- 3. Micro-interactions: The subtle art of delight
- UX + UI: The power couple of product design
- Usability testing and iteration: Bridging UX with UI
- Case studies: Real-world applications of effective UI design
- 1. Airbnb: Simplifying complex interactions
- 2. Slack: Crafting an engaging work environment
- The future of UI design: Trends to watch
- 1. Voice user interfaces (VUI)
- 2. Augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR)
- 3. Dark mode
- UI: The unsung hero of great UX
Do not index
Do not index
Read time: under 11 minutes
Isn’t UI design just the “pretty” part?
When most people hear UX, their brain immediately sprints toward user journeys, personas, and the holy grail: usability testing.
However, behind every seamless experience is a solid dose of UI design. And no, it’s not just about making things “look nice.”
UI is what users see, tap, swipe, and (sometimes accidentally) rage-click. It’s the bridge between your product’s potential and your user’s reality. From typography and buttons to sliders and full-page layouts, UI determines how intuitive, or infuriating, an experience feels.
Sure, UX sets the stage. But UI is the spotlight, the script, and the vibe.
So in this blog, we're peeling back the shiny layer to uncover why UI is far more than decoration, it’s a make-or-break pillar of great UX.
Let’s dig in.
The foundations of UI design
UI design might look like magic, but trust me, it's more method than madness.
Behind every intuitive interface lies a blueprint made up of psychology, logic, and a few non-negotiable rules. Because great UI isn’t just eye candy… it’s functional, inclusive, and friction-free.
Let’s break down the pillars that keep good UIs from turning into digital dumpster fires:
1. Consistency
If your UI changes styles like it’s in a costume contest, users will bounce.
- Stick to a limited, purposeful color palette
- Keep iconography and font styles uniform
- Use the same layout patterns across pages
- Create (and actually follow) a design system
- Reuse components instead of reinventing the wheel every screen
Familiarity = faster interactions = happier users
2. Simplicity
Think Marie Kondo, but for interfaces.
- Group related elements to improve scanning
- Prioritize the essential, hide or remove the rest
- Use whitespace like it’s your favorite design tool
- Reduce the number of steps to complete key actions
- Avoid information overload with progressive disclosure
Simplicity lowers cognitive load, and boosts conversion.
3. Feedback
Design without feedback is like texting “hi” and getting… silence.
- Keep the user informed at every step
- Highlight selected buttons or active states
- Use animations to show loading or transitions
- Provide error messages that are helpful, not cryptic
- Celebrate success with checkmarks, sounds, or micro-interactions
Good feedback keeps people moving. No confusion, no dead ends.
4. Accessibility
Accessibility isn’t a feature. It’s the baseline.
- Ensure strong color contrast for readability
- Support keyboard and screen reader navigation
- Use scalable typography and readable font choices
- Avoid relying on color alone to communicate meaning
- Add alt text to images and labels to interactive elements
Inclusive design doesn’t just help a few, it improves UX for everyone.
5. Affordance
Nobody wants to play “guess what this does.”
- Use labels/icons to explain functionality
- Leverage real-world cues (sliders, toggles, cards)
- Ensure click targets are big enough to actually hit
- Differentiate static content from interactive elements
- Make buttons look pressable (shadows, depth, hover states)
A good UI whispers “tap here” without saying a word.
Join 10,253+ Designers for FREE weekly UX Insights
Every Wednesday, I send out 1 actionable framework to grow your UX career 🌱 — No fluff. Always 2 minutes or less.
UI design as a craft of storytelling
Think UI design is just about lining up buttons and picking a trendy font? Think again.
Great UI is a silent storyteller. It guides, nudges, whispers, and sometimes shouts… ALL without saying a single word.
From the moment a user lands on your screen, your interface is telling them a story. The questions are:
- Does it set expectations for what comes next?
- Does it visually communicate your brand’s personality?
- Is your welcome screen warm, intuitive, and easy to understand?
Let’s break down how storytelling works in UI, and how to make sure yours doesn’t flop in the first chapter:
1. Color psychology
Colors are more than mere aesthetics, they evoke emotions and actions. Or tense. Or trustworthy. Or urgent. Their psychological impact is often stronger than we realize.
For example:
- 🔴 Red = action, urgency, danger, or passion
- 🔵 Blue = trust, calmness, clarity, and professionalism
- ⚫️ Black = luxury, strength, power, and timeless elegance
- 🟢 Green = success, growth, balance, and a sense of safety
- 🟡 Yellow = cheer, energy, optimism, and attention-grabbing moments
Use color intentionally to guide emotional responses, steer decisions, and align every screen with your brand’s core voice.
2. Typography and readability
Words absolutely matter, but how they look on your screen matters just as much, if not more, in creating flow.
- Use font size, weight, and spacing to guide the reader’s eye through your layout effortlessly, without friction or confusion.
- Pick typefaces that reflect your tone, whether it’s friendly, bold, refined, playful, or a bit of all four (but tastefully, please).
- Avoid cramming text or awkward line spacing, nothing kills trust faster than a UI that’s hard to read or just plain overwhelming.
Typography done right doesn't just improve readability and hierarchy, it builds trust and adds an invisible layer of style without trying too hard to be clever.
Pro tip: Set a base font size of at least 16px, and establish a 1.4–1.6 line-height for body text. Then build a clear visual hierarchy using a consistent type scale (e.g., 1.125x or 1.25x steps).
3. Micro-interactions: The subtle art of delight
You know those tiny animations that make someone smile and go, “Oh, nice!” in the middle of using your product?
That’s the power of micro-interactions doing their work quietly but effectively.
- A loading spinner that feels playful instead of painful
- A heart icon that pops when tapped in the right moment
- A tooltip that appears just when a little extra help is needed
These small, thoughtful touches do 3 powerful things:
- They give real-time feedback that keeps users confident
- They humanize the digital experience with subtle emotional cues
- They make your product feel polished, well-crafted, and genuinely cared for
Micro-interactions are the little sparks of delight that users never consciously ask for, but they’ll always remember when done well.
Pro tip: Add micro-interactions to key moments of uncertainty or celebration, like form submissions, errors, or onboarding steps, and test whether they reduce drop-off or hesitation.
UX + UI: The power couple of product design
UX and UI aren’t distant teammates, they’re a duo. A real design power couple. Together? They turn usable products into lovable ones.
- UX lays the strategy: the logic, the flow, the “why.”
- UI brings the charm: the look, the feel, the “wow.”
For example:
Say you're designing a financial app. Research shows users struggle to track expenses.
→ UX steps in and simplifies the process: fewer steps, clearer logic, faster flow.
→ Then UI turns that flow into an experience: intuitive forms, friendly icons, and a layout that’s easy on the eyes (and stress levels).
The feature works and gets used, because it feels good to use.
Pro tip: During product design reviews, evaluate features through both lenses:
- UX lens → Does this help the user reach their goal effortlessly?
- UI lens → Does this feel intuitive, consistent, and emotionally on-brand?
When both answers are “yes,” you’re building more than a product, you’re building an experience worth returning to.
Join 10,253+ Designers for FREE weekly UX Insights
Every Wednesday, I send out 1 actionable framework to grow your UX career 🌱 — No fluff. Always 2 minutes or less.
Usability testing and iteration: Bridging UX with UI
Here’s where the rubber meets the user journey.
Usability testing is where you stop guessing and start knowing. It’s the moment your pixel-perfect mockup goes head-to-head with actual humans, and reality bites (sometimes hard).
It reveals the truth:
- Are users flowing through your UI smoothly?
- Or are they rage-clicking, stuck, or just plain confused?
You take that feedback and iterate. Fast. Smart. Relentlessly. Refine that button placement. Tweak that copy. Clean up that layout.
This loop of testing → fixing → retesting is what separates guesswork from great work. The more you test, the more your UI becomes a finely-tuned experience, shaped not by opinions, but by actual user behavior.
Pro tip: Run quick usability tests before you polish the UI.
Raw wireframes often reveal more about flow and structure, so you can fix the foundation before decorating the walls.
Case studies: Real-world applications of effective UI design
Theories are great. But nothing proves the power of UI like seeing it in action. Let’s take a look at two standout products that turned thoughtful design into business magic.
1. Airbnb: Simplifying complex interactions
Airbnb had a tricky challenge: build a seamless experience for two completely different users—hosts and travelers (without overwhelming either group).
Their answer?
- Forms? Short, sweet, and smart.
- A clean, minimalist interface that lets visuals steal the show.
- Photos are front and center. Navigation is so smooth it’s practically invisible.
The magic lies in how simple they made a very complex process feel—booking, hosting, searching, filtering, all streamlined into a UI that whispers, “Relax. We’ve got this.”
Pro tip: When designing for multiple personas, don’t try to solve everything at once.
Segment flows early, personalize what each user sees, and guide them with context-aware UI elements.
2. Slack: Crafting an engaging work environment
Slack could’ve been just another boring enterprise tool. Instead, they made work feel weirdly... delightful.
Their UI is the ultimate vibe check:
- Bright colors without blinding anyone
- Friendly animations that say “You got this”
- Emojis, GIFs, and reactions that make status updates way less painful
Even the onboarding feels like a conversation, not a chore. Slack doesn’t just help you work, they make it feel less like work.
Pro tip: Once your core UX is solid, go back and add joy.
Micro-interactions, playful copy, and a well-timed emoji can make your product feel human, even if it’s built for corporate teams in matching hoodies.
The future of UI design: Trends to watch
UI design isn’t standing still, it’s strapping on jetpacks and heading into uncharted territory.
As tech evolves, so does the way we design for it. And while not every trend is worth chasing, some are shaping the future in big, bold ways.
Here are three UI trends that are more than hype, and how to get ahead of the curve:
1. Voice user interfaces (VUI)
With smart speakers in kitchens and voice assistants in pockets, designing for voice is no longer optional, it’s essential.
Unlike visual UIs, VUIs don’t have buttons or drop downs. You’re designing conversations. That means anticipating user intent, handling ambiguity, and crafting flows that sound natural, not robotic.
It's less "click here" and more "how can I help you?"
Pro tip: When designing VUI flows, write scripts like a screenwriter, not a developer.
Test them out loud. If it sounds awkward in real life, it’ll be worse in your user’s living room.
2. Augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR)
Augmented Reality (AR) and Virtual Reality (VR) aren’t just for gamers anymore, they’re breaking into education, retail, health, and beyond.
Designing in 3D space means rethinking everything:
- How users navigate
- What feedback looks (and sounds) like
- How to reduce friction in immersive environments
Forget flat screens. This is about spatial relationships, motion, and experience.
Pro tip: Design with constraints in mind. In AR/VR, too much info or poor placement can cause disorientation.
Prototype early, use tools like Spark AR or Figma’s 3D plugins to test in-context, not just on slides.
3. Dark mode
Dark mode started as a niche preference. Now it’s a standard expectation.
Users love it for comfort, battery life, and let’s be honest, it just looks cooler when done right.
But designing dark mode isn’t just inverting colors. It’s rethinking your entire color palette for contrast, readability, and brand consistency.
A sloppy dark mode screams "afterthought." A polished one says "we care."
Pro tip: Don’t just flip your colors, design dark mode intentionally.
Use subtle shadows, reduce pure blacks, and test in low-light conditions to make sure it actually improves the experience, not just the vibe.
UI: The unsung hero of great UX
UI design is the bridge that turns functionality into feel-good usability.
When nailed, great UI does more than just look good. It guides. It responds. It delights. It turns "this works" into "wow, that was smooth."
Whether you’re a UX veteran or just dipping your toes into design, never underestimate the role UI plays in the overall experience. It’s your secret weapon for making users not just complete tasks, but enjoy the ride.
Because at the end of the day, it’s not about creating products people can use. It’s about creating products people want to use.
So go beyond the surface. Shape emotion. Design joy.
Happy designing ✌️
Whenever you're ready, there are 4 ways I can help you:
1. Junior Designer Bundle: Transition into UX and craft an unforgettable portfolio & get hired.
2. Senior Designer Bundle: Become a design leader with systems to build healthier, happier teams.
3. UX Portfolio Critique: In less than 48 hours, get your 30-minute personalised video of brutally honest feedback.
4. Job Sprint Course: Stand out in an unpredictable job market by building a memorable personal brand and a killer job search strategy.
