DESIGN RULES: Principles + Practices for Great UI Design
- Descrição
- Currículo
- FAQ
- Revisões
The principles, practices and real-world techniques I’m going to show you here are the same ones that have informed graphic design for hundreds of years. And while that may sound like blasphemy to some of you, I guarantee you’ll see why and how they apply equally to the world of digital design — especially for mobile devices and their small screens.
I’m going to give you 50 lessons across 5 hours, packed with timeless, ironclad, unchanging rules for good UI design that you can apply to anything and everything you ever work on. You’ll learn how to create and apply hierarchy, color, contrast, typography, and gestalt principles to design appropriate visual cues for your users — and that’s just for starters.
You’ll learn how to make it easier for people to interact with what they see on the screen – whether they know what to tap, swipe or click, and whether what happens meets their expectations and moves them closer to their goals. You’ll learn how to create and apply hierarchy, color, contrast, typography and gestalt principles to design appropriate visual cues so people know where and how to take action.
I’ll show you how to make good visual decisions for even the most challenging applications, from simplifying complex visual information to designing with data. My goal with this course is to give you everything you need to know to make great UI design decisions, no matter what the content, context or product may be.
Trends will come and go, and it won’t matter: your UI will still be useful, usable, appropriate and relevant for its users. From this point forward, you’ll be equipped to make strategic, impactful User Interface designs that communicate, guide, encourage, motivate and educate. Anything else is decoration, and decoration has a very short shelf life.
When it comes to User Interface (UI) design, your job — whether you’re a designer, developer, UXer or a mix of all those things — is to make sure that no aspect of someone’s onscreen interaction happens without explicit intent. The UI design choices we make have to reflect the user’s motivations, expectations, environment and possible actions.
All of those things manifest themselves in the User Interface — so what people see on the screen is usually the sum of their understanding about what this is and how it works.
So what we show them has to do a hell of a job communicating what’s there for them, how it’s organized, how they get to it and what they can do with it once they do.
By the time you finish Design Rules, you’ll be able to do much more than create a more beautiful User Interface. Instead, you’ll be able to design a UI that truly works for the people who use it. One that it allows them to easily figure out where to start and how to get what they need — quickly, efficiently and intuitively.
Of course, it’ll also just happen to be beautiful 😉
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1
Design is Design is Design.A fundamental understanding of what the word design really means — and why most people misinterpret it — is where you need to start.
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2
Stop Solving Other People's Problems
The path to great UI design starts when you stop looking at other people's work.
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3
Form Doesn't (and Shouldn't) Follow Function
Learn why "form follows function" as a UI design principle is flawed — and false.
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4
Balancing Form and Function: Prescription vs. Description
Achieving balance between form and function in the UI means informed decision-making — not order-taking.
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5
Why Form Follows Function is NOT a UI Design Prescription!
How to avoid the pitfall of assuming functional considerations should influence visual form.
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Every Force Evolves Form (So Don't Follow the Prescription)
Understanding what forces really impact visual form is the key to better UI design decisions.
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7
Less is More: Small Screens, Big Challenges
Understand the very big challenges posed by small screens — and how to solve them through UI design.
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8
Five Rules for Effective UI Design on Small Screens
Five timeless rules for designing anything well on small, mobile device screens.
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9
Balance: Creating Visual Order
Learn how the principle of Balance creates visual order — and why doing so is critically important.
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Case Studies: Improving Balance in the User Interface
Case studies showing how changes in visual balance significantly improve poorly designed interfaces.
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11
Rhythm: Establishing and Reinforcing Comprehension
Learn how rhythm is established in the UI — and why, when intentional, it significantly improves UX.
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12
Harmony: Shaping the Parts Into a Whole
Learn how the principle of Harmony acts as the glue that holds individual UI elements together.
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13
Using Harmony to Create Directional Flow
Learn how harmony establishes purposeful, intentional visual flow in the UI.
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14
Case Study: Using Harmony for Better Form Design
A case study detailing how changes in visual harmony makes a form faster and easier to scan and complete.
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15
Dominance: Directing (and Maintaining) User Focus
Learn why and how the principle of Dominance is critical to proper UI form and functionality.
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Using Dominance to Increase Focus — and Decrease Cognitive Effort
Understand why using the principle of dominance properly decreases a user's mental effort, resulting in positive UX.
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17
Creating Dominance with Size, Negative Space and Contrast
Learn multiple ways to establish dominance, beyond the most obvious method (size).
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18
Alignment: Leading the Eye Across the Screen
Learn to use alignment intentionally, to guide users through every part of the screen.
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Case Studies: The Power of Alignment
Case studies showing how changes in alignment make HUGE differences in the quality of UI design and UX.
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20
Proximity: Showing and Communicating Visual Relationships
Learn how proximity signals (or confuses) relationships between content, data and interactive UI elements.
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Using Proximity to Make Cognition Faster
Use the principle of proximity to speed up recognition and understanding of visual information.
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Case studies: Using Proximity to Make Browsing Easier
Case studies showcase the principle of proximity to design effectively with negative space — and make browsing easier and faster.
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23
Color: Getting Attention and Communicating Emotion
Learn why color can be a powerful emotional tool — and why it should never be an afterthought or an arbitrary choice.
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How Color Influences Interaction
Understand the key role color plays in users' ability to identify (and act on) opportunities to interact with the UI.
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25
A Word on Color Theory — and Using Color Correctly
Color doesn't have to be difficult. Honest ;-)
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26
How to Choose the Right Colors for your UI: Common Associations
Learn the common associations most of us have with color — and when they're the right place to start.
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How to Choose the Right Colors for your UI: Emotional Impact
Emotional impact plays a big role in determining color effectiveness and appropriateness.
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How to Choose the Right Colors for your UI: From the World Around You
Everything around you is a potential source for appropriate color choices — the trick is knowing where to look.
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How to Choose the Right Colors for your UI: From Brand Colors
Color choice can start with branding — but there's more to that than you think.
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30
The Power of Contrast
Why contrast trumps all else when it comes to visual design — and how to use that to your advantage.
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Using Contrast to Improve Readability, Attention and Focus
Contrast is a powerful tool for guiding and enhancing usability and overall user experience.
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Three Essential Functions of Contrast in UI Design
The three critical functions of contrast you must apply properly when designing.
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How to Determine Appropriate Color and Contrast
How do you know when color and contrast is appropriate? The method is simpler than you think.
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34
Typography 101: It's About Much More Than Choosing a Font!
A crash course in proper typographic design — which is what separates great designers from merely good ones.
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35
Creating Emotional Impact with Typography
The right typeface has massive impact in how visual messaging is seen, perceived and interpreted in the UI.
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36
Choosing a Font Isn't Typography: The Importance of Pattern Recognition
Choosing the right font means understanding and recognizing its relationship to pattern recognition.
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37
The Importance of Proper Alignment, Leading and Kerning
Learn these critical keys to speeding up scanning, encouraging reading and increasing comprehension.
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38
Seven Rules for Great Typography
Seven timeless rules to ensure you design appropriately — and effectively — with typography.
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39
Five Rules for Choosing Imagery
How to choose the right imagery, for the right reasons, for the right situations.
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40
Imagery DOs and DON'Ts
Hard and fast rules for using images of any kind in sites, apps and systems.
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41
Working with Icons
While icons can seem like easy solutions, they don't always work as intended — and aren't always appropriate.
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Four Core Types of Icons (and How to Choose the Right Type)
Knowing these four types of icons is a big step in knowing when (and how) to use them in the UI.
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Five Rules for Effective Icon Design
Five rules you can use to tell when (and when not) to use an icon, along with how to judge effectiveness, usefulness and appropriateness.
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Dealing with Data
How to navigate the many UI challenges that come with data-intensive websites and systems.
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Five Rules for Great Data Design
Five ironclad rules to follow when designing data displays of any kind.
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46
Simplifying Visual Information Part 01
Specific recipes for clearing clutter and simplifying data in the UI.
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Simplifying Visual Information Part 02
Part 02 of simplifying visual information.
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48
Separating Content from Controls Part 01
How to establish clear visual differences (and cues) between things the user needs to see, and things they need to be able to do.
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Separating Content from Controls Part 02
Part 2 of separating content from controls.
