Visual design principles & practices for web and mobile apps

Visual design principles
& practices
for web and mobile apps

Tania Schlatter & Deborah Levinson

Work intentionally blurred –
under NDA

UX & IA
Nimble Partners

UX & IA + UI & visual design

Schedule

9-9:15 am
9:15-9:35
9:35-10:15
10:15-10:30
10:30-11:30
11:30-12:00
12:00-1:00 pm
1:00-2:10
2:10-2:50
2:50-3:00

Intros
Visual usability & UX. Meta-principles
Exercise 1: storytelling through abstraction
Break
Lecture: the meta-principles
Exercise 2: design personas
Lunch
Lecture: the visual usability tools
Exercise 3: applying what you’ve learned
Discussion & wrap up

Complex, functional apps,
not simple apps

Visual is part of
the experience!
...so why do some
organizations
treat it as a
separate eﬀort?

MailChimp.com @ 2009

Focusing on interface as a key part
of the UX makes a diﬀerence

Mint.com @ 2012

Does this interface inspire you to apply for a job?

Details matter. One of these is “just right.”

Focusing on interface
as a key part of the UX
makes a difference.
• It makes a difference to people who are evaluating your app or org.
• It makes a difference to people who use your app.
• It makes a difference to design and development team morale.
• It makes a difference to your organization’s bottom line.

We can do better.

Tog says:

• Error prevention
• Fitts' Law

4 graphic design principles:
Contrast, Repetition,
Alignment, Proximity = CRAP

• Latency
Reduction

iOS 6 Human Interface
Guidelines’ Principles:

• Recognition
rather than
recall

• Defer to content
• Provide clarity

• Aesthetic integrity
• Consistency

NN/G’s reports have 2,397
usability guidelines!

Usability.gov
guidelines

iOS 7 Human Interface Guidelines:

• Let color simplify the UI
• Use system fonts

• Direct manipulation
• Feedback

• Embrace borderless buttons
• Use depth to communicate

• Metaphors
• User control

Gestalt principles:
Android Design Principles:
• Enchant me

1
2
3

• Simplify my Life
• Make me Amazing

4
5
6

Proximity
Similarity
Prägnanz
(Figure-Ground)
Symmetry
"Common Fate"
Closure

Consistency, Hierarchy & Personality

Consistency: establishing or adopting appropriate patterns

Hierarchy: calling attention to the most important things

Personality: choosing appropriate expressive characteristics

Consistency, hierarchy & personality
are communicated via “the tools”
of visual design: layout, type, color, imagery
+
controls & aﬀordances

from Understanding Comics by Scott McCloud

Telling a story with
consistency, hierarchy,
and personality

Exercise 1
• Use the principles to help tell a simple story
• Use 4 colors of paper and 4 frames
• Share stories in teams
• Group: discuss which principles were used and how
- How did you establish consistency?
- How did you establish hierarchy?
- How did you convey personality?

Consistency: managing expectations and patterns
Like spoken language, a UI must have patterns or conventions so
people can understand.
Goal: define a consistent framework that can flex

Meta-principles: consistency

Internal consistency
Establish patterns within your app and use them consistently to create visual language.


Indicating difference is important to
communicating effectively as well
Differences in function – style

Differences in types of text – font


Differences in content types – layout

External consistency
Decisions about consistency are linked to overall app strategy and UX.

MS Word

Google

Consistency helps ease changes through familiarity.


External consistency

MS Word

750 Words

Inconsistency helps diﬀerentiate.


Some expectations can be anticipated, some cannot
User

location
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erp

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other sc
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other
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applic
ation

backgrou
nd
ge,
a

method an
ery
dt
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ati
on

sit u ati o n

Past experiences and interpretations

p atte r n s

Active experience and interpretation

Goal: balance familiarity with strategic diﬀerences.


If your users share similar characteristics and
are familiar with an existing app, why not make
everything consistent?

Why not just copy
another app?
Why not just use the
iOS or Android
standards?


Starting with defaults
Defaults are a good starting point – but visual cues could help use and
these apps lack distinct personalities that can help make them successful.


Hierarchy: defining meaningful differences

•

Consistency is about making decisions about how and where
elements appear, look and behave to take advantage of expectations.

•

Hierarchy is about indicating differences that help people know how
the app works, what’s important, and what to do.

Meta-principles: hierarchy

Unclear hierarchy


Improving hierarchy


Gestalt principles
Psychological principles outlining perception of
spatial relationships

•
•
•

Proximity implies grouping

•

Our eye is drawn to diﬀerences

Similarity implies grouping
Figure and ground imply space and
hierarchy

Help us understand how to place things
Contrast is the key ingredient
http://graphicdesign.spokanefalls.edu/tutorials/process/gestaltprinciples/gestaltprinc.htm


Stylistic details aﬀect visual hierarchy
Color: muted vs. saturated

Treatment: plain vs. fancy


Complexity adds to the challenge
The more elements you have, the harder it is to establish a clear hierarchy.


Personality: characteristics that aﬀect interpretation

“[P]erceptions of interface aesthetic are closely
related to apparent usability and thus increase
the likelihood that aesthetics may considerably
aﬀect system acceptability.”
- Noam Tractinsky

Meta-principles: personality

How much appeal do we need?
Goal is not novelty for novelty’s sake – the app equivalent of
Stark’s Alessi gold-plated juicer

http://www.flickr.com/photos/dickyfeng/6254476990/


Functionality vs. appeal


Terms to help qualify design aesthetics

Terms used to gauge website appeal in 2004 paper from Noam
Tractinsky and Talia Lavie

•
•

Classical: organized, clean, symmetric
Expressive: design harmony, color harmony, dynamic expression


Classical

http://www.flickr.com/photos/edwardlangley/8318320976/

Expressive

http://www.flickr.com/photos/wwarby/4790992757/

Criteria for decisions about personality
Thoughtful decisions about expression and diﬀerentiation
grounded in:
1. users and context
• brain: how people see and understand
• individual: age, demographics, experiences & expectations
• situation: device, setting, goals
2. what is being communicated by whom
• content: what is being represented
• sender: who the information & interactions are from


Selecting expressive qualities
•

How much appeal do you need?

•

How much expression do you need?

Visual usability = useful appeal:
Select type, color, and images, and present them in keeping with the
content, users, and organization.


How functional does it need to be?

http://www.wired.com/entertainment/theweb/magazine/17-09/ﬀ_craigslist_makeover


How narrow is the user base?


Is there a lot of competition?


Do the expressive qualities support cognitive mapping?


Are the characteristics appropriate for the situation?

VS.


Are the characteristics appropriate for the situation?


Gathering visual interface design requirements

•
•
•

What are the business’ application goals?
What do we know/what can we learn about the users?
What are technical implications?

+
•

What personality do we want to convey?

Exercise 2
• Define the personality for a weight-loss app: mobile phone version of
SuperTracker for teens
• Goal: begin to define an appropriate personality for your app.
• define 5-7 traits for your app – what it should be like
• complete a personality map
Resources: MailChimp example,
simple ad-hoc personas, existing app
https://www.choosemyplate.gov
login: uxpatutorial pw: uxp4!
Need to be able to state your
reasons for your decisions!

http://aarronwalter.com/design-personas/

The visual usability tools

•
•
•
•
•

Layout
Type
Color
Imagery
Controls and aﬀordances

Contrast is the key to using the tools eﬀectively to create
consistency, hierarchy, and personality.

Tools: intro

Layout

•

Position/location of elements needs to match flow – tease flow
out of user scenarios.

•

Interface standards (e.g., iOS) provide familiarity, but may not
match user’s flow.

•

Some position conventions, like search on the web, are written
in stone at this point and would need a major reason to change.

Tools: layout

Interpreting ﬂow with layout

Tools: layout

Example: Epicurious iPhone app
Typical scenarios:

•

“It’s really hot today. What can I cook outside on the grill so I
don’t have to heat up my kitchen?”

•
•

“I want to find a chicken recipe for dinner.”
“I have zucchini, peppers, and beef. What can I make with those
ingredients?”

Tools: layout

Feature implications

•
•

Each scenario implies a diﬀerent type of search

•

Guiding people to more detailed search options is another
high priority

Seasonal/promotional searches get priority – timely,
demonstrate Epicurious’ unique value

Tools: layout

Layout reveals hierarchy of information

Time-sensitive info comes first.

Tools: layout

Common ingredient searches
come first.

Creating relationships: grouping

Tools: layout

Creating relationships: nesting

Tools: layout

Alignment

•
•

Alignment provides organization, supports page flow

•

Align to fewest possible (grid) lines.

Default should be flush left. Decide what needs to be treated
diﬀerently from there.

Tools: layout

Avoid common mistakes

•
•
•
•

Provide just enough information
Align elements unless emphasizing diﬀerence
Group like elements
Position elements to help make hierarchy clear

Tools: layout

Type

•
•

For functional apps, choose type for readability
Type size and weight = contrast = hierarchy and impact

Tools: type

Choosing type

•

More choices than ever: Google Fonts, Typekit, embedding with
@font-face ...

•

But less is more: choose two or three weights of one typeface, or
a couple weights of only two typefaces, one of which is for
“visual accent”
Expression is possible with
one font!

http://www.thinkingwithtype.com/contents/text/#Project:_Hierarchy

Tools: type

Epicurious’ typography

Helvetica in roman and bold weights doing 95% of the work with two typographic accents

Tools: type

Experiments with the accent font

Century Gothic
(original)

Tools: type

Helvetica Light

Eurostile

Rockwell Light

Choose type personality wisely

Tools: type

Avoid common type mistakes

•
•

Default: use one clear typeface with a variety of weights

•
•

Apply type styles to similar information across templates

Use type styles as the grammar of your visual language –
as a consistent system

Try emphasizing diﬀerence and/or directing the eye with contrast
via size and color before using an expressive font

Tools: type

Color

•
•
•
•

Draws the eye
Helps establish hierarchy
Makes relationships visible
Adds aesthetic appeal and conveys personality

Tools: color

Hue and saturation

•
•
•

Hue: what we perceive as distinct colors
Saturation: relative purity of color compared to gray
Both factor into color contrast

Traﬃc light

Tools: color

Olympics app

Saturated + muted

Tints and shades

•
•

Tools: color

Tints are lighter hue
variations; shades
are darker ones
Using tints with
shades creates
contrast

Color and contrast
Color contrast is contextual – it fluctuates and depends on
the whole

Same color, different
warm/cool effect

Tools: color

Muted color, saturation effect changes based on contextual colors

Tips for choosing color to create contrast

•
•

Pick a “lead” color that
will either have the job
of conveying
personality or will
support a palette of
colors used in small
amounts

•

Pick an accent color to
highlight small controls
or important
information

•

Tools: color

Type color must
contrast suﬃciently
with background

Shades and/or tints
make palettes work

Tips for choosing color to create contrast
Too much contrast –
“visual spanking”

Tools: color

Polite use of contrast

Tips for choosing color
It’s not the color; it’s the use of the color that makes it work or not.

In two of these three examples, use of red is successful.

Tools: color

Color template
text color

Tools: color

even lighter
tint or tone

shade, tint or
tone

lighter
tint or tone

even lighter
tint or tone

support
color

shade,
tint, or tone
of accent color

lighter tint
or tone

“lead” color

accent
color

darker shade
or tone

shade, tint or
tone

lighter tint
or tone

even lighter
tint or tone

add shades, tints, and tones if needed

add colors
if needed

Epicurious color palette

text color

“lead” color

secondary
accent color

Tools: color

accent
“lead”
color shades, tints
and tones


•

Use color to emphasize similarities and diﬀerences, which
support use

•
•

Color has its own tone of voice – shout or whisper with intent
Follow accessibility guidelines for color use and contrast

Tools: color

Imagery
Imagery has to play a role. It has a job to do:

•
•
•
•
•
•

Draw attention
General

Provide explanation or
show detail

Strategic

Purpose

Tactical

Type

Presentation

Subject
matter

Qualities

Represent content
Role

Express feeling, brand,
or style
Invite interaction
Reinforce similarities or
diﬀerences

Tools: imagery

Specific

Early in process

Later in process

Types of imagery
Photography

•
•

Use when realism matters
When people consider a visit,
or a purchase of goods or
personal services

Video

•
•

Use when explaining a process
Describing details best
revealed through motion

Tools: imagery

Types of imagery
Animation

•
•

Giving the gist of a process, not the details

•
•

When motion helps convey personality

Communicating with diverse cultures, where details might not
translate

When still images aren’t enough, or novelty is needed

Tools: imagery

Types of imagery
Logos

•
•
•

On a product or branded service
To represent a product
To represent parent organization

Tools: imagery

Types of imagery
Icons

•

When you can represent something with a simple
picture, and want to add variety for visual interest

•
•
•

When app standards call for an icon
Non-obvious icons should include type
Icons with the same role should use the same style

Symbols

•

Represent object, action, or idea, but don’t need to
resemble it

•

Use when communicating something your
audience universally understands

•

Use when common symbols exist for the concept
represented

Tools: imagery

Types of imagery
Charts and graphs, including
interactive data visualizations

•

When visually representing factual
or quantitative data with
enhances understanding

•

When comparing data sets to
quickly understand diﬀerences

•

Need visual relationships to other
elements – all graphics need to
speak the same language.

•

Manipulate contrast and hierarchy
with choice of color and size to
highlight significance.

Tools: imagery

Types of imagery
Maps

•

Use when people need to find a destination or visualize
relationships between locations

•

When providing visual reference for a location adds meaning/
recognition/context

Tools: imagery

Types of imagery
Patterns: repeated areas of an image

Tools: imagery

Types of imagery
Textures: image eﬀects
that change the surface
of the screen

Tools: imagery

Types of imagery
Backgrounds: any image or
solid color appearing behind
content

Tools: imagery

Gradations: fields of one or more
colors varying in shade to give the
illusion of depth

Types of imagery

Use patterns, textures, backgrounds, or gradations when their content
adds meaning:

•
•
•
•
•

Aﬀecting mood
Conveying sense of space or depth
Diﬀerentiating sections of content
Communicating personality or brand
Connecting visual design across platforms and mediums

Tools: imagery


•
•
•
•
•

Only use images that play a role in the overall story
Choose the right type of image for the job
Present images clearly
Design and present images of the same type consistently
Include a caption or supporting info unless image meaning is obvious

Tools: imagery

Controls and affordances

•

Apply to visual usability because visual design can help or hinder
identifying a control and revealing its affordances

•

“Visual” extends to motion here: rollovers, sliding drawers, control
animation, etc.

•
•

Details matter, especially for app personality
Styling controls supports personality

Tools: controls & affordances

Default vs. custom


Cross-platform personality



•

Only interactive areas should feel interactive; read-only areas
should not

•
•

Provide feedback
Apply visual design to form controls


Schedule

9-9:15 am
9:15-9:35
9:35-10:15
10:15-10:30
10:30-11:30
11:30-12:00
12:00-1:00 pm
1:00-2:10
2:10-2:50
2:50 -3:00

Intros
Visual usability & UX. Meta-principles
Exercise 1: storytelling through abstraction
Break
Lecture: the meta-principles
Exercise 2: design personas
Lunch
Lecture: the visual usability tools
Exercise 3: applying what you’ve learned
Discussion & wrap up

Strive for useful appeal

•

Select color, type, and images to indicate similarities/diﬀerences,
relative importance, and behavior.

•
•

Get the cognitive mapping right.
Use expressive visual characteristics to create discernible patterns
– so similarities and diﬀerences are clear.

Apply: overall tips

Exercise 3

• Work in groups of 3. Evaluate the wireframes in terms of
consistency, hierarchy and personality.

• Imagine, discuss and sketch options and variations the next round.
How can you design using the three principles?

-

Think about consistency. What needs to be consistent?
Manipulate the layout to help with hierarchy.
How would you apply visual design to these or other controls
to address/improve consistency, hierarchy, and personality?

• Fill out the Visual Lexicon template.
Use the content/features provided. ~15 mins.
Dropbox: http://bit.ly/1aCnceD

• Share what would change, why, and how.

Thank you!
Tania Schlatter
tania@nimblepartners.com
@taniaschlatter
Debby Levinson
debby@nimblepartners.com
@nimblepartners

@visualusability

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