In today's flood of digital products, what makes one stand out? Is it cool animations? Or complex features? The answer is often: Excellent User Experience (UX).
In this article, I want to share some of my thoughts on user experience during the product design process and how to practice these principles in real projects.
What is True User Experience?
User experience is not just user interface (UI) design. Don Norman once said: "User experience encompasses all aspects of the end-user's interaction with the company, its services, and its products."
This means that from the first second a user opens your website to the last moment they complete a task and leave, every feeling is part of the user experience.
Core Principles
1. Simplicity
Don't make me think. Every extra click, every obscure piece of copy drains the user's patience. When designing the Gemini Watermark Remover, we followed this principle: users only need to do one thing—upload an image. The rest is left to the algorithm.
2. Feedback
Users need to know what's happening. Is there a loading animation after clicking a button? Is there a success message after an operation? Lack of feedback makes users feel anxious and out of control.
3. Consistency
Button styles, color meanings, and interaction logic should remain consistent throughout the product. This lowers the user's learning curve and builds usage intuition.
User-Centered Design Process
- Empathize: Think from the user's perspective. What are their real problems?
- Define: Clarify the core pain points to solve.
- Ideate: Brainstorm solutions, thinking outside the box.
- Prototype: Quickly create interactive prototypes to validate ideas.
- Test: Test with real users, collect feedback, and iterate.
Conclusion
Good design is invisible. When users feel smooth and natural while using your product, even forgetting the existence of design, that is the best design. Let's continue to explore and create more beautiful digital experiences for users.