“You cannot judge a book by its cover”- a famous phrase that has been used at multiple places to defame the stereotype of judging someone/something by their first impression. But with the change of time and the advancement in the design industry, this phrase has actually been proven wrong as the visual design is absolutely the first thing that will definitely leave your artistic impression on your spectator and in this case your website/application user. Visual design is something through which a user can judge whether a design is a creative beauty or just a cluster of elements put together. The way our product looks generally determines how users tend to use it; this type of effect where the designer creates a balance between the design and the usability of that design comes under the regime of Aesthetic-usability effect.
Now, what is Aesthetic-Usability Effect?
Usability and aesthetics are the two components that largely affect the user experience. And, Aesthetic-Usability effect suggests that a large number of users tend to accept, use and perform naturally towards a more aesthetically pleasing design. Therefore, the expert designers’ advice on crafting visual designs that leads to good user experience is highly valued.
Components of Visual Design that leads to a Great User Experience
Visual Design is all about incorporating text, colours, images, animation or anything that results in a design. And, to incorporate a good visual design will definitely make an effect on how the users view your screen. Most of the time, user experience is generally an afterthought but if one considers the expert advice then the visual design should be created in accordance with the usability of that design by which it means that the designer should create a design whose usability is enhanced via the design. Below given are components that must be there to enhance the relationship between visual design and user experience.
#1 Scaling
The principle of scaling suggests that the relative size in the design composition should highlight the importance or the rank or putting it in a straightforward manner, the elements that are more important should be presented in a bigger size than the one which is less important. Here it can be the title of the page or maybe the navigation tool. Further, the designer should keep in mind that only three different sizes should be used in a design to maintain the aesthetic appeal of the same.
#2 Visual Hierarchy
As the word suggests, the visual design should present the hierarchy of the elements via colour, scale, font, value or even maybe through the placement of the element. For instance, the heading-1 can be in size 18 and in a bold font whereas the content below that heading can be in size 14/16 in a regular format. Also, in the case of colour, the designer can opt for bright shades for the important elements and muted shades for the less important elements.
#3 Balance
One of the most crucial parts to perform is drawing a perfect balance amongst all the elements of the design. As per the design rules, there can be three ways of placement of elements:
- By maintaining the symmetry among the elements.
- By arranging the elements in an asymmetric manner.
- Lastly, by considering a centre point and all the elements are running in a circular motion around that centre point.
#4 Contrast
This principle suggests the ways according to which two contrasting elements should be presented in the single design. The user should be able to distinguish between the two by just looking at it. Such a contrast can be created using colours or font’s size. The idea is to maintain the consistency of the design while showcasing a contrast between two different elements to the user.
#5 Gestalt
Gestalt psychologists Max Werthimer researched how a human eye will make sense of images. Therefore, Gestalt aka shapes/ forms should be fabricated in such a way that by the end the image should create a whole. The same theory is applicable in the design as well, by the end; the design should be considered a whole rather than fragmented bits and pieces. This principle is usually adopted for logo designing.
Conclusion
A perfect designer is one who understands the usability of his design. Therefore, it becomes advent to create a visual design that should lead to great user experience rather than confusing the user. The aim of your visual design should be to communicate through your design and strengthen your brand personality.
