‘Practical UI’ By Adham Dannaway

<aside> 💬 “UI design doesn’t have to be so hard. Over the years, I’ve realised that most of my UI design decisions are governed by a system of logical rules. Not artistic flair or magical intuition, just simple rules.” - Adham Dannaway

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I read a book called Practical UI by Adham Dannaway, and the author was able to give some very helpful advice on smaller UX bits that normally I wouldn’t have even thought about. I’ve recorded some of them here as a reminder to consider them for my own designs and UI.

• Thin, light grey text can look sleek and trendy, but there’s a risk that some may find it difficult to read
• Icons without labels can look clean and minimal, but there’s a risk that some might not understand what the icons mean. This risk is greater for those with cognitive and vision impairments
• It might look nice to add colour to heading text, but there’s a risk that some could mistake it for a link

In some cases, you can make decisions easier for people by recommending popular or common choices. If a lot of people prefer certain choices, there’s a good chance that others will too.

For example:

Video streaming websites often recommend popular videos

Search boxes often suggest common search terms to help people narrow down their search faster

Add a tinge of colour to black and white