Consistency matters, they say...
Starting from today, I'll post one UI tip per day for the next 50 days!
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Tip #01 - Set the fixed width of your buttons if they have a loading state
Otherwise, they'll shrink when loading, and it looks terrible.

Starting from today, I'll post one UI tip per day for the next 50 days!
Follow this thread


Otherwise, they'll shrink when loading, and it looks terrible.

Developers tend to hide tips under icons/tooltips/popups.
In this case, your users will be forced to hover every icon to read the tip.
It'd be better to show tips right away, if possible.


They help users to identify which step they are on AND how many steps are left (!)
The latter will increase conversion of completing the form because of the "Goal Gradient Effect".
Further reading:
https://twitter.com/vponamariov/status/1366791289493192704

Working with the interface should be simplified as much as possible

If most of your users live in the US, then you'll make their life easier just by putting the country on top



It's still better to use one-column layout thought. But if you use 2 columns, take this into account.

Quite a common mistake is having the wrong margin between two paragraphs.

Take a look at this gestalt law: https://twitter.com/vponamariov/status/1367117054663413762

It might be inconvenient for users to copy such things as URLs, tokens, etc. They might be using a touchpad or mobile phone.
The solution is: add a copy button

The fewer actions required => The happier user is

It looks like an easy solution to put everything in a modal.
But modals have a lot of disadvantages and should be used carefully.
Further reading:
https://www.nngroup.com/articles/modal-nonmodal-dialog/

Sometimes the form is so long that it doesn't fit the screen.
The user clicks the submit button and nothing happens for him.

It's a good idea to scroll him to the first error instead







It's a general UX rule.
If an error occurred, it won't help the user if you show him "Oops, something went wrong!"

Instead, tell him what he should do next. Always provide further instructions.

You don't need to tell users that they should enter THEIR email, it's already obvious.
Sometimes you can omit headings and titles since content speaks for itself




Not a strict rule though, just make sure it's easy to read




Remember: every form is a barrier for users

The less effort we ask from the user, the more willingly he'll make it.
We can skip names, phone numbers, email/password confirmations.
We can even skip the password and generate it instead!

People don't read long texts on landing pages

Instead, they scan it. Usually without spending much time. So you don't have many chances to hook people's attention.
Ticks help a lot to make the landing more scannable.




This trick I saw in @asana login form.
When the user failed to log in, especially for few times, it might turn out he forgot his password.
Display the hint after a failed attempt, thus showing that you care about the user.




My favorite example: https://twitter.com/vponamariov/status/1374391016178946060
Could you find the link?

In menus/headers/etc it's usually easy to find them.
But in some places (especially texts) people sometimes really make them hard to notice.



Big rectangles with arrows, thumbnails, parts of prev/next pictures.
It should be easy to hit controls, that's it.

If the font-size is big, it's already easy to read, so the line-height multiplicator can be small
If the font-size is small, you should increase line-height for better readability

Developers tend to put borders everywhere to visually separate blocks.
But having many borders doesn't look great.

You can use backgrounds or shadows to reduce visual clutter and make the UI feels lighter.

When the clickable area is small it's hard for users to hit the element.
You can add an invisible area (usually made with paddings) for making it easier.
Also, check the Fitts law if you haven't already


Skeletons have two advantages
1. You show in advance what the content will look like
2. You can avoid expanding the content area. You can do the same with loader but it will look much worse.

Justified text is not only difficult to read for dyslexic users but for non-dyslexic users as well.
This is because it creates large uneven spaces between letters and words.

Low contrast is a very often mistake.
You can easily check your contrast using chrome developer tools, or any other tools that are available.
Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.1 describes contrast levels. AAA is the best.

By consistency, I mean:
- Having the same style, e.g. flat icons vs 3D icons
- Same path width
- Filled / Outlined icons
- Multi-colored / Single-colored
This is not that easy to do, so it'd better use some consistent icon pack.

Validation is cool, but have you tried making it so simple that users fill the form on the first try?
You can help them





The width of inputs can help users understand what type of content you're asking for.
You don't have to fill the whole available space

Along with grouping related inputs inline, you can make the form look much better

Without an overlay, the text might have poor contrast thus it'll be hard to read.
Overlay solves this


Placeholders don't replace labels.

When the user entered something in an input, the placeholder disappears leaving the user without no clue what the field means.
An only exception is maybe a login form with only two inputs.

When you use a vertical menu and you don't have many links you end up with a lot of free space.
Then you try to add more links to fill the space but this is artificial.
Instead, try the horizontal menu.

Validation codes are usually not long and the chance of mistake is relatively small, so you can check them right away.
If the user made a mistake you can re-validate on change.

Two cases:
1. User is wrong - you show him errors
2. User is right - you may show him that he is doing well
In some cases, like filling complex inputs/forms, it can add some assurance for users.

If you have more than 5-7 items in a row, try to break them into logical groups.
It's not that easy to navigate through a lot of elements. We are usually comfortable with up to 5-7 elements in a group.

It's a VERY common issue when data overflows its container.
There is no single approach to this.
You can:



and so on.

A common mistake is to take the box-shadow property, play with it a bit, and think that you got a nice shadow.
But usually, it looks bad.
A good solution is to find an existing collection of shadows and use them.

If you put the description of what users should type in the textarea, then after they start typing the hint disappears.
And they'll simply forget what they should type.
Solution: put hints near textareas, e.g. below them.

1. Dropdowns require two clicks to select an option + sometimes require some scrolling
2. They may have poor UX on mobile
If you have 3-6 options, just display them right away.




Just don't

They look different everywhere, they have poor UX, they look ugly.
Use a custom one with:





If the action takes less than ~0.1 - 1 sec don't show loaders.
The user attention won't switch in ~0.5 seconds, but the request might take less time.
Nice article about it from @smashingmag
https://www.smashingmagazine.com/2016/12/best-practices-for-animated-progress-indicators/

If the action is not that critical, it's a good practice to allow users to undo the action instead of always asking them "are you sure?"
You have at least two options
- Simple undo
- Moving items to trash, temporarily

Usually, developers add an alert saying "there are no items", even if it's because some filters applied.
But when the user hasn't added anything, you can use a completely different presentation.

Icons don't have any unified standards and they can easily confuse users.
Even for some common icons, it takes some time to figure out their meanings.
So generally it's better to label them, if possible

Very simple.
Autofocus the first input, and save the user a click.
That's it


I often google something and find related articles, but there is no date.
So, I'm not sure how fresh the articles are.
E.g., if there is the "Top 10 plugins for Figma" article, how can I be sure they are actual?


Sometimes it happens that requests take more time than usual.
In this case, you can change the loader a bit (e.g. by changing the text), so that users don't have the feeling that your app is stuck.