Purposeful communication in UI Design

In UI design, everything a designer does affects the user experience. From the purposeful and intentional to the neglectful oversight and omission, every action–and non-action–shapes the experience of the end-user.

For designers, successful UI solutions require decisions that will communicate the intended message at all times. Content, color schemes, screen layout, buttons vs icons, labels—all elements of the user interface are part of what is being communicated to the user. In addition, what is left out of the UI design also effects what is being communicated to the users. You cannot not communicate. The best user experience is one shaped by purposeful communication, where every interaction and observation by the user conveys one unified design “voice”.

One of the guiding principles when making design choices should be to ask ourselves if the inclusion or exclusion of an element supports or contradicts what we want communicated to the user.