15 UI Design Mistakes to Avoid to Create Better User Interfaces

As a designer, you've likely heard the age-old adage, "Good design is invisible; it's bad design that grabs attention." This ageless wisdom lies at the heart of design, whether molding the physical world or crafting the digital realm.

At its core, design isn't just about looks but practicality. It's about smoothly guiding users through their experiences with elegant simplicity. In theory, this sounds simple enough. However, when you find yourself immersed in the intricate process of designing a product, it can often feel like navigating a complex maze of decisions and distractions.

This is precisely why the experts at MockFlow joined forces to address a crucial question: What are the common UI design mistakes people frequently make, and how can we assist you in avoiding them? These practices are refreshingly straightforward, and by following them, you'll witness the significant impact they can have. So, the next time you embark on creating a digital product, consult this list to ensure you steer clear of these mistakes and set your project on a path to success.

Mistake #1: Non-responsive design

It's a no-brainer why responsive design takes the top spot on our list of critical considerations in UI design. In a world where we seamlessly switch between a multitude of devices and screens every day, having a design that effortlessly adapts to each one is paramount.

The websites and apps you're designing are meant to serve a diverse audience, spanning different devices and screens. Neglecting responsive design can spell disaster. Imagine a user attempting to navigate a non-responsive website on their smartphone. They're stuck endlessly pinching and zooming, straining to read text, and inadvertently tapping the wrong buttons due to cramped spacing. It's a recipe for frustration, leading to skyrocketing bounce rates.

In the world that we live in, the relevance of responsive design cannot be overstated. With a staggering 92.3% of internet users accessing the internet using a mobile phone, the significance of adapting your design for different screens becomes undeniable. Mobile internet usage has skyrocketed, constituting a substantial portion of web traffic. Neglecting this sizable user base by not optimizing your design for various screens is akin to leaving a pile of money on the table. Additionally, it's important to note that search engines like Google favor websites that work well on mobile devices, impacting your site's visibility and ranking in search results.

So clearly, responsive design isn't just a "nice-to-have" feature; it's a necessity for staying competitive in the digital landscape. A well-designed, responsive interface ensures that users have a consistent, enjoyable experience, no matter how they access your product. This can lead to longer engagement, higher conversion rates, and positive word-of-mouth recommendations.

Tips to overcome the Challenge of Non-Responsive Design

Mobile-First Approach: Begin your design process by focusing on mobile devices first. This ensures that you prioritize the essential elements and content for smaller screens.

Use CSS Media Queries: Implement CSS media queries to adapt your design based on screen size. This allows you to define specific styles for different devices and breakpoints.

Test Across Devices: Regularly test your design on various devices and browsers to identify and fix any issues. Emulators and testing tools can be invaluable for this purpose.

Flexible Grids and Images: Use flexible layouts, grids, and images that can adjust to different screen sizes. Avoid fixed-width elements that might break on smaller screens.

Prioritize Content: Consider the most important content and ensure it's easily accessible on all devices. This might involve reorganizing or resizing elements.

Performance Optimization: Optimize your design for fast loading times, as mobile users are often on slower connections. Compress images and minimize code to enhance performance.

Mistake #2: Complex Navigations

Imagine entering a crowded shopping mall with no directory, no signs, and no clear paths. You'd likely feel overwhelmed and frustrated. The same thing applies to users navigating a website or app with convoluted menus and unclear labels.

Getting from point A to point B should be a smooth, straightforward journey for your users. However, the allure of intricate and innovative navigation menus can sometimes lead designers down a treacherous path, and this results in making it challenging for users to find what they're looking for.

The relevance of this mistake is crystal clear. Your website or app is a gateway to information or services, and if users can't easily navigate it, they'll quickly become disoriented and abandon ship. In an era where competition is fierce, and users have little patience for confusing interfaces, a clear and user-friendly navigation system can be the difference between success and failure.

A streamlined navigation system can significantly improve the user experience. It reduces frustration, encourages exploration, and increases the likelihood of users staying on your site or within your app. In contrast, complex navigations can lead to high bounce rates, increased support requests, and a tarnished reputation.

By simplifying your navigation system and placing the user's needs at the forefront, you'll create a smoother, more enjoyable digital journey that keeps visitors engaged and satisfied.

Tips to Overcome Complex Navigations

Prioritize Clarity: Keep your navigation menus clear, concise, and logically organized. Use easily understandable labels.

Limit Options: Don't overwhelm users with too many menu items. Prioritize the most important sections or actions and provide secondary options through sub-menus if necessary.

Consistency is Key: Maintain a consistent navigation structure across all pages and sections of your website or app. Users should feel like they're exploring a familiar space.

Progressive Disclosure: Consider using progressive disclosure to reveal advanced options gradually. This keeps the initial interface clean and simple.

Mistake #3: Bad CTAs (Call to Action)

When a user is visiting your website or application, there is always an intended action that you would like to guide them towards. These actions could be as diverse as making a purchase, signing up for a newsletter, or exploring more content. This is where CTAs, or Call-to-Action elements, play a pivotal role. However, when CTAs are poorly designed or lack clarity, they become more than just a design flaw; they become hurdles in the user journey.

Bad CTAs create confusion and friction in the user experience. Picture yourself on a website with a button that says "Click Here." It's a common dilemma: What happens when you click? Does it take you to the product page or sign you up for a newsletter? Such uncertainty can leave users hesitating or even abandoning their intended action altogether.

Furthermore, another pitfall arises when poorly designed CTAs blend into the overall color scheme of the page. Users often overlook them, not because they're uninterested, but because these crucial elements fail to stand out.

Understanding the relevance of this mistake is essential because CTAs are often the linchpin connecting user intent and action. They wield direct influence over conversion rates and the overall success of your website or app. Neglecting to craft effective CTAs can lead to missed opportunities and, worse, exasperated users.

Tips to Overcome Bad CTAs

Clarity is Key: Ensure your CTAs use clear, action-oriented language. Rather than "Click Here," opt for phrases like "Buy Now" or "Sign Up."

Use Contrasting Colors: Make your CTAs visually stand out by employing colors that contrast with the rest of the design, naturally drawing users' attention.

Optimize Placement: Position CTAs prominently on your pages, integrating them logically into the user flow. For instance, a "Download" button should be conveniently located on a product page.

Size and Style: Ensure your CTAs are sized and styled for easy tapping or clicking, especially on mobile devices.

Mistake #4: Clashing Color Schemes

Colors are one of the most important tools that designers use to set the tone, evoke emotions, and guide user experiences for the brands. However, when color choices clash or are applied haphazardly, they can turn a visually appealing interface into a chaotic eyesore.

Clashing color schemes occur when colors fail to harmonize with one another, creating visual discomfort and hindering user engagement. For instance, imagine a website where bright red text clashes with a neon green background, making content nearly impossible to read.

Color is a potent tool for conveying brand identity, establishing hierarchy, and enhancing readability. Neglecting the principles of color harmony can lead to a confusing and unappealing user experience, ultimately driving users away from your platform. On the other hand, thoughtfully designed color schemes can enhance user engagement, convey trust, and elevate the overall aesthetic appeal of your design.

Tips to Overcome Clashing Color Schemes

Establish a Color Palette: Define a cohesive color palette that aligns with your brand identity and user preferences. Stick to this palette throughout your design.

Consider Color Contrast: Ensure text and elements contrast sufficiently against their backgrounds to enhance readability. Tools like the WCAG contrast ratio guidelines can be helpful.

Understand Color Psychology: Familiarize yourself with the psychological impact of colors. Different colors evoke different emotions, and understanding this can help in crafting the desired user experience.

Use Color Wheel Tools: Explore color harmony principles using tools like color wheels to find complementary, analogous, or triadic color combinations.

Mistake #5: Inconsistent Design

Design consistency is the glue that holds everything together, providing users with a sense of familiarity, predictability, and reliability. When consistency is compromised, the user experience suffers.

Inconsistent design becomes apparent when various elements such as fonts, colors, layouts, or navigation exhibit significant variations throughout a website or application. Imagine navigating a website where each page feels like a completely different world, with its unique fonts, colors, and navigation approaches. This inconsistency can leave users feeling disoriented and perplexed.

A consistently designed interface provides users with a comfortable, intuitive experience. They know what to expect and can navigate with ease. Inconsistency, conversely, disrupts this flow, leading to disorientation, increased bounce rates, and a tarnished brand image.

Tips to Overcome Inconsistent Design

Establish Design Guidelines: Create comprehensive design guidelines or a style guide that outlines rules for fonts, colors, layouts, and other design elements. Ensure that your team follows these guidelines rigorously.

Use Design Systems: Implement design systems or pattern libraries to maintain consistency across your design projects. These systems centralize design elements for easy access and replication.

Conduct Regular Reviews: Periodically review your design to identify and rectify inconsistencies. This can involve thorough UI audits and usability testing.

Educate Your Team: Ensure that your design team and stakeholders understand the importance of consistency and how to implement it effectively.

Mistake #6: Inappropriate Use of Shadows

Shadows can add depth and dimension to your UI design, creating a sense of realism and hierarchy. However, shadows can create a cluttered and confusing user experience when employed inappropriately or excessively.

The inappropriate use of shadows occurs when they are overly pronounced, inconsistent, or used without a clear purpose. Picture a user interface where every element casts a heavy shadow, making it look like a digital paper cutout on a flat background. This misuse of shadows can distract users, making it challenging to focus on essential content or actions.

Shadows should enhance the user experience by providing visual cues, not overshadowing the content or creating visual noise. Inappropriate shadow is bound to hinder user comprehension and detract from the overall aesthetics of the design.

Tips to Overcome Inappropriate Use of Shadows

Maintain Consistency: Establish clear guidelines for shadow usage across your design, ensuring consistency in shadow styles and intensity.

Prioritize Readability: Shadows should enhance content legibility, not obscure it. Ensure that text and essential elements remain easily readable against their backgrounds.

Use Shadows Sparingly: Reserve shadow effects for elements that require emphasis or separation from the background. Avoid unnecessary shadowing to maintain a clean, uncluttered design.

Consider Depth: Think about the spatial relationships between elements. Shadows should reflect a logical sense of depth, with objects casting shadows in a consistent direction.

Mistake #7: Poor Typography Choices

Typography, unlike popular belief, is more than just selecting fonts; it's about delivering content effectively and enhancing the overall user experience. Bad typography choices are misguided; they can result in a design that's difficult to read and comprehend.

Determining poor typography choices is often straightforward when fonts, font sizes, spacing, or alignment do not align with the content and user interface. Recognizing these issues is akin to spotting signs that hinder content consumption and user engagement.

For instance, consider a website where paragraphs are squeezed into minuscule, nearly unreadable text or where fonts vary wildly between sections, leading to a disjointed and perplexing reading experience. In such instances, it's evident that typography has gone awry and is undermining the user experience.

Effective typography enhances content legibility, aids comprehension, and contributes to the overall aesthetics of your design.

Tips to Overcome Poor Typography Choices

Select Readable Fonts: Choose fonts that are legible and appropriate for your content on all screens. Consider factors like font style, size, and line spacing.

Maintain Consistency: Establish a consistent typography system across your design. Ensure that headings, subheadings, and body text follow a coherent style.

Prioritize Readability: Test your typography choices with real users to ensure they find your content easy to read and understand.

Consider Accessibility: Pay attention to accessibility standards, such as contrast ratios and font sizes, to ensure that all typography is inclusive and usable.

Mistake #8: Prioritising Aesthetics Over Usability

As established at the beginning of this blog, the essence of excellent UI design lies in prioritizing practicality over aesthetics. In a world where visual appeal often takes the spotlight, it's crucial to remember that a design's primary function effectively serves the user's needs.

This error often emerges when designers become infatuated with crafting visually stunning interfaces, sometimes at the expense of user-friendliness. While intricate animations, artistic fonts, and elaborate graphics can be alluring, they hold little value if users struggle to navigate the product. Beneath this captivating exterior, users may encounter perplexing navigation, concealed features, and difficulties in completing even basic tasks. Prioritizing aesthetics over usability can result in a design that initially appears captivating but ultimately leads to user frustration.

Hence, it's crucial to understand a harmonious blend of aesthetics and usability that will result in a design that looks great and functions intuitively.

How to Achieve Balance

User-Centered Design: Start by understanding your users' needs and goals. Design with their preferences and abilities in mind.

Iterative Design: Continuously test your design with real users to gather feedback and make improvements based on their interactions and suggestions.

Simplify Complexity: Avoid unnecessary complexity, such as overly elaborate animations or excessive design elements that do not contribute to the user experience.

Usability Testing: Conduct usability testing to ensure that users can easily navigate your design and complete tasks efficiently.

Visual Hierarchy: Create a clear visual hierarchy that guides users' attention to important elements and actions while maintaining a visually pleasing layout.

Mistake #9: Suboptimal Image Usage

This mistake arises when designers fail to harness the full potential of images, either by underutilizing them or incorporating them in an overwhelming manner within the design. Despite the powerful notion that "an image is worth a thousand words," this adage doesn't apply to images that lack relevance in the context of the design.

Images possess the power to convey information and evoke emotions. Yet, when designers fail to align the purpose, quality, and quantity of images with the design's overall narrative, they miss a vital opportunity to engage users effectively. Suboptimal image usage can result in a cluttered and uninspiring user experience that doesn't resonate with the audience.

To optimize image usage, designers should ensure that every image serves a clear purpose, aligns with the design's overall narrative, and maintains consistency in style and quality. This way, images can seamlessly enhance the user journey, facilitating better engagement, comprehension, and overall satisfaction.

Tips to Optimize Image Usage

Align with Purpose: Ensure that every image serves a clear purpose and enhances the user experience.

Maintain Consistency: Maintain a consistent style and quality for images throughout your design to create a cohesive visual narrative.

Optimize for Performance: Compress images to reduce loading times, especially in web and mobile app design.

Prioritize Relevance: Choose images that resonate with your content and target audience, avoiding stock photos that feel generic.

Accessibility Considerations: Ensure that images are appropriately tagged and described for users who rely on screen readers.

Mistake #10: Underestimating the Importance of Page Loading Speed

Page loading speed often hides in plain sight as a critical aspect of UI design, but it wields tremendous influence over the user experience. When designers overlook the significance of ensuring that their web pages or applications load swiftly and seamlessly, they are making this mistake evident. It's like inviting users into a beautifully designed store, only to make them wait at the entrance for an extended period before they can explore its offerings.

Slow-loading pages can be a significant turn-off for your users of today's world who anticipate instant access to information and services. Optimizing page loading speed extends beyond mere convenience; it directly influences user engagement and retention. A design that loads slowly can drive users away, while a fast and responsive design enhances the overall user experience and encourages continued interaction.

How to Prioritize Page Loading Speed

Optimize Images and Media: Compress images and videos to reduce their file sizes without compromising quality.

Minimize Code: Eliminate unnecessary code, reduce HTTP requests, and use efficient scripts and libraries.

Leverage Caching: Implement browser caching and content delivery networks (CDNs) to reduce server response times.

Prioritize Content: Load critical content first, allowing users to access essential information even before the entire page loads.

Mistake #11: Neglecting Accesibility

Neglecting accessibility in UI design is a common but significant mistake, impacting user experience and inclusivity. Accessibility in design ensures digital interfaces cater to people with disabilities, encompassing various impairments like visual, hearing, motor, and cognitive. Neglecting accessibility not only excludes a significant user base but can also have legal repercussions, as it's often mandated by laws like the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG).

Prioritizing accessibility goes beyond compliance; it enhances the experience for all users, potentially boosting business opportunities and SEO rankings. Neglect can lead to poor engagement, harm your brand's reputation, and result in costly retrofits. Embracing inclusive design from the start is both ethically responsible and strategically advantageous, benefiting users and your organization.

Tips to Prioritize Accessibility

Alternative Text: Provide descriptive alternative text for images to assist users with visual impairments in understanding the content.

Keyboard Navigation: Ensure that all interactive elements and navigation can be accessed and operated using a keyboard alone, without relying on a mouse.

Readable Fonts: Choose fonts that are easy to read and maintain appropriate font sizes to enhance readability, especially for users with visual challenges.

Color Contrast: Ensure sufficient contrast between text and background colors to aid users with low vision or color blindness.

Multimedia Accessibility: Provide transcripts for audio content and captions or subtitles for videos to make multimedia content accessible to users with hearing impairments.

Usability Testing: Conduct usability testing with individuals with disabilities to identify and address accessibility issues and gather valuable feedback.

Mistake #12: Inconsistent Button and Link Styling

As we discussed earlier in this blog, inconsistent UI design can significantly impact user experience. Now, let's delve deeper into a specific aspect of this issue: the inconsistent styling of buttons and links. These elements are fundamental for user interaction, and when their appearance varies across different pages or sections of a digital interface, it can lead to confusion and a host of other usability problems.

Using different color schemes, styling, and typography for various buttons within a design is a clear-cut issue that designers should avoid in their UI design. This inconsistency can lead to user confusion, hinder the recognition of interactive elements, and ultimately impact the overall usability of the product.

Consistency in button and link styling is critical because it helps users easily identify and interact with these elements. Maintaining a cohesive and uniform styling for buttons and links throughout the design ensures a smoother and more intuitive user experience.

Tips to Avoid Inconsistencis in Button and Link Styling

To recap the important tips for maintaining consistent button and link styling, let's revisit the same principles we covered earlier in the section on UI design inconsistencies.

Style Guide Establishment: Designers should create a comprehensive style guide that outlines the appearance and behavior of buttons and links, including specifications for colors, hover effects, click states, and other relevant styling elements.

Adherence to the Style Guide: It's essential to adhere to the style guide consistently throughout the design process to maintain uniformity.

Regular Review and Updates: Designers should periodically review and update the style guide as the design evolves to ensure continued consistency.

Mistake #13: Neglecting User Testing

As designers begin on the product design journey, they diligently understand their target audience and craft user personas. However, a critical phase is often overlooked: testing designs with real users during the evaluation process.

Here's the issue: Neglecting user testing means designers rely solely on their assumptions and preferences, potentially missing vital insights that only real users can provide.

User testing is an indispensable tool that reveals design issues, enhances user satisfaction, and refines the overall user experience. Without it, designers risk creating solutions that may not resonate with their audience.

The absence of user testing is a common pitfall in the design journey, where informed decisions based on user feedback are replaced by assumptions. This can result in designs that fall short of being user-centric and successful.

Tips to Prioritise User Testing

Incorporate User Testing Throughout: Designers should integrate user testing at multiple stages of the design process, including initial concepts, prototypes, and ongoing development.

Utilize Diverse Feedback Methods: Gathering feedback from real users should involve a variety of methods, such as usability testing, surveys, interviews, and direct observations.

Uncover Valuable Insights: User testing uncovers valuable insights that serve as a compass for design improvements, helping designers make informed decisions.

Alignment with User Expectations: Regular user testing ensures that the design aligns with user expectations and needs, enhancing the overall user experience.

Mistake #14: Overlooking feedback loops

The concept of user testing is to gather valuable feedback from real users. However, the true essence of this feedback is realized when it's actively put to use. Also, it's not just about user feedback; it's about feedback from the entire team, stakeholders, and everyone involved in the project. And it shouldn't be a one-time event; it should be a continuous process.

Designers who view feedback as a one-time event are making one of the biggest mistakes in the design journey. Feedback isn't a static snapshot; it's a dynamic conversation that evolves with the project. It's the compass that guides design improvements, resolves issues, and ensures the end product aligns with user expectations. Neglecting feedback loops can make the design process lose its direction and purpose, hindering its success.

How to Prioritize Feedback Loops

Systematic Feedback Mechanisms: Designers should establish structured feedback methods, such as user surveys, user testing sessions, and thorough analytics analysis.

Regular Collection and Analysis: Consistently gather and analyze feedback to keep the design in sync with user needs and preferences.

Ongoing Conversation: Prioritizing feedback loops means designers maintain an ongoing dialogue with users, nurturing a dynamic and user-focused design process.

Long-Term Success: Engaging in continuous feedback loops ensures that the design remains relevant and successful over time.

Mistake #15: Blindly embracing design trends

This is the last but by no means the least, in fact, it's a very common mistake, especially among designers who are starting out. The temptation to stay relevant in the industry often leads many designers to adopt current trends without carefully considering their suitability for the brand or the specific project at hand. While staying updated with design trends can be valuable, it becomes a pitfall when trends take precedence over usability and the project's unique requirements.

Understanding the relevance of this mistake is essential. Design trends can be a source of inspiration, but they should serve as tools to enhance the user experience, not detract from it.

The real difference this makes is in the balance between aesthetics and functionality. Blindly embracing trends can lead to designs that are visually appealing but lack substance or alignment with the project's goals.

Tips for the Effective Use of Design Trends

Critical Evaluation: Designers should critically assess each design trend to determine its compatibility with the project's objectives and the preferences of the target audience.

Alignment with Goals: The selected trends should align with the project's goals, ensuring they contribute to the desired user experience and overall project success.

User-Centric Approach: Designers should prioritize a user-centric focus, incorporating trends that genuinely enhance the user experience and usability.

Balancing Aesthetics and Functionality: Striking a balance between aesthetics and functionality is key. Design trends should not compromise the project's core functionality and user-centric design principles.

Final Words

In the dynamic field of design, armed with leading design tools, it's evident that these mistakes remain some of the most common pitfalls for designers. We sincerely hope that this guide has shed light on these prevalent errors and provided valuable insights. Our aim is to empower you to create UI designs that not only captivate but also excel in user-friendliness and effectiveness.

So, as you embark on your next design journey, armed with the knowledge shared here, remember to steer clear of these mistakes. By doing so, you'll be well on your way to crafting UI designs that resonate with users, enhance their experiences, and ultimately lead to more successful and fulfilling design projects.