Laws of UX
by Jon Yablonski
This book explores fundamental principles that guide user experience (UX) design through a set of laws or rules
1. Fitts’s Law:
- Essence: The time required to reach a target is proportional to the distance to the target and inversely proportional to its size.
- Application: Make buttons and links large and easily accessible, especially at screen edges or top corners.
2. Hick’s Law:
- Essence: The time it takes to make a decision increases with the number of available options.
- Application: Reduce the number of options or categorize them to make decision-making easier.
3. Law of Proximity:
- Essence: Items that are close to each other are perceived as being related.
- Application: Use spacing between elements to organize information and improve design clarity.
4. Law of Attention:
- Essence: Users focus their attention on visually prominent elements.
- Application: Use colors and contrast to draw attention to important elements.
5. Law of Repetition:
- Essence: Repeated elements help reinforce messages and improve recall.
- Application: Use consistent design patterns to enhance coherence and usability.
6. Law of Simplicity:
- Essence: Simple designs are easier for users to understand and use.
- Application: Avoid unnecessary complexity and focus on core functionalities.
7. Law of Navigation:
- Essence: Users should be able to navigate effectively and easily through the system.
- Application: Provide clear and effective navigation tools to facilitate user movement through the site or application.
8. Law of Perception:
- Essence: How information is perceived depends on the design of the interface and interactions.
- Application: Enhance the interface to be intuitive and easy to understand, considering how users perceive information.
Here are the benefits of reading and how you can apply them
1. Enhanced Understanding of Design Principles:
- Benefit: You gain a solid grasp of fundamental UX principles and how to effectively apply them in your projects.
- Application: Utilize laws like Fitts’s Law and Hick’s Law to improve user interface design and ease of interaction.
2. Improved Decision-Making in Design:
- Benefit: You can make better design decisions based on proven principles, leading to more user-friendly and effective experiences.
- Application: Apply principles such as the Law of Proximity and the Law of Attention to organize elements and capture users’ attention.
3. Enhanced User Experience:
- Benefit: Understanding how design affects user experience helps in creating intuitive and easy-to-use interfaces.
- Application: Implement principles like the Law of Simplicity and the Law of Navigation to streamline navigation and clarity.
4. Reduction of Errors and Rework:
- Benefit: Avoid common design mistakes by understanding laws that can negatively impact user experience.
- Application: Use the Law of Repetition to ensure design consistency and reinforce messages effectively.
5. Better Communication with Team Members:
- Benefit: You can use these laws as tools to explain and justify design decisions to team members or clients.
- Application: Clarify how applying these laws improves design and offer solutions based on strong principles.
6. Enhanced Ability to Evaluate Other Designs:
- Benefit: Evaluate and analyze other user designs based on these laws to improve your critique and development skills.
- Application: Use the laws to assess the effectiveness of current designs and provide recommendations for improvement.