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Bryan Ferguson
Bryan Ferguson

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UX and the Invisible Design of things

Hello everyone,
Throughout the years, designers have focused on the importance of the invisibility of a design for a good user experience. The debate of invisible UX and design has been going on in design circles for quite a while. And ultimately, designers agree that a good design is dependent on the experience of users, when they’re actually interacting with that design.

How can Web Design be Invisible?

Web design has always been focused on user experience. Most designers have come to believe that good UX is invisible. When we say that a good UX is invisible, what we actually mean is that the experience, by design, should be smooth enough to make it look like that.

Designers put a lot of effort into elevating the user experience to an invisible degree, yet they misinterpret the meaning of truly invisible UX. Moreover, the design can be overwhelming for some users if they have to put in conscious effort to interact with it.
Design should be focused on making things easier and simpler for end-users. The most primal yet effective approach is to try to assess the users’ behavior and make things more intuitive, so the users don’t get stuck in the complications of the design.

Design in everyday life

As I’ve said earlier, design is everywhere. We generally don't notice how good the design is while using everyday things. For example, we don’t spend our time thinking how good the chair is that we’re sitting in.
We only come to realize the flaws of a design when it cannot perform the function that it’s supposed to. I read somewhere that a good design is like a refrigerator. Cause when it works, no one really notices. But when it doesn’t, it sure stinks.
The concept of invisible design stems from everyday things in life. Where the elevation of user experience is the effortlessness of the user while they’re interacting with the design.
So we can say that if you don’t notice how good is a good indication of the good design it.

Keep things simple

The approach to have truly invisible design is making users feel familiar with the design. In some cases, designers try to make new designs but in the end make things more complicated for users as a good design must always have a good experience. Moreover, users should not think about the effort that makes the design. Following the general concept of the design, designers can achieve the major goals of making things easier in their design.

Intuitive design

An easier design is liked by users over a design that requires their consideration. Intuitive design is when a user knows how a design works by intuition. A design is intuitive when a user’s knowledge matches the target knowledge of the design. The major thing to consider here is that a design can only be intuitive for a user that already has basic knowledge about the design. Hence, through user research and conducting it to your target users. If you’re not sure about who is going to use your design, you can never make it intuitive subsequently.

Conclusion

So we have now established that good design is invisible, but what really makes design invisible is the extent of the consistency in the overall experience that it provides to users. Making things easier and knowing your users’ behavior certainly is the key to building designs that are intuitive and flawless.

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