How & Why to Increase Readability in UI Design

User interfaces designed with care should be able to guide the users and take them from one logical place on your application or website to the other. If an app cannot do that, the users will leave and never return. In short, the user interface should be so easy to use and ‘readable’ that it conveys the right information, enabling users to recognize and get that information effectively and maximize the user experience.

So, how can you maximize this readability in UI design? Well, the core of readability is the visual hierarchy and the core of visual hierarchy is the logicality. Ultimately, the logic that helps the user traverse your app is the key concept that affects or influences the readability.

Let’s understand Logicality

Logicality consists of a number of things such as dependencies, similarities, and differences. Dependencies usually mean that the contents from the lower levels belong to the contents from the upper levels. Similarities include the content on the same level and differences mean the content which does not belong to the same levels.

Let’s understand Visual Hierarchy

Once the logical relationships are established, creating a visual hierarchy gets easy. Building contrasts and organizing them to provide a decent visual hierarchy is the aim.

Some of the factors affecting visual hierarchy are:

Size

Size is one of the most effective factors that help control visual hierarchy. The bigger the element, the higher the level — this concept works for both — text and images. Setting up of different sizes for the elements on different levels is very helpful to build basic infrastructure of visual hierarchy.

Font weight

Font weight is used to emphasize the text or reinforce the contrast. The bolder the text, the higher the level will be.

Color

Adding colors help highlighting or to classify the information. The elements in different colors are more eye-catching. However, there should be a limited number of colors and remember to add them only to the necessary parts.

Opacity

Altering the opacity enables you to build contrast in the UI.

Proximity

Elements that are close to each other are regarded as a group. Proximity can help classify objects in a group. This improves information recognition and enables users to respond correctly.

Similarity

Objects with a similar appearance are generally perceived as a group. They have similar functions and are at the same level.

Great readability makes the interaction between users and the interface smooth. Figuring out the logical relationships between the elements is the foundation of creating a clear visually appealing user interface!