UX design is the backbone of any digital product like an app or a website. It’s like a “dark horse” of a product: it’s something that is not always visible to a naked eye, but without it a product would be very hard or even impossible to use. In the meantime, it’s very easy to tell apart an optimized, well-done UX from a poorly implemented one. The latter can not only turn users away from a product, but also make a negative impact on the brand perception as a whole, as it plays a great role in customer satisfaction. Of course, each product has its own UX quality criteria, as it depends on different factors like the theme of a product, age of the target audience and so on. But there are also a few general indicators of a well-done UX that are applicable to any product no matter what. Let’s discuss them:

1. Intuitivity and user-friendly format

The first thing that indicates a good UX is that the product is generally easy, nice and comfortable to use. One important feature here is intuitivity: it means that customers can use the product seamlessly, without having to guess how to do a certain action or stumbling upon bugs, crashes and other unpleasant problems. In other words, a user-friendly interface guides users in their browsing through the product.  

2. Attention to details 

Another thing that contributes to the general positive impression is well-executed details. Usually an app or a website consists of a lot of small details and micro-features that contribute to the main goal of the product if the UX is done correctly, but that otherwise might become very annoying. The product shouldn’t be overfilled with too many details: their number should be just enough to make the user interested. Also, micro-features should correspond to the general appearance and functionality of the product.

3. High loading speed  

Loading speed can be of 2 types: UX-related and not. Issues that are not related to UX can include remote locations with poor network or low internet speed, and product developers are not responsible for them. UX-related issues, on the other hand, are the sole responsibility of developers. Everything in a product should be optimized to ensure it is working fast without freezes. 

4. Responsive design

A product with a successful UX is easy and comfortable to use on any device or platform. While being optimized for different screen sizes and operational systems, the product should look alike wherever it is used, meaning it should have the same colors, layouts, style, fonts, etc.

5. Constant evolvement

UX design is a constantly evolving part of product development. With the development of new devices and technologies, the requirements for UX design of software products are changing. This means that the UX of a well-done product should inevitably change from time to time to correspond to the current principles. 

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How to maintain a well-done UX design on a low budget?

Sometimes the issue of a poorly done UX design can lay in the low budget for the product development. Creating a good UX design is quite a challenge, and it’s even more challenging to do that on a low budget. Some small companies and startups even make a decision to not create their own software products due to the fear of not being able to provide their clients with a qualitative user experience. Well, actually, it’s possible to implement a comfortable and user-friendly interface even in conditions of restricted budget or limited opportunities. Sometimes a simple-done UX can turn out to be more appealing than a more expensive and complicated one. Let’s discuss which features can make even a simple UX design look good. 

1. Balanced colors & readability

Color scheme is the first thing that the human eye distinguishes in the big picture, and colors matching with each other and with text is what makes a software product pleasant to look at. Sometimes а color scheme can make the product look clean, while at the same time making it hardly readable. For example, a combination of pale-green and white colors gives a feeling of something fresh, but if it’s a white text over pale-green buttons or background, it will make users strain their eyes. The main aim of any software product is to communicate information, so a good UX should incarnate a balance between a harmonious color scheme and readability.

2. Functionality over aesthetics 

Even though it’s only natural to want to make the product visually beautiful and aesthetically pleasing, it’s important to remember that UX should be first and foremost about functionality. No beautiful appearance will retain users if the product is uncomfortable to use. It’s better to retain from using heavy animations, flashy elements and other features if they slow the product down and make it hard to navigate through. 

3. Well-performed localization

Localization of an app or a website plays a great role in attracting and retaining new audiences if the product is designed for a worldwide market. The translation of a text itself doesn’t relate to UX, but what does is how the product looks when localized and how easy it is for users to choose the language they need. For example, if in the translated version the text of the buttons goes beyond the buttons - that means poorly implemented UX. The product should look neat and structured in any language. And the button that allows switching languages should be clearly visible and placed at the top of the page, otherwise users might not notice it and leave.

4. Well-structured elements on display

Structured information in a product gives users a sense of clarity and trust. Cluttered design, on the contrary, not only overloads users’ vision and brains, but also makes the product work slower. In good UX, information should be very organized. A great example of that is a restaurant app, where all dishes are sorted by categories in a menu, rather than being tossed on a single page in a random order. 

5. Clarity of actions 

In a well-implemented UX user doesn’t have to take any effort to realize how or why to perform any action in a product. Good UX suggests clarity of actions with simple explanations at each step that don’t look annoying but are perceived as an unobtrusive guide. The goal of any UX is to make users absolutely sure in what they’re doing without any doubts or trying to figure out a complex interface.

Conclusion

Maintaining a well-done UX in a software product is not always an easy task, but it also doesn’t always require as much resources as it might seem. It’s much more important to keep the product clean, structured and easy to navigate than to implement high-cost features that might overload the product and make it harder to use. Also, details play a huge role in the overall look of a product and should always be given precise attention. Sticking to a few general rules and principles of a good UX design can help you create a good user-oriented product that will always be valued by its audience even if it’s quite.