10 UX Design Fundamentals Developers Should Learn

Technology is engulfing the world. There is no denying that. Many have realised it will be the future, and if they aren’t already a part of the growing tech scene, they will be soon.

I came from the wondrous world of design, product design to be precise. Now I’m a student at the School of Code Bootcamp, preparing myself as a full-stack developer for my next venture into the dynamic tech industry. Today, I want to explore a growing interest of mine, UX design.

In this article, I will discuss 10 UX design fundamentals I believe every developer should learn to become a better coder.

1) Be Empathetic

Empathy, a word I hear all too often, but rightly so. As a designer, this is an extremely familiar term. Design with the user in mind. Not for one user, but a variety of users. Put yourself in their shoes and see it from their perspective. Likewise, you’ll write far better code if you consider others who may read it in the future.

2) Be Contextual

“Think of a user journey like a story book.” — Jordan Julien

If you open a book at any given page, you’ll see the book title, chapter name, and the page number. This information is there to provide the user with context. You want the user to be aware of where they are in their journey.

3) Be Human

You’re human, the user is human. Seems obvious right? Developers and designers alike often forget this. Remember that you’re building a product for humans to use, not machines. Let’s use error messages as an example. Would you prefer to see a frustratingly useless and lazy error message like this:

or a more friendly, helpful, human-like message?

“Be approachable, trustworthy and transparent.”— www.uxmatters.com

4) Be Discoverable

Let’s face it, no one wants to be scanning your application for a back button, only to realise it doesn’t exist. Make things obvious, purposeful and discoverable. Otherwise, why have it?

5) Be Intuitive

Is your product just like every other product out there? Well, great! That means it’s more likely your user’s will understand how to use it. Jokes aside, you want your user to be able to breeze through your product like they’ve used it 100 times already… before they’ve even seen it. Whilst you could probably do it with your eyes closed, make it easy for the user to understand and use your product.

“Reduce the user’s cognitive workload whenever possible. Be consistent and clear, and establish a strong visual hierarchy.” — www.uxmatters.com

6) Be Clear and Concise

Show that you understand what the user needs. The last thing they’d want is having to scour through irrelevant information or tools before reaching their objective — get to the point.

7) Be Learnable

So you’re building a new product that may overthrow or compete with the likes of market leaders such as Facebook or Twitter… Make it easy to learn! Try to understand how users may interact with your potentially revolutionary product. Improve its learnability and perhaps more people will adopt its use into their everyday lives. No one wants to use a product that is ridiculously difficult to learn — dumb it down!

8) Be Efficient

Are users able to perform tasks smoothly? Are frequent users able to do it quickly? Does it run just as well on different devices? If yes, thumbs up to you sir/madam.

9) Be Delightful

Everyone loves a surprise or a reward. Want to make your product memorable? Something your user can look forward to using? Well then, add a touch of delight and a hint of I want you back.

10) Be Better

Last but not least, be better. This should go without saying, but there is always room for improvement. Strive for it. Test your product over and over, iron out the flaws, get feedback. You may think it’s the most amazingly hot creation this planet has to offer, but not everyone is you. Have others use your product, be kind and ask for feedback. Be it negative or positive, any is beneficial! Take it constructively and use it to improve your product — you’ll thank them later.

Well, there you have it. 10 UX design fundamentals every developer should learn. I’ve written this to help you and me become a better developer. Hopefully the next time you code or come up with an idea, you will take these into consideration.

Thank you for reading :)