Side-step themes

So, here’s my take on this. Many people start out by following themes. We’ve all been there, you look around, and see what themes are available. A lot of people work that way, and, it’s a bad idea. Here me out…

Themes look nice, you can go on to Dribbble and see thousands of theme based designs. You can go to third party websites, and purchase themes for webites, mobile apps, and content management systems. The list is endless.

The problem is, while they look great, they don’t offer any explanation of the; what, how, and why. They don’t tell you anything about the problems they were created to solve.

We’re not given any explanation about the colours used, why the buttons are that size, or why those components work the way they do. We have no idea why those decisions were made as part of their design. We’re admiring the decoration, with no sense of if what we see is appropriate. Appropriate being the magic word.

Someone else’s UI is not yours.

Choosing form over function

Before you begin your design process, do you ever visit Dribble, Behance, or, have a look through Pinterest which is littered with pretty designs? How many times have you come across redesigns of Facebook, Craigslist, and Amazon? Probably hundreds.

Don’t look for inspiration

You will not find inspiration looking at the work of others. Instead, you’ll find someone else’s solution to someone else’s problem. The problem you’re trying to solve belongs exclusively to you and your users.

What you’ve seen others do, has nothing to do with your situation. It won’t solve your business, or user problems.

Current design trends

Many designers start their process by looking at design trends. NeumorphismandGlassmorphismcome to mind.A few years ago, everything was about flat design.

Here’s the thing, designers are adopting the look and feel without considering if it’s appropriate for the situation. Will your users understand what they see? Do those buttons look like interactive elements? Or, does the user understand that section can scroll? We lose visual affordances by trying to follow design trends. Accessibility, also becomes an issue.

Less is more, isn’t always the best approach.

As UX/UI designers, it’s our duty to think hard about our visual decisions, ensuring they are informed by research, investigation and fact. Unfortunately, designers who have not yet learned the principles of design are simply decorating.

In summary,

“Superficial app designs that follow the latest fads and blatantly ignore basic usability conventions, UX best practices, and fundamental principles of interaction design, would most likely fail in the real world! Luckily, they usually don’t go beyond the generally ridiculous, self-parading fantasyland on Dribbble and Behance.”