This article focuses on the five principles of visual design in UX. Principles of visual design refer to how “design elements go together to create well-rounded and thoughtful visuals.” It starts by stating that for the most part, at a glance, a user can immediately tell whether a visual is appealing or not. Kelly Gordon then states and defines those five principles.
- Scale – This principle uses size to draw attention to certain visual elements. Something that is bigger is more likely to be noticed. A visual appealing design should not use more than three different sizes. The biggest size should emphasize the most important part of the website. Using different sized visuals also establishes a visual hierarchy.
- Visual Hierarchy – The second principle in the article refers to how our eyes are guided in a website. Usually, the user knows where to look in a website when a visual hierarchy is well-established. “Scale, value, color, spacing, placement” can all be used to establish a hierarchy. Using a bright color to signal something more important and a muted color for something less important is an example of a visual hierarchy
- Balance- Balance occurs when there is an even and satisfying arrangement or proportion of design elements in a website. Visual signals must equally distribute between both sides of an imaginary axis that either runs vertically or horizontally. The balance may be symmetrical, asymmetrical or radial, but balance must be achieved so that no one area draws “your eyes so much that you can’t see the other areas.”
- Contrast – This principle refers to “the juxtaposition of visually dissimilar elements in order to convey the fact that these elements are different”. Contrast also helps empathize differences between two objects in order to highlight that they are distinct.
- Gestalt Principles – Gestalt principles explain how humans tend to analyze images as a whole rather than as individual elements. Proximity, one of the principles of Gestalt is particularly important to UX design because humans tend to perceive images that are close together as part of the same group.
The author finishes the article by stating that these principles help increase usability, provoke emotion and delight, and strengthen brand perception.
Experience, World Leaders in Research-Based User. “5 Principles of Visual-Design in UX.” Nielsen Norman Group, https://www.nngroup.com/articles/principles-visual-design/. Accessed 2 Mar. 2020.