In today’s digital age, user experience (UX) has become an integral part of any successful software application. As more and more people rely on software applications for their daily needs, the need for a seamless and engaging user experience has become paramount. However, achieving an outstanding UX is not a straightforward task, and it requires careful planning and execution.
To help ensure that your software application offers an exceptional user experience, I designed this checklist based on the Laws of UX. The Laws of UX are a set of design principles that offer guidelines for creating intuitive, engaging, and easy-to-use interfaces.
This checklist can be used as a practical tool to test your app for UX and identify areas where improvements can be made.
Pro Tip: The webpage will save the status of the checklist until you reset the page cache or a timeout happens (180 days). So, you can use this as a workbook too.
UX Checklist
In case some of these checkpoints are ambiguous or confusing to you, please refer to the detailed explanations by clicking here.
Checkpoint Explanations:
- Is the design aesthetically pleasing? For Example Tab support, Shortcuts. This point refers to the overall visual appeal of the design. For example, a website with well-designed tabs and shortcuts that are visually consistent with the rest of the website can make it easier for users to navigate and find what they are looking for.
- Progress Bar if feedback time > 400ms This point refers to the importance of providing users with feedback about the status of their actions. For example, when a user submits a form, a progress bar can indicate how long it will take for the form to be processed.
- Ample spacing between touch targets This point refers to the importance of providing enough space between interactive elements on UI to prevent accidental clicks. For example, buttons on a mobile app should be large enough and spaced far apart enough to prevent users from accidentally tapping the wrong button.
- Progress in reaching goals is displayed. For Example Progress Status This point refers to the importance of keeping users informed of their progress toward completing a task. For example, a fitness app might show a progress bar indicating how close a user is to reach their fitness goal.
- Progressive onboarding This point refers to the idea of gradually introducing users to a new app or website. For example, a video editing app might start with a simple tutorial that walks users through the basic features before introducing more advanced features.
- Low cognitive load to users. This point refers to the importance of keeping the user interface simple and intuitive. For example, a social media app should have a simple and easy-to-understand interface that requires little or no explanation.
- Highlights recommended options and defaults. This point refers to the importance of highlighting recommended options and defaults. For example, an e-commerce website might highlight the most popular products or default to the most common shipping option.
- Consistent with other popular and similar apps This point refers to the importance of making sure that the design of an app or website is consistent with other popular and similar apps. For example, a social media app should follow similar design patterns as other social media apps to make it easier for users to understand.
- Clearly defined boundaries. For Example Border around a group of elements This point refers to the importance of clearly defining groups of related elements. For example, a website might use a border to clearly define a group of navigation links.
- Similar elements are grouped together This point is similar to the previous one and refers to the importance of grouping related elements together. For example, a video editing app might group all of the editing tools together in one section of the interface.
- Use of simpler figures This point refers to the importance of using simple and easily recognizable icons and symbols. For example, a shopping app might use a shopping cart icon to indicate where a user’s items are stored.
- Links are visually differentiated from normal text. This point refers to the importance of making links stand out from other text on a page. For example, links on a website might be underlined or displayed in a different color to make them stand out.
- Content is organized into smaller chunks to help users memorize easily This point refers to the importance of breaking up content into smaller, easily digestible chunks. For example, an e-learning platform might present information in short, easily manageable lessons.
- Low or No Assumptions This point refers to the importance of not making assumptions about a user’s background knowledge or experience. For example, an app designed for children should not assume that the user has any prior knowledge of the subject matter.
- 80% of the effects coming from 20% of the causes This point refers to the Pareto principle, which states that roughly 80% of the effects come from 20% of the causes. In the context of design, this means that designers should focus on the most important elements and features that will have the biggest impact on the user experience.
- Support for Autofill, Copy Paste, etc. This point refers to the importance of providing support for common user behaviors such as autofill and copy-paste. For example, a registration form should allow users to autofill their information from their browser or password manager.
- Powerful start screen This point refers to the importance of creating a strong first impression with a powerful and engaging start screen. For example, a game app might have an exciting and visually stunning start screen to draw in users.
- Graceful end screen This point refers to the importance of providing a satisfying and graceful end screen when a user completes a task or finishes using an app. For example, a survey app might display a thank you message or offer users the opportunity to share their feedback.
- Liberal in what you accept (Free form inputs) This point refers to the importance of allowing users to input information in a variety of formats. For example, a search field on a website should be able to handle variations in spelling and capitalization.
- Conservative in what you send (Structured & defined output) This point refers to the importance of providing structured and defined output to users. For example, a search result on a website should be presented in a consistent and easily understandable format.
- Most useful keys are in the left or right corners. This point refers to the importance of placing the most commonly used keys in easily accessible locations. For example, a mobile app might place the back button in the top left corner, where it is easily accessible with one hand.
- The system should take up most of the complexity This point refers to the importance of keeping the user interface as simple and straightforward as possible. For example, an email app might automatically organize incoming messages into folders to reduce clutter and make it easier for users to find what they are looking for.
- Make important information or key actions visually distinctive. This point refers to the importance of making important information or key actions stand out visually. For example, a website might use bold or colored text to highlight important information or use a button with a prominent color to draw attention to the key action.
- Provide a clear indication of progress in order to motivate users This point refers to the importance of providing feedback to users about their progress toward completing a task. This is applicable where you have to motivate the user to complete some action. For example, a workout app might show how many reps or sets a user has completed helping motivate them to finish the workout.
Additional References: Home | Laws of UX – You will love it 🧡
Mindmap Version: https://www.xmind.net/m/TWeuZu