UI design is about aesthetics and even more about the human mind

At Mindnow, we see User Interface (UI) design as more than just a visual layer but as a fundamental part of what makes our products successful. It's about creating a whole experience that is familiar, straightforward, and surprising – so simple that it's almost invisible to the user!

UI design gives a face to the user's thoughts through colors and shapes

UI design focuses on creating an intuitive and visually appealing interface that guides user interactions. UX design takes a broader approach, addressing the entire user journey to ensure the product is useful, enjoyable, and meets user needs and expectations at every touchpoint. Effective digital products need strong UI and UX design to deliver seamless, satisfying experiences.

User Interface (UI) design is the process of creating the visual and interactive elements of software or devices, with a focus on how users interact with these interfaces. It includes the design of screens, buttons, icons, and other components that users interact with directly. The primary goal of UI design is to make user interactions simple and efficient while ensuring the interface is aesthetically pleasing.

The right visual for the right user

When designing a user interface, our team starts with a thorough review of the UX research report. It reveals details such as user segments, their goals, and the Information Architecture. This foundational analysis guides decisions on visual language, familiar interactions, component placement for optimal user flow, and key considerations for accessibility and inclusivity.

Understanding diverse backgrounds for example ensures the interface remains inclusive, such as using culturally neutral icons or colors and accommodating different reading directions based on the languages the platform will support. By building on this comprehensive user research, the design can deliver a seamless and accessible experience that effectively meets different user needs.

Vertical/horizontal competitor analysis

The UX research report provides details about the user. The competitor analysis about industry examples. It starts in the early stages of UX research and extends into the UI phase. We closely examine how visual language is applied and identify effective and ineffective practices within the industry.

We analyze vertical competitors to understand established user expectations and familiar behaviors. We also explore horizontal competitors to uncover patterns that could introduce innovative improvements to the user experience.

Applying design principles

Our approach is establishing a solid foundation with UX research and competitor analysis paired with building on visual design principles. One design principle that is useful for strengthening the information hierarchy of a digital product is Gestalt’s laws.

The Gestalt principles are a set of psychological theories that explain how humans perceive and organize visual information. In UI design, these principles help create intuitive and user-friendly interfaces by guiding how elements are grouped and understood.

Designing components – the heart of UI design

The heart of UI design lies in crafting screens and elements that users interact with. This includes designing buttons, icons, and animations, while thoughtfully selecting colors, typography, and imagery. The aim is to create a visual language that is engaging, purposeful, and speaks the same language as your brand identity, so you will always be recognizable.

Consistent components are key

Consistency enhances the user experience by making the interface more intuitive and predictable for the user. Simple uniform button styles and color schemes throughout the interfaces reinforce brand identity and pattern recognition, so the user can accurately predict the outcomes of their actions. Consistency is not only crucial for user experience but also for maintaining a smooth development process, as it helps avoid reworks and ensures that design and development teams can work efficiently with a clear and cohesive design system.

Seeing through people’s lenses

When people ask me what I do as a UI Designer, I often use this analogy: A user interface is like a map. Its design helps users visually understand the context they're in, summarizes essential information for them, such as highlighting points of interest and key locations, and provides the necessary directions and routes to get them where they need to go.

That's essentially what an interface does. Through graphic elements such as buttons, typography, colors, and symbols, I give users the context and references to understand what they're looking at and where they are in the process. I use size and space to convey the hierarchy of elements and show users the main actions they can take, and so on.

Specializing in UI design has been the perfect yet pragmatic synthesis of my greatest passions: human perception and graphic design. When a friend tells me, "I feel dumb, I can’t figure out how to use this," I reply: "It’s never you, blame the designers!" It’s the designer’s duty to look at the product like someone who never saw it and doesn't know how to do the thing it does. It's the most visceral way humans have always learned: by trial and error! And it’s a rewarding challenge to facilitate this process by finding the mental patterns that are familiar to the user and help them grasp a concept instantly by presenting it in a guise they already know.

Accessibility is the new usability standard

The start of my career was closely connected to people’s everyday life experiences, as I worked on interface designs for small and large home appliances. It’s a field with some tough constraints: With limited screen space and low graphic power, you have to make sure that a sleepy user at 7 a.m. can figure out how to achieve the most important goal of their day (so far) – making themselves a good breakfast!

Accessibility is an essential design step for creating a deeply usable interface for everyone, regardless of their circumstances. Incorporating accessibility features like high-contrast text and screen reader-friendly navigation ensures that all users can effectively interact with the interface.

This was an important step in making me fully realize how making a product accessible is the pinnacle of a truly good design. Nearly 1 in 6 people in the world have a disability, and as uninteresting as this figure may sound, creating products for people with permanent disabilities creates results that benefit everyone. For a one-armed person, the ability to use an induction hob with one hand is essential, but this need is equally shared by a person with a broken arm or a parent holding a child. And creating a minimalist interface with only the essential actions helps a person with difficulty adjusting executive functions while also helping a person who is tired or under great stress.

How we design at Mindnow

At Mindnow, we fully embrace the principles of Swiss design, which guide our approach to creating user interfaces that are both functional and visually refined. Swiss design, also known as the "International Typographic Style”, emphasizes clarity, simplicity, and a strong focus on typography and grid systems. This minimalist approach ensures that every element serves a clear purpose, enhancing usability while stripping away distractions. By following the "form follows function" philosophy, we prioritize the user experience, designing layouts that feel intuitive and effortless to navigate. This ensures that our products are not just aesthetically pleasing but also highly functional, aligning perfectly with the needs of our users.

Swiss design: balance and harmony

The grid system in Swiss design is a subtle yet powerful tool for achieving balance and harmony. It allows us to structure content in a way that feels organized and consistent. This is crucial in UI because users rely on structure to navigate with ease. But more than that, grids allow us to tell a visual story. Whether it’s emphasizing a call-to-action button or making sure content is evenly spaced for readability, the grid gives us control, ensuring that the design serves its functional purpose while maintaining a visually appealing form.

An international and diverse team

We are Swiss at the core, but one of the things I personally love about Mindnow is our incredibly diverse and international team. This diversity is a huge strength, especially when it comes to designing interfaces. Having team members from different cultures and backgrounds allows us to see how a design might be interpreted through many different lenses. It’s fascinating to ask for feedback and realize how a concept can be viewed or experienced in ways you might never have considered. This variety of perspectives brings fresh inspiration and helps us create more inclusive, universally appealing designs.

User testing doesn’t always need large numbers to be effective, and we’re lucky to have such a wealth of insight right within our team. Everyone feels comfortable speaking up if something isn’t quite right or isn’t working as it should. It’s this openness and willingness to give honest, constructive feedback that makes us stronger. We can always count on sincere, thoughtful input that pushes our designs to be the best they can be.