UX best practices

User Centered Design (UCD): Concentrate on the User’s Experience

User interfaces should be created by an experienced, informed UI designer. The user experience, how a user interacts with those elements, should be owned by a UX designer.

Graphics, layout, text and interactive elements work together to present the user with an informative experience. Use modern design, including more visual and interactive qualities, to elicit a more emotional responses from users.

Visual design

A clean, uncluttered visual aesthetic is important to readability and comprehension. Everything presented should be helpful and necessary.

  • Allow for adequate white space on the page to help users scan a page and process information more easily.
  • Use stock photos over ornamental graphics. A clean, minimalist design is a key to usability. 
  • Use informational graphics for better reader comprehension and retention. 

Responsiveness

Make sure to optimize for both vertical and horizontal layouts and multiple platforms (i.e. Android and iOS). The mobile site should offer a seamless and identical experience to the desktop version.
Add a “Back to the Top” button at the bottom of the page to help users navigate the site more quickly.

Motivate with Calls to Action

Make CTAs large and boldly colored. Audiences respond better to certain colors, shapes and wording. Ultimately, these separate elements of the CTA should align with your offer to motivate action.

Users Want Clarity and Simplicity

Decide what users need to do (the goal of a page) and make it apparent. Make action buttons easy to find. Look for ways to make the app or site easier to use. Allow extra functionality to be hidden and made discoverable as it is needed, not shown all at once.

Provide clear, consistent design for user familiarity. Reusing colors, behaviors and aesthetics will make the site more predictable and easier to navigate.

Common Design Elements Versus Creativity

Use consistent UI patterns. Maintain a familiar looking interface where standard objects like links stand out as links, and login access is located in the upper right of the screen.

Visual Hierarchy

When putting the most important elements on the interface, highlight them so that users focus on them. In design, there are a lot of ways in which to highlight things, but the most effective is to make it larger than anything else on the screen.

Navigation

A clear and consistent navigation system helps orient users and guides them to relevant content. Quickly and easily, users should be able to tell what page they are on, how it relates to the rest of the site and where to find more information.

Offer Help and Documentation

Provide help and documentation to guide users throughout the site. This information should be searchable, answer user tasks, and list the steps needed to succeed.

Content

Site content includes all the textual, visual or aural content that is part of the user experience on the website. Presenting content in a manner that is appropriate for all audiences, in easy to digest chunks, is critical.
Avoid the following:

  • Right sidebar content that may be overlooked
  • Pages that may have an overwhelming amount of information

Readability

To target the broadest audience, content should aim to be accessible at an 7th-grade reading level. For typical RSNA.org readers, readability should be targeted between an 7th-grade and 11th-grade reading level.

Testing

Everything that can be tested should be tested. Make sure there is time to give feedback on vendor solutions and have vendors take UX feedback into consideration.

Search Engine Optimization (SEO)

Web pages should be searchable by search engines. Provide a better user experience that complements SEO efforts by keeping the following in mind:

  • Keyword Research
  • Searcher Language
  • Searcher Intent
  • Title Tags
  • URLs / Breadcrumbs
  • Meta Descriptions
  • Site ID (a.k.a. logo)
  • Header Tags
  • Navigation
  • Content Optimization
  • Calls to Action
  • Image Compression
  • Streamlined Code