When developing a website or app, you must consider the interface design. Each design step is crucial since meeting target customers’ needs is a key aspect. A well-thought-out design attracts customers because it offers an exceptional experience. One essential stage in UI design that requires keen thoughtfulness is color choice.
Designers take time when selecting a color for a SaaS website design. Choosing outstanding hue combinations is challenging if one does not have a graphic design background. But, it is a simple process for skilled UI experts.
This article provides insightful tips on picking the best tones for your next UI project. This methodology will help simplify the process and make your work appealing to the intended audience.
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Understand the 60-30-10 Rule
People often encounter challenges when it comes to color proportions. It can be confusing because you are not familiar with the ratios to apply.
The 60-30-10 rule is a simple technique that solves this problem. It is a design rule which governs the hue combination to create harmony.
You should apply this rule if your palette has only a couple of hues. The rule states that the dominant tone should be 60%, the secondary color gets 30%, and 10% for the accent shade. It brings balance to your design composition, making it appealing to users.
Sticking to these ratios creates an impressive composition that causes no confusion or visual overload. So, you should always apply the 60-30-10 rule to enhance user experience.
Contrast Is Key
Color contrast is an essential aspect of improving the user experience. You will make your product-related content readable if you know the perfect contrast rules. It’s vital to ensure that customers read the content without straining. So, the elements should not fuse with the background shade.
For instance, using tones from the same family is a design flaw. Your interface will not be attention-grabbing, and the copy will be illegible. As a result, customers will experience difficulties while interacting with your product.
You may apply moderate contrast to meet the product’s goals to avoid this problem. For instance, if you want customers to focus on specific elements, you can use two contrasting shades like red and blue. Besides, the CTA buttons also need contrast to draw the user’s interest.
Still, it is advisable to maintain a healthy balance between contrasting shades. Too much contrast will compromise your interface design. Users might face readability issues and abandon the product. Thus, you can perform user testing to see if your work is appealing with the right shades or not. If your solutions are not friendly, you can go back to the drawing board and experiment with other color combos.
Color Psychology
Psychology is a huge contributing factor to UX design. Since each tone attracts a particular reaction or emotion, the designers use the knowledge to achieve the desired result.
Color psychology is a scholarly discipline that shows how colors influence the human mind. It reveals how the brain responds to specific hues subconsciously and what emotions and moods specific colors arouse. Thus, the proper understanding of user psychology helps designers make impactful design decisions.
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Let us look at a few hues and their meanings:
⦁ Red: Evokes strong emotions, such as confidence and rage.
⦁ Yellow: Arouses happy and warm feelings.
⦁ Orange: Causes excitement and positive energy.
⦁ Blue: Evokes seriousness. Used in corporate brands.
⦁ Green: Arouses calm and refreshing feelings.
⦁ Black: Associated with mystery, modernism, tragedy
⦁ Purple: Reminds of royalty, magic, and wealth.
⦁ White: Evokes transparency, innocence, and purity.
However, it is imperative to note that people have different color preferences. If a particular customer loves red, it doesn’t mean others will love it, too. As a designer, you must study your target audience and their tastes. You can also categorize your results on gender, age, or demographics. If you learn what your customers like, you will be better positioned to choose the right combinations for your project.
Culture
Different cultures have different associations with colors and color combinations, which should be part of your design decisions. So, before you pick a random hue, you must understand the beliefs and values of your audience. How will the users interpret the tones you choose? Will they find your color combos irrelevant or abusive?
It is imperative to note that some hues might send wrong signals to people from different locations. For instance, the use of white or yellow may be perceived totally differently by Westerners and Asians. Thus, you always need to consider where your audience resides and pick appropriate shades that evoke positive emotions without misunderstandings.
Color Harmony
The primary goal of user interface design is to create harmony. Designers strive to create balance to enhance their digital products’ UX. Harmonic tones help you achieve a balanced interface. Besides, such designs are appealing and grab the users’ attention immediately.
Here are some of the influential harmonic shades you can try.
⦁ A monochromatic scheme is based on a single color with its shades. You can use this scheme to get tint variations and rhyming shades.
⦁ Complementary hues complement and contrast each other. You can make a brand statement by picking a dominant and accent tone.
⦁ Analogous shades on the color wheel lie close to each other. You can use a dominating shade with several accents to make the interface stand out.
Thus, you can choose the perfect harmonic scheme that works well for you per your design goals.
Nature
There is no better source of inspiration than nature. You can get your creative juices flowing simply by drawing inspiration from nature. It has the perfect hue combinations that can inspire even the greatest artists.
Have you ever wondered why people love sunsets, flowers, and nature? Beauty comes from the perfect shades. So, you can try mixing the natural tones in your interface design and see the impact it will have on your users.
Conclusion
Color has a huge influence on product design success. You can’t pick random shades and expect users to get attracted to your solution. So, take time to think through the selection process and pick suitable hues that align with your users’ preferences. If you apply the right shades, your customers will connect with your product instantly, and you will get more leads. So, learning the tricks of color selection takes you one step closer to becoming a great UI expert.
