How do you learn from user interface design examples?

1 Find relevant and diverse examples

The first step to learn from user interface design examples is to find some that are relevant and diverse. You want to look for examples that match your target audience, platform, industry, and goals. For example, if you are developing a mobile app for health and fitness, you might want to look at how other apps in that niche handle navigation, layout, color, typography, icons, and animations. However, you also want to look for examples that are different from your own product, as they can inspire you to think outside the box and explore new possibilities. For example, you might want to look at how websites, games, or wearable devices design their user interfaces and what elements you can adapt or borrow from them.

2 Evaluate the design principles and patterns

The next step to learn from user interface design examples is to evaluate the design principles and patterns that they follow or break. Design principles are general guidelines or rules that help you create a user interface that is clear, consistent, intuitive, and attractive. For example, some common design principles are alignment, contrast, hierarchy, balance, and harmony. Design patterns are common solutions or best practices for specific user interface problems or scenarios. For example, some common design patterns are navigation menus, search bars, tabs, sliders, and tooltips. You want to analyze how the user interface design examples apply or deviate from these principles and patterns and why they work or don't work for their users.

3 Identify the strengths and weaknesses

The third step to learn from user interface design examples is to identify the strengths and weaknesses of each example. You want to look for what makes the user interface design stand out or fall short in terms of usability, functionality, aesthetics, and emotion. You want to ask yourself questions like: How easy or hard is it to use the user interface? How well does it achieve its purpose or goal? How does it appeal to or repel the users? How does it make the users feel or react? You want to note down the positive and negative aspects of each example and compare them with your own user interface design.

4 Apply the lessons learned

The final step to learn from user interface design examples is to apply the lessons learned to your own user interface design. You want to use the insights and feedback that you gained from studying the examples to improve or refine your user interface design. You want to avoid copying or imitating the examples, but rather use them as inspiration or reference. You want to test and iterate your user interface design based on the best practices and principles that you learned from the examples. You want to create a user interface design that is unique, effective, and engaging for your users.

5 Here’s what else to consider

This is a space to share examples, stories, or insights that don’t fit into any of the previous sections. What else would you like to add?