Size Matters

I have a very short attention span when surfing the internet.

If I am not able to read Fonts easily, I leave the site immediately.

If the image size is huge and the content is not formatted, I leave the site immediately.

If clicking x button triggers y action, I leave the site immediately.

Just like me, there is a user base who is impulsive. If any content on your WebApp/ Blog/ Product requires USER to put more cognitive efforts — it could make them feeling frustrated and dissatisfied.

For example,

Small buttons are difficult to tap — older demographic might not be able to easily tap smaller buttons in your UI. If you make your touch target too small or group many small elements(buttons) together — then user not only miss the right target but they might actually trigger the wrong action.

Images make mobile pages longer. When placed at the top of pages, they may push content down below the fold and cause frustration, especially if they don’t add much value in the context of the user’s current task.

If you have noticed, the buttons that are frequently used are always larger and intuitive. Emergency buttons are always large red buttons. This makes them easier to notice and reach.
        

For example:

Brake paddle in the car is always the largest among the three paddles.

The most used buttons in the keypad (CTRL, SHIFT, Space, Enter) are relatively larger than the rest of the buttons.

Okay size matters?!! But how do I know if my elements are user-friendly??

Follow the guidelines as per your platform: Human Interface Guidelines, Material Design Guidelines

Meeting the guidelines is a great first step but getting actual user feedback is better — Conduct usability test with actual user.

Below is a real-life example of a user testing facilitator probing a user post completing a task:

Interviewer — “I noticed, you had some trouble editing your username, can you tell me how that felt?

User — “Oh yeah, I’m not very good at technology.”

Interviewer — “What do you think was causing you to struggle at that point?”

User — “The edit button was too small, when I tried clicking it — it was clearing the field.””        

Size depends on screen resolution and many other factors. Once you have enough experience, you will be able to tell which size is too small and which is too large.

That’s all for now!! Share your visual experience of this Blog. Does anything forced you to put more cognitive efforts??!