6 Vital Screens Most Often Forgotten by Product Designers
Published on 28 Apr 2022 inWhen you’re on a big project, it can become easy to get overwhelmed and overlook just how much work goes into designing and developing aspects of a digital product that helps deliver a great user experience. This is why product designers often forget about various miscellaneous screens when working on a big project.
Typically, designers start with the most important features: the home page, contact us page, and so on. However, even experts sometimes overlook small details as deadlines come piling in or just the lack of time.
To avoid forgetting vital elements when designing a digital product, we’ve compiled a detailed list examining the top screens you should look out for and why they’re important.
1. The error 404 page
Despite being a crucial element of a website, many designers tend to forget about them. These 404 error messages are not only frustrating to your users but also end up pushing them away, creating a high drop-off or bounce rate on your product.
Error 404 pages have the potential to turn a negative user experience of encountering a broken link into a positive one if done right. When an error 404 occurs, do not leave your visitors in the dark about what has happened. Instead, you should create a unique and interactive error page instead, try including a creative or funny image.
One way to create a better user experience is to avoid words that point to the possibility of users’ mistakes. For example, instead of saying ‘you are on the wrong page’, try putting a human face and say ‘seems like John didn’t do the job very well” to add some humour to the situation.
2. Loading sign
The loading sign that emerges when a page load is one of the quickest ways to discourage users from staying on your site. If your page doesn’t reveal how many more seconds or minutes until it will load, your users will often lose interest waiting around. However, with a little modification, you could better retain your users.
While an immediate response is ideal, there are occasions when your product may not comply with page speed standards, such as when users have a poor internet connection. In these instances, you need to ensure users that the page will eventually work at their request to help decrease user anxiety.
Since the typical loading sign is plain, there’s nothing to keep users on the screen. They will eventually try another link or get occupied with other things. So try utilizing interactive designs to communicate the content while keeping users entertained.
3. The empty states
When there is no data to display on the screen, the user is presented with an empty state. But unlike their names, these states should absolutely not be left empty.
Empty states can lead to confusion and frustration, which can cause greater disengagement rates and even worse, lower satisfaction with your product. Empty states can even be viewed as an important feature as it tells a user how to interact with your product.
The best approach is to give an enjoyable visual accompanied with valuable text. It may be a picture, an emblem, or just a text block outlining the issue with excellent typography.
An empty state should be the typical way to incorporate some onboarding that will help guide users. You should utilize it to teach and guide effectively, rather than leave it blank.
4. Broken images
Images are an essential component of both your app and website and it is equally crucial to ensure that UX is not disrupted, as in certain cases where the images are either unavailable or broken while loading.
It is highly possible that, if you are processing millions of pictures on your website or mobile application, a few images may stop being available over some time. When you try to present the images in your apps, the users eventually get a broken image.
Similar to empty states, placeholders for missing or broken images can be made visually appealing by including a clear message that explains the cause of the issue and if it relates with the overall context of the website, the better.
5. Legal pages
Legal pages may not be the most exciting pages to create or maintain. However, people will refer to them if they have questions. These legal pages include the business’s privacy policy page, terms of services and so on.
They are mostly overlooked until the end even when they hardly take much effort to design. However, it is critical to create one and position it in a prominent location.
But why do you need it if half of the people don’t read it in the first place? These legal pages are a way to legally enforce a contract between the service provider and the users. It also helps develop trust with your users as data privacy becomes a more important issue – particularly for those who may become customers in the future.
6. Notification preferences
It’s great when apps inform users when something happens, and it’s even much better when they hear the buzzer sound. But after the 15th time, people get sick of hearing those sounds.
Users don’t mind receiving notifications from a newly installed app or a newly subscribed news channel but then it becomes really frustrating after a while. You don’t want users unsubscribing or deleting the app as a result of frequent and unnecessary notifications.
This is why allowing users to easily select which notifications they wish to receive and the frequency at which they want to receive the notifications is yet another important feature often forgotten by product designers.
Let’s elevate your design process
When designing the next project, keep these factors into consideration and have a checklist available. These features will not only improve the efficiency of your project but will also give a positive end-to-end experience.
If you want to learn more about UX/UI designs, UX research & strategy and product design, we’re here to help you. At Morphosis digital consultancy, we have a wide range of professional designers who will be happy to help your design journey. View our work to learn more about how we can also help you.
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