10 Product Web Design Principles

The global market is a noisy, crowded place. There is a competition at every corner as there are lots of options to choose from. If you want to succeed, you will have to come up with something that really stands out. For example, there are numerous smartphones out there on the market, but iPhone is the one and only product that stands out in its design, usability, and uniqueness and, isn’t it? A product that looks better, sells better.

A good designer will not let product-focused design be an afterthought. It needs a special place on a website’s roadmap as a tool that is capable of skyrocketing sales. However, many businesses get so focused on functionality that the design becomes more of a secondary instead of a primary part of the website development process. As a result, they fail to attract new leads and customers. In this posting, we will discuss some of the essential product design principles that will make your web design stand out in a sea of competitors. So let’s get started.

What’s Product Design?

Product design is one of the main aspects of product development. In simple terms, it refers to creating a new product to be sold by a company. A well-crafted product design marries function and form, taking away all that’s unnecessary. It delivers meaning to the customers by going beyond and above what’s expected. Product design provides the means to balance a customer’s sense of self with your brand identity.

Product web design is what keeps customers on your page after you have attracted them. That is why successful product teams keep it in mind when creating a website roadmap. Usually, it is involved early in the product development process, providing the ability to seamlessly incorporate long-term company goals, usability, and aesthetics. Product web design should not be an afterthought as it is impossible to sneak it in at the finish stage of the process. Below we have collected some of the core product design principles that designers should consider.

Principles of Product Web Design

Positioning is important

This dead-simple product web design principle states that the way users see your product is significant to its adoption. The way it is positioned, discussed, described, and compared to other products, allows users to understand how it might be useful to them. So it would be wise to position a new product within an existing product category to provide users with the ability to compare it to something they already know.

A great product is the one that solves a single problem

The best products are those that specialize for the single task at hand. In other words, they appeal in a special way to users trying to do solve a specific issue. So you should state clearly what your product does without putting the customers the hassle of “Hm.. what is meant by this.. and this”

Know your competitors to offer something truly innovative

Know you indirect competitors as they can often be even more deadly than direct ones. For example, smartphones with cameras are indirect but dangerous competitor to handheld digital cameras. This knowledge will allow you to better focus your marketing efforts on your customer’s pain points.

White space is your friend

A properly integrated concept of white space allows to make your design slick, improve the emotional experience, and disrupt competitors. It is something that your users might want to see, for example, in the blogging process.

Add more context

Vague terminology increases cognitive load. If your dialogue boxes are full of words like Save/Cancel, Yes/No, your users might feel a little confused. This will require more thought and more time spent. Instead, you can add some context while narrowing down the options. For example, “Yes, delete the highlighted message” instead of just “Yes.” This simple change can significantly improve your UX design.

Use reversible design

Users make mistakes, we all do. So it is recommended to provide reversible options for certain actions. In other words, add the Undo button so your users will not get pissed when they cannot undo something.

3-click mentality

3-click mentality serves as a test to see how user-friendly your website really is. Go to your website and check how many clicks it takes to get to reach to the final point. The thing is that all core actions should be achievable within no more than three clicks. Users want to have short and sweet journey instead of click on endless buttons.

Set cognitive load to a minimum

A good product web design makes the users think as little as possible, providing a smooth transition and clean emotional experience. Keeping the UX design simpler allows to drastically reduce the thinking and minimize cognitive load. In other words, cut the clutter.

Tell your users what to think

This principle is simple.Try to understand your customers’ workflow so that you can know what they are trying to do. This will provide you the ability to tell your users what they should be thinking.

Think global, design local

Here is what we mean:

Give alternates for translation
Make feature names descriptive
Avoid metaphors
Watch out for sentences with UI elements
Avoid embedding text in images
Do not put text in too narrow columns

Key Takeaways

Product design is an extremely complex domain that has become a top priority at product companies. It can be your secret weapon! At Loonar Studios, we suggest you keep it at the forefront of your strategy to make your customers emotionally invested in your brand. As you might have noticed, when it comes to product design, there are many things to consider and they are in no obvious order. How to deal with such uncertainty? Contact us to find out more! Cheers!

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