7 Helpful Interactive Essential Elements for Websites
Make sure to nail the 7 interactive essential elements in a website since 70% of users favor website designs with high usability. User Interaction design is the development and composition of the reactions between users using the products and products’ user interface. This includes page layouts, menus, buttons, and other elements of websites and apps designed with how the user interacts with them in mind.
The 7 interactive essential elements for websites are:
- Menus.
- Buttons.
- Profile icon.
- Clear Graphics.
- Tags and Categories.
- Status/Progress Bars.
- Input Elements.
User Interface elements
What is User Interface
User Interface (UI) design is the methodology of creating and adapting products, services, etc. focused on making the products intuitive and simple as possible to use. UI designers focus on a user’s requirements and needs and how to fulfill them. UI’s purpose is to make websites, apps, and other electronic items or devices as easy to use, enjoyable, and functional based on information about users.
These days there are user interface (UI) elements that have widely accepted and expected placements and setups in websites and apps. For example, most websites that have profiles have the login/logout on the top left of the site, and most sites have their logo and/or name on the top left of the site. Since this means that users have known expectations about common UI elements, this is helpful for navigation.
What is not User Interface
There is overlap between what is and is not part of the UI of a website or app. User research, wireframes, and prototypes are a part of user experience and is what the design of UI should be based on. Marketing is mostly not a part of UI while information architecture is part user experience and part UI. Sound design is also mostly not UI as is written content; sound cues that signal the user when to do something or when a process is finished as well as instructions are the main exceptions).
Interactive Essential Elements
Menus
The first of the interactive essential elements for websites are menus. Menus allow users to find the main pages and posts in a website. Menus are like salt; use enough that you can tell that they are there but not so much that it overwhelms everything around them (and the customer as well).
Place the main menu at the top of the site, and make sure it is on just about every page. Place a footer menu at the bottom of the site; this should have either less options than the main menu or many more options, containing less used pages. It largely depends on the size of the website.
Buttons
The second of the interactive essential elements for websites are buttons. Buttons and links help website and app designers guide users from page to page, leading them through the site. Buttons can be designed a number of ways, but are usually a different color than the background and circle or oval shape. Buttons can be personalized further to give them a unique feel to make the website design more personalized for the brand.
Profile icon
The third of the interactive essential elements for websites are profile icons. Users use the profile icon to indicate where they can find more information about their account on the website they are on. Profile icons can usually be personalized by users by using their own images; if not, there are usually a few different icons to choose from to make their profile more customized. A user’s account contains information and options such as:
- User’s name.
- Ability to edit their profile icon.
- User’s email address, phone number, and possibly physical address.
- Recent orders.
- Sign out option.
- Credit/debit card info.
- Wishlist or other lists.
- Customer service option.
Clear Graphics
The next of the interactive essential elements for websites are clear graphics. Craftily, designers use images to reinforce facts, topics, and other information. Images include cartoons, graphics, graphs, and photographs (yes, stock images too). Since most people are visual learners, use beautiful yet relevant images to reinforce ideas of the text. It is best to use/make your own to avoid copyright and make your site unique. Whatever images you use should be large and clear without being garish or overwhelming. If possible images, particularly cartoons and graphics should be flatter rather than 3D; this makes the image smoother and more a part of the overall design (this also makes the website load faster).
Make sure there is good contrast between colors and keep in mind the color-blind when choosing colors (look up common types of color blindness for this). The best colors for design of a website newsletter depend on what the website is for, who will be using it, and what the tone of the site and the owners want and like.
More professional websites usually have neutral/cooler colors as their main colors with a primary or secondary color for accent to give a formal/subdued feeling. For a more casual and comfortable tone, websites usually have more warm and brighter colors to make their users more calm and relaxed.
Tags and Categories
Tags and categories help organize pages, posts, products, and services. Users can find items of similar types or kinds using the tags. There are also query loops that allow web designers to tell software blocks to only grab posts or products of a certain tag (featured is a common one) They also help search engines identify what to categorize pages for their search results.
Status/Progress Bars
Whether it be for filling out multi page forms, completing orders, loading or downloading software, or even playing games, status and progress bars help users determine where they are in a process and/or document, how much of something there is, what the standing of something is, or how much longer they have to wait for a process to complete so they can continue what they are doing. Status and progress bars are a commonly overlooked UI element, but are badly missed when they are needed and are missing.
Input Elements
The last of the interactive essential elements for websites is a class of elements called input elements. They help users fill out forms, use widgets, or otherwise input information. Input Elements (or, as they are called on the old US government’s site on usability, Input Controls) include:
- Checkboxes
- Toggles
- Dropdown Lists
- Toggles
- Text fields
- Date and Time Pickers
Summary
User Interaction design is the development and composition of the reactions between users using the products and products’ user interface. This includes page layouts, menus, buttons, and other elements of websites and apps designed with how the user interacts with them in mind. The 7 interactive essential elements for websites are:
- Menus.
- Buttons.
- Profile icon.
- Clear Graphics.
- Tags and Categories.
- Status/Progress Bars.
- Input Elements.
