User experience (UX) is the backbone of any digital product. Get it right, and users stick around. Get it wrong, and they flee to competitors. The stakes are that high.
While there's an endless list of UX guidelines out there, we've distilled them down to six essential rules. These aren't suggestions. They're technical imperatives that leave no room for debate. Memorize them, apply them, and watch your product thrive.
Rule 1: Feature Hierarchy and Convenience
Your product's features must be prioritized based on how frequently users need them. It's a balancing act between what's obvious, what's easy, and what's possible.
Jason Fried, CEO of 37signals, nailed it in a recent post:
Obvious is all about always. The thing(s) people do all the time… Easy are the things that people do frequently, but not always… Possible are the things people do sometimes. Rarely, even. So they don’t need to be front and center, but they need to be possible. (Source)
For this to work, your team must completely grasp the product's purpose, goals, and users. No half-measures. Feature hierarchy is the bedrock of a strong UX.
Rule 2: Simplicity
Complexity is the enemy. Your product should be so intuitive that even a 12-year-old can navigate it without a tutorial or an FAQ. If a user has to think twice or hunt for answers, you've already lost.
Rule 3: No Room for Error
Every input, every interaction must be foolproof. Mislabelled buttons, unclear groupings, or missing validators? Unacceptable. Your users should be incapable of making a mistake. Design it so well that errors become a non-issue.
Rule 4: Clarity
Never leave your users guessing. They must always know what's happening, even with background tasks. Use status bars, progress indicators, notifications—whatever it takes to keep them informed.
If something goes wrong, don't dump a cryptic error code in their lap. Provide a clear, non-technical explanation and guide them on what to do next. Confusion has no place in good UX.
Rule 5: Performance
Performance is non-negotiable. Optimizing assets and lazy loading is standard practice, but don't stop there:
- Reduce back-end queries.
- Ensure each query completes within 100ms.
- Minimize API requests on the front end by refining logic or combining calls.
Speed isn't just a feature—it's a requirement.
Rule 6: Interactivity
User actions demand immediate responses. A button click should yield an instant reaction. Here's how to achieve that:
- Prioritize instant interactions.
- Cache pages and components; serve from the cache first, then update in the background. Use skeleton screens when necessary.
- Handle front-end actions without waiting for back-end confirmation. Update specific fields post-response and only revert if there's an error.
In today's fast-paced world, anything less than instant interactivity is a failure.
These six rules are not just guidelines—they're non-negotiable standards that must be met to ensure a seamless and engaging user experience. They're technical, they're essential, and they're easy to remember. But if you're eager to dive deeper into the cognitive principles that underpin UX, check out LawsOfUx.com.