The Impact of Inconsistent Design on User Experience
Inconsistent Design isn't always ruining the user experience
Design uniformity is the backbone of a website or brand identity.
Inconsistent design can kill the user experience and lead to brand inconsistency, low stability, bad trust, reduced usability, and confusion.
Design inconsistency happens when a website, app, or brand design elements are varied and don't look or work the same.
Design inconsistency happens when the user interface (UI), user experience (UX), and product branding don't work well together.
It feels like you are trying to read a book but every page is written in a different language. You can't understand the book, and there is no fun in it, just annoyance.
Consistency is key to creating a good user experience.
It leads to inconsistency if design standards are overlooked during the UI design process. A lack of design consistency can make users lose trust in a product. Poorly designed apps or websites can raise the question of reliability for users.
Consistent design elements can strengthen brand identity. It makes it difficult for users to relate to the brand. This can ultimately damage the brand’s reputation.
Common reasons for this mess:
Lack of planning
Lack of design patterns
Lack of communication
Frequent changes in design teams
Neglecting User Expectations
Inconsistent use of design components
No proper user research
Good designs have simple and lawful design patterns and components and should avoid unnecessary elements. The design system ensures buttons, colors, icons, etc are uniform, using a design system can prevent inconsistency.
Regularly reviewing the design helps spot and fix any changes. Having a system to approve design updates ensures that everything is consistent. Keeping the design system updated over time ensures that everything stays up to date.
Google redesigned app icons a few years ago to show consistency between them, but we know they seem boring compared to their older icons.
Consistency is key but sometimes breaking the rules works.
It can present various features and be useful to diverse user needs.
When inconsistent design work?
One huge benefit of inconsistency in design is standing out.
When patterns, icons or colors are consistent everywhere but on some parts it is different (or inconsistent), it will stand out. It will attract the user’s attention quickly and can convey its purpose. If you want a specific button or feature to catch attention, make it different in design. But too much inconsistency can make everything look chaotic, so its use should be subtle.
Another benefit is, that breaking away from consistency can improve usability. For example, using different visual cues for different types of content can make it easier for users to scan and understand information.
Consistency in design means keeping things like the font, colors, and layout the same, which helps people understand and move around in the design. But if everything is too similar, the design can seem dull. So, it's a good idea to subtly add differences or inconsistencies.
This can make the design more interesting and keep people engaged. It's about finding the right balance between keeping things familiar and making them engaging.
Modern brands use quirkiness to stand out among the competition. Using quirky or playful elements in branding might benefit from inconsistency in design guidelines.