Product Design Guidelines and Principles: Creating a Quality User Experience

In modern product design, maintaining visual consistency and adhering to design principles are key to creating a quality user experience. This article will explore how to achieve good product design from the perspectives of design guidelines and core principles.

I. Design Guidelines System

1. Global Style Guidelines

Establishing a unified design guidelines system is the foundation for maintaining product consistency. This mainly includes:

• Color System: Defining primary colors, secondary colors, neutral colors, etc.
• Typography System: Standardizing font sizes, line heights, font weights, etc.
• Spacing Rules: Unifying internal and external margins of components, spacing between elements.
• Corner Radius Standards: Standardizing the corner radius sizes of elements at different levels.

2. Component Style Uniformity

To ensure visual consistency of the product, it is necessary to standardize the styles of commonly used components:

• Button styles (height, padding, corner radius)
• Form elements (input fields, selectors, etc.)
• Card design (shadow effects, content layout)
• List styles (spacing, alignment)

II. C.R.A.P. Design Principles

The C.R.A.P. principles are the four cornerstones of excellent design:

1. Contrast

• Create visual hierarchy through differences in size, color, and shape.
• Highlight important information to enhance readability.
• For example: Visual distinction between primary and secondary buttons.

2. Repetition

• Maintain consistency of design elements.
• Establish brand recognition.
• Provide a predictable user experience.

3. Alignment

• Create a clean and orderly visual effect.
• Establish visual connections between elements.
• Enhance professionalism and completeness.

4. Proximity

• Group related elements together.
• Create a clear information hierarchy.
• Enhance the comprehensibility of information.

III. Common Design Issues and Solutions

1. Visual Hierarchy Issues

• Clearly distinguish between primary and secondary button styles.
• Establish a clear title hierarchy system.
• Use emphasis elements judiciously.
• Standardize the depth of card shadows.

2. Spacing Issues

• Establish a unified spacing system.
• Maintain consistent internal and external spacing of components.
• Standardize spacing for responsive layouts.

Conclusion

Good product design requires:

1. Establishing a complete design guidelines system.
2. Strictly adhering to design principles.
3. Maintaining visual consistency.
4. Paying attention to detail.

By controlling these aspects, we can create product designs that are both aesthetically pleasing and practical, providing users with a better experience.