Defying Time: UX Philosophy with Fitts' Law

Defying Time: UX Philosophy with Fitts' Law

Now let's pursue a UX story that we think is a priority in our application. But don't get excited, this is not a story you will read breathlessly. In fact, it should have been essential for our app, where an ecommerce and segmentation is done and the user is shown the result of these analyzes in the shortest way, and it was. Today, we are discussing a principle that has become a classic, but there are still some who don't understand why it is so important: Fitts' Law.

Fitts' Law Quick Steps Towards the Goal

This law, created by Paul Fitts in 1954, is based on a simple fact that makes it easier for you to light up in front of the screen, but gives designers a headache. Let me explain the essence without much ado: The bigger and closer a goal is, the easier it is to reach it.

Of course, the target here is a button or a menu on the screen. In other words, the points that you reach with your fingers on the keyboard and operate something. But Fitts' Law doesn't stop there. This law reminds us to think about how easily users can achieve their goals when designing.

Fitts in Usability and Design

This is where it comes into play: “Keep the goal simple and the execution easy”. Let's leave the big design manifestos aside and look at three simple pieces of advice from Fitts' Law:

Make Graphics Big, Don't Be Afraid: Create spaces big enough for the user to say “this is it!” without feeling blinded. After all, that's what consumerbehavior is all about. Feeling like you're trying to click on a graphic or trying to understand it, like you're trying to press a key with your finger in a difficult way, like you're trying to enlarge the graphic to read it, doesn't make anyone happy.

Keep Goals Close: Don't make the user run from one side of the screen to the other. You searched for this menu, clicked on it, but you need to go somewhere else; a user with limited time can't stand that.

Everything in Context: Goals should be sequential, hierarchical and contextual. I mean, is there a more unpleasant UX than suddenly finding “emergency exit” instead of dessert on the menu in a restaurant?

So what did we as Aiksir do for Iksir App?

We have made all these things the cornerstone of our price comparison and review analysis application. We wanted them to find the information they were looking for in the fastest way possible.

Clear and Eye-Catching Graphics: So that users don't get lost on the way to the main functions, we designed each click area and each thing they need to see by saying “would it be funny if we made it this big?”.

Ease of Filtering: We put the main functions like filtering and sorting in the most accessible places on the screen so that no one has to wander through a maze to find what they are looking for.

Shortcut Menus: We placed the functions that users use the most in the center of the screen. So consumer behavior will be perfect.

As a result

Friends, by applying Fitts' Law, we have endeavored to make sure that our users do not say “What did I waste all this time on?” This means not only offering a stylish design, but also creating the feeling of “an app that understands me”.

So... Sticking to Fitts' Law makes life easier not only for users, but also for designers and developers. Let Fitts' Law be your guide to creating a UX experience that is both pleasing to the eye and touching to the heart.