When pairing icons with text, try to ensure they have a similar visual prominence for a more balanced and cohesive look.
In our example, the icon and text pairs in the bottom navigation are slightly imbalanced. The icons and text are the same colour, but the icons are thicker and larger, which gives them more prominence. Darkening the text increases its prominence, so it’s balanced with the icons. Increasing the text contrast to at least 4.5:1 also ensures it’s accessible to those with low vision.
With just a few straightforward UI design tips, we were able to identify and resolve a range of issues in our example interface. Of course, you could take things further by adapting the visual style to suit a particular brand personality if needed. For this example though, we were focused on getting the fundamentals right.
I hope you’re starting to see that UI design doesn’t need to feel overwhelming. While it can sometimes seem like a mysterious art reserved for the naturally talented, much of great interface design is rooted in clear, logical guidelines like the ones you’ve learned here.
Relying on objective guidelines, rather than subjective opinion, makes it far easier (and faster) to design interfaces that are intuitive, accessible, and visually polished. The more you practise using these UI design tips, the more naturally they’ll become part of your design process. Use them as a foundation and don’t be afraid to explore, experiment, and push your creativity from there.
