We know that, as a UI designer or web developer, it is essential that you have a thorough understanding of UI elements and how end users interact with them.
It helps you design a more user-friendly application or website structure.
User interface (UI) elements serve as the foundation for all apps.
They are the bits we use to create apps or websites and are made up of high-level building blocks known as components.
UI elements are the most important part of a software application as they provide touchpoints for users to input and output data and to navigate through the interface, making it more interactive.
An In-Depth Glossary of User Interface Elements
The majority of us spend a significant portion of our day interacting with interfaces.
We learn about popular UI elements by spending time with our favorite apps or pieces of software that we use at work. We learn how to use them and how to interact with them.
We instantly know what to do with them and what their functions are, even when we see them on new applications or websites.
That’s why knowing UI elements will assist you in spotting opportunities to incorporate them into your designs, resulting in clear and simple interfaces.
When designing your interface, aim to keep your choices of interface elements consistent and predictable.
And it can be a challenge. That’s why developers rely on ready-built UI component libraries, such as Sencha Ext JS, to create modern web applications faster across multiple platforms.
Users have become accustomed to elements’ operating in a certain manner, whether they are aware of it or not. Selectively using those elements when appropriate will aid in task completion, efficiency, and enjoyment.
User UI Components That Developers Need to Know
- Navigational components: breadcrumbs, slider, search bar, pagination, tags, and icons
- Informative components: tooltips, notifications, message boxes, progress bars, and modal windows
- Input components: checkboxes, radio buttons, dropdown lists, list boxes, toggles, text fields, and date fields
1. Checkbox
A checkbox in UI design is exactly what it sounds like—a small, square box on the screen that a user can check or uncheck.
When you click the checkbox, it is marked with a small tick.
Checkboxes allow users to choose one or more than one option from a list of possibilities, with each checkbox behaving independently. Checkboxes are commonly displayed in a vertical list.
2. Carousel
The most significant benefit of employing carousels in UI design is that they allow multiple pieces of content to share the same space on a page or screen.
Users can scroll among collections of content, such as image carousels, to browse through a collection of products or photographs and select one if they wish.
The content is usually hyperlinked.
3. Dropdown Menu
Users can choose one thing from a list of possibilities using dropdowns.
You can conserve space by using them. For improved UX, a label and some assistance text as a placeholder are required.
“Select One,” “Choose,” and so forth help users understand what action is required.
Dropdown lists are similar to radio buttons in that they allow users to select one item at a time, but the latter is more compact, allowing you to conserve space.
4. Cards
Cards are a wonderful UI design solution if you want to make the most of the available space and give users several content selections without forcing them to browse through a list.
They are little rectangular or square modules that act as a gateway to more extensive information in the form of buttons, text, rich media, and so on, and they are extremely important these days.
5. Modal
A modal window is a small box that appears on top of the app’s content and contains content or a message that must be interacted with before it can be dismissed and interaction can continue.
It can be used as a select component when there are many options to choose from or to filter items in a list, among other things.
Consider the last time you erased something from your phone. A modal pop-up is helpful to make users aware and to ask for confirmation if you really wish to remove something.
It’s a technique for displaying content on top of an overlay.
6. Notifications
These small dots can be found all over today’s interface.
They are commonly used to focus users’ attention on something new to see and to announce the completion of an activity, as well as an error or warning message.
They are essential to users these days because they rely on them for alerts when someone has liked their posts or when a process has been successfully completed.
7. Search Bar
In most cases, a search bar consists of two UI elements: an input field and a button. It can appear as a toolbar or as part of the main text.
Search fields are commonly depicted as input fields with a magnifying glass inside of them.
They allow users to enter information that they want to find within the system.
Users type a term or phrase (query) and submit it to the index, and the system returns the most relevant results.
8. Breadcrumb
These trail links, known as breadcrumbs, are typically found at the top of a website and allow users to see their current location as well as the pages that follow.
Users can also move between steps by clicking on breadcrumbs, as they provide a clickable trail of subsequent pages to help users navigate.
9. Alert
An alert is a brief, important notification that is displayed to the user.
These statuses and outputs are communicated to users as alerts, which display information or collect data from users via inputs.
An alert appears on top of the app’s content and must be removed manually by the user before the app can be used again. It can contain a header, a subheader, and a message if desired.
10. Radio Buttons
Radio buttons, sometimes confused with checkboxes, are small, circular elements that allow users to choose one item at a time from a list.
The important thing to remember is that users may select only one choice, not several alternatives like they do with checkboxes.
Selecting the gender choice in sign-up forms is a common use case for radio buttons.
Final Thoughts
Here, we discussed why it is essential to understand UI elements and how users interact with them.
From input to output and assistance elements, we’ve covered everything you need to know as a designer you should keep your UI elements structured and running properly.
Now you know what are common UI elements and how they work, it’s time to use your newfound knowledge.
