Unfortunately, visiting a website and feeling lost or confused has become far too common these days. And when it isn’t immediately clear where to go and what to do on a site, chances are, the visitor will just be an addition to the bounce rate.
Fortunately, this scenario can be avoided by focusing on the website’s user interface. A good user interface (UI) can make or break a website as it is responsible for creating a seamless experience for users from the moment they land on the homepage, guiding them through the site, and making sure they can easily find exactly what they need.
Elements like iconography, color palettes, text size, fonts, menus, and website structure, all play into the quality of a website’s UI.
These are all also things that are easier to understand with examples. So here are eight websites that, as of 2021, feature excellent UI design that is intuitive, easy to use, and effective.
MailChimp
MailChimp is one of the premier SaaS platforms for sending newsletters and other commercial emails, due in part to their excellent and highly intuitive user interface. It’s sleek, intuitive, and easy to get the hang of — even if you’ve never used a similar service before.
The landing page has a strong hero title and descriptive subtitle that clearly explains what the user can do with Mailchimp. There is also a prominent Call-to-Action (CTA) to sign up as well as a link to a comparison of Mailchimp’s payment plans – both are some of the first things a user is likely to look for.
The left menu keeps things clean and minimal with icons only, but a hover action triggers an expanded view, revealing what each option means along with helpful links.
Mailchimp’s solid user interface design gives it an edge over competitors like ActiveCampaign and Constant Contact, especially for beginners. While other email services can feel a little cluttered and baroque, with a bit of a learning curve at first, Mailchimp stands out for its superior ease of use.
Dropbox
One of the best things about Dropbox is that there is nothing to distract the user from getting work done. Once logged in, Dropbox offers unhindered access to all user files inside a clean, intuitive, and incredibly simple-to-use web interface.
Dropbox’s minimalistic, almost entirely text-only design lends itself to the incredible ease of use. A prominent menu gives users a complete overview of all files and folders, as well as recent, starred, and shared files, plus file requests and deleted files.
For logged out users, the home page is similarly relatively minimal in its visual design, but with pops of color that draw the eye to relevant information. Above the fold, a large “Find the plan for you” button — in an eye-catching bright blue color that stands out immediately — prompts new users to get started right away.
Scrolling down, you’ll find succinct descriptions of what Dropbox is, and what it can do, and important information such as app integrations. The brand voice comes across as friendly and helpful, with lighthearted illustrations and simple fonts.
Medium
As far as writing & publishing on the web is concerned, there’s no user interface more refined than Medium. Founded in 2012, the platform’s skyrocketing popularity was due in large part to its excellent UI.
Medium’s design is clean and minimal, with zero visual fluff – allowing users to focus on what they came for, the writing. Upon visiting the website, logged out users are greeted with an explanation at the top in large text that makes it immediately clear exactly what Medium is for: “Medium is a place to read, write, and connect.”
Below this header is a Start Writing button, followed by a collection of currently trending articles to check out, making it easy for the user to immediately begin engaging with the website.
When you log into Medium, you’ll be greeted by articles that have been recommended for you, based on blogs and publications that you follow on the platform, also an important feature that makes every user’s feed seem alive and personalized.
Writing an article on Medium is also an incredibly pleasant and seamless experience. Again, minimalism is a key design feature. Unlike most writing apps and programs, from Microsoft Word to WordPress, you won’t see any buttons: just a place for the title, and a place for the body text. Text can be formatted by highlighting it, and then selecting from options like bold, italic, and block quotes.
Medium is all about the written word, and its visual design reflects this. It’s almost entirely composed of typography, with minimal use of color and very few images.
AirBnB
Right off the bat, AirBnB’s website scores well on our user interface test as users are greeted with the option to immediately start looking to book a place to stay. A prominent search box at the top prompts you to specify a location, check-in and check-out dates, and the number of guests in your party. The most important features are all above the fold. You don’t even need to scroll to start planning your trip.
Featuring a casual, conversational brand voice and soft, pleasant images evocative of travel and adventure, AirBnB has a unique beauty and visual appeal that draws the eye without getting in the way of finding what you’re looking for.
Pitch
Pitch is an online web app for creating Powerpoint-style slide deck presentations. The logged out home screen features a unique and visually appealing user interface that does a great job of walking new users through exactly what Pitch can do.
You’re immediately greeted with a cool animated design feature: when you scroll down, the hero title slides down onto an image of a Pitch slide deck, becoming text on a slide to show you exactly what the app’s user interface looks like.
Further down the page, the other information is presented the same way: animated images of Pitch slides that show how to use it. It’s a unique, unconventional, and visually appealing approach that stands out as one of the web’s best user interfaces.
Google Docs
Google Docs has long since become the premier online tool for document editing, especially when collaboration is involved.
Unlike its major competitor, Microsoft Word — whose interface can often come across as confusing and baroque, with too many options and menus to choose from — Google Docs is refreshingly simple.
The menus at the top are limited and very clear: File, Edit, View, Insert, Format, Tools, Add-Ons, and Help. Below that, easy-to-interpret icons for common functions like Undo, Redo, Print, and font formatting are unobtrusive and intuitive.
Despite the simple and intimidating interface, Docs offers robust functionality. It’s no wonder it’s a go-to tool even for large enterprises.
Lusion
A creative website is fitting for a creative studio like Lusion. Their website is nothing short of breathtaking, and possibly one of the most beautiful sites on the web.
The homepage background is fully interactive, featuring a psychedelic design illuminated as you move your mouse pointer around – giving users complete control over the interactions. The effect is heightened by a striking use of sound, resembling the infamous horn from the film Inception.
Scrolling down brings up information about the agency and what they do, similarly set against gorgeous interactive animated backgrounds.
Despite its lush visuals, Lusion’s user interface design doesn’t sacrifice intuitiveness or functionality. The top-right menu buttons will instantly scroll to Home, About, Work, or Contact, and the single page design keeps things simple. Most importantly, visitors have complete control over nearly every aspect of the website. Animations reverse naturally as we scroll back up and there is nothing that breaks the seamless nature of this interface.
Webflow
Webflow has one of the best overall UI designs on this list which is good because Webflow is a visual website builder.
As you scroll downward, you’re taken on a visually stunning and beautifully written journey through the history of human art, from the Upper Paleolithic to the present day. Stunning animations of futuristic cityscapes give way to renditions of handprints in ancient caves, with striking prose that exudes a sense of gravitas.
The continuous scroll UI eventually ends after reaching the present-day flat design and its predecessor, skeuomorphism.
Webflow is very similar to Lusion in that it once again gives the user complete control over the animations (through scroll). Structurally, it’s a simple and incredibly fluid experience. All the user needs to do is simply scroll. But this very mechanic gives the sense of embarking on a journey through time, a thematic complement to the site’s content.
Wrapping up…
A truly great UI should be intuitive to use, letting users seamlessly jump in and start using the site as soon as they land on the page. All of these examples fit the bill, featuring great user interface design that can help inspire your own website redesign.
If you are planning on improving your website’s user interface to better convert visitors into customers, get in touch with Big Kitty Labs for a free discovery session today!
Big Kitty Labs is one of the leading software development companies in Columbus Ohio that has been developing applications, websites, and software for over 10 years.
