5 UX DESIGN PRINCIPLES AND HOW TO EASILY INCORPORATE THEM INTO YOUR WEBSITE
You’ve probably heard the term UX Design (short for User Experience Design) — and if you haven’t, no worries at all! In simple terms, UX is what makes your website easy and enjoyable to use. It covers everything from how intuitive your navigation is, to how quickly someone can find what they’re looking for, to whether your site is accessible to people with vision impairments.
Here’s the truth: your website can look stunning, but if visitors are getting lost, scrolling endlessly, or can’t figure out what to do next — they won’t stick around.
A great user experience means your site does the heavy lifting. It should guide visitors seamlessly, show them exactly where to go, and clearly present their next step — all without making them think too hard. The more effortless the journey, the more likely they are to engage, explore, and convert.
In this blog post, we will go over just a few of the most important UX principles: Consistency, Accessibility, Navigation, Efficiency, and Information Architecture.
First, we have Consistency. Does your website reflect a consistency in how it looks and feels? Are you using a cohesive style guide? This consists of fonts, colors, images, and buttons. While this may feel like a solely aesthetic thing, it is actually very important in how users will perceive your brand, company, and website. It will look sloppy if you are using too many colors or fonts, or using a certain style of button in one place, and something completely different in another area of your website.
HOW: In Squarespace, use the Design Panel and site styles to apply consistent fonts, colors, and button designs globally. In all platforms, Keep your visuals and messaging aligned across every page.
Use a style guide for fonts, colors, and button styles.
Stick to consistent language and tone — especially in headings and calls-to-action.
Design repeated elements (like testimonials, product cards, or blog previews) the same way so users recognize patterns.
Accessibility might be a term you hear thrown around a lot, and with good reason. If a user has a visual impairment, wouldn’t you still want them to be able to enjoy and peruse your website? Color palettes are a big deal when it comes to this. If you are using a certain background color, with a different text color, it may be too difficult for someone to read it. We call this the contrast. That is why there are great tools out there, such as Lighthouse by Google or WAVE. You can use these tools to test your website’s accessibility and gives you a score so you know how you are doing.
HOW: In Squarespace, add alt text when uploading images and choose accessible color palettes in your brand settings. Make your website usable for everyone, including people with disabilities.
Always add alt text to images.
Ensure color contrast is strong enough (no light gray on white!).
Use clear, descriptive link text (e.g., “Book a Call” instead of “Click Here”).
Test your site using a keyboard only or a free tool like Lighthouse or WAVE
Look at your website’s navigation at the top of the page. How many links are there? Generally, less is more here. You want your users to have quick access to the most important information, while not getting overwhelmed with too much.
HOW: In Squarespace, use folders and index pages to create grouped content and simple navigation menus.
Help users get where they want to go — quickly and intuitively.
Keep your main menu simple (6 items max).
Use clear, user-friendly labels (e.g., “Shop Templates” instead of just “Shop”).
Add breadcrumbs or sub-navigation if your site has lots of pages.
Always link your logo back to your homepage.
Hot tip: decide what your main “pillars” are (blog, shop, about, etc.) and those are key navigation links. Good rule of thumb is to keep links to no more than 6.
How efficiently can someone use your website? Is it too slow-loading? When it comes to efficiency in UX, you want 3 main things to happen with your users: they know exactly what to do, can accomplish tasks quickly, and feel in control and confident about what they are trying to do or the decisions they are making.
HOW: Reduce friction and help users complete tasks faster.
Use clear CTAs (“Buy Now,” “Start Here,” “Get the Freebie”) that guide users toward action.
Declutter your pages — too much info can slow people down.
Include features like auto-fill in forms or FAQs to save users time.
The Information Architecture of your website informs how well organized it is. Imagine searching for your favorite blue sweater, but your room looks like the mall exploded. Not going to be fun to look through everything, is it? You want people to be able to locate information quickly and without any frustration. The minute they feel flustered, you aren’t exactly proving to your audience that you have what it takes to meet their needs.
Structure is another key component when it comes to the IA of your site. Content should be logically grouped. It should not feel like your messy bedroom. When the grouping makes sense, it is much easier for users to find that for which they are looking. It is a good idea to repeat structural patterns throughout your entire website (where CTA buttons are placed, how content is divided), which also promotes a previously mentioned principle, consistency. See how these things all end up tying together and complementing one another? Your typography can heavily inform the structure as well. Properly utilizing the header versus the body fonts, can make a big impact on the visual hierarchy of a website, as well as its overall perceived structure.
HOW: Organize your content in a way that makes sense.
Start by mapping out your website’s structure on paper or a digital sitemap.
Group similar pages under clear categories.
Use headings and subheadings to break up long pages and guide the user through.
Make sure important content isn’t buried too deep (nothing should take more than 3 clicks to find).
