Simplicity is at the core of web app design best practices. Web app users appreciate a clean interface and intuitive user journey that allows them to navigate with ease. 

From a UI perspective, you’ll want to want to prioritize responsive design and white space over crowded pages and unnecessary elements for a clear interface. But for stellar UX, you also need to make sure your web app is highly functional. 

Find a balance between simplicity and functionality so that your users have streamlined access to all your features without bogging them down with pointless design elements. 

While you should focus on continually optimizing, there’s no need to change elements of your web app simply for the sake of being original and new. Keep looking for ways to improve your UX and UI, but make sure you’re led by user insights.

Drawing on tried-and-tested web app design patterns can be useful here. By using successful design patterns, you’ll have a structure to stick to so you won’t be overwhelmed by the infinite possibilities you have when designing a web app. 

On the flip side, if something isn’t working in your web app, don’t hesitate to change it—even if that means changing other elements to maintain unity in the user flow. 

With a website, you can often change one element or page without having to touch any other part of your site, while with a web application, multiple elements depend on each other in the user journey. So to maintain a consistent user experience, you’ll need to combine UX and UI design strategies to keep the entire navigation architecture smooth.

Use tools like Hotjar Heatmaps and Recordings to observe user behavior and see what is and isn’t resonating with users to make product changes. 

If you discover that users are dropping off whenever long-form content appears on your web app, test out different UI modifications to make it more user-friendly. Is your font big enough? Is there enough contrast between your text and background? Is there enough white space on your page?

You’ll likely have to go back and make these adjustments on every similar page or element. It’s better to do the extra legwork and change multiple components to maintain coherence in the user journey than it is to ignore an element that isn’t working and end up with frustrated users. 

Observing user behavior on your web app can give you important information on which UX and UI design elements are working (and which aren’t). But direct user feedback can help you dig deeper into the why behind user actions and help you better understand what your users think, want, and feel. Feedback is key to continuous product discovery—and it’s listening to your users that will determine whether your customers stay on your web app for five minutes or five years. 

Use Hotjar's Feedback and Survey tools to discover which parts of your web app are and aren’t successful, and implement feedback into your ongoing optimization. Maybe your users want to tell you they wish it were easier to return to the previous screen when navigating to a new page, or that they’re confused by unnecessary design elements. These insights can inspire you to take your UX and UI design to the next level.  

Speaking directly with your users is the only way to know how they truly feel about your product. Negative user feedback can be hard to digest but it gives you valuable insights that will help you carry out a successful UX design analysis and constantly improve your product and its design. 

UX design should begin at the ideation stage of your web application.

Start mapping out how users will navigate your web app early on, then design mockups of the UX architecture and test them out with users. Next, flesh out your mockups or prototypes with UI elements, prioritizing an intuitive user journey.

Hotjar's Observe tools like Heatmaps and Recordings can help you discover which elements of your web app pull users in (and which frustrate them). You can draw on these insights to change design components or modify navigational elements like CTAs or buttons to improve the user experience. 

Integrate UX and UI design into every step of the creation of your web app and set yourself up for success with your users from the get-go. 

The biggest pitfall in UX and UI design is not listening to your users. If you make design decisions based on guesswork, rather than relying on user data and insights, you’ll end up with confused web app visitors and lower conversion and user satisfaction rates. 

Another pitfall with web apps is a lack of unique design. When analyzing your competitors, think about which elements you could include to help your business stand out. 

Another common pitfall when it comes to UX and UI for web applications is over-designing. With endless UX design tools on the market, it’s easy to go overboard with your design. Avoid cramming every possible media element, page transition, and feature into your web app unless each of them plays a clearly defined role in the user journey.