Visual Design Principles for User Experience

𝐘𝐨𝐮’𝐫𝐞 𝐬𝐞𝐞𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚 𝐜𝐨𝐥𝐨𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐢𝐬𝐧’𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞. 𝐀𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭’𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐨𝐢𝐧𝐭. At first glance, this image seems to contain red. It doesn’t. Not a single red pixel exists. The image is composed entirely of blue, black, and white. So why do so many of us confidently perceive red? Because human vision isn’t a passive camera. It’s a prediction engine. Your visual system doesn’t process color in isolation. It continuously integrates 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐬𝐭, 𝐬𝐩𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐚𝐥 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐱𝐭, 𝐩𝐫𝐢𝐨𝐫 𝐞𝐱𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐧𝐞𝐝 𝐩𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐧𝐬. When certain luminance relationships and textures align, the brain infers the most likely explanation based on past exposure, then fills in the gaps automatically. This process is known as 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐱𝐭-𝐝𝐞𝐩𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐜𝐞𝐩𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧. It’s efficient. It’s adaptive. And sometimes, it’s wrong. Neuroscientifically speaking, perception is less about what enters the eyes and more about what the brain expects to see. Sensory input is just one ingredient; interpretation does the heavy lifting. The takeaway goes beyond optical illusions. In work, leadership, and decision-making, we often believe we’re responding to “objective reality.” In truth, we’re responding to 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐧𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐮𝐜𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐦𝐨𝐝𝐞𝐥𝐬 shaped by assumptions, experience, and bias. What feels obvious isn’t always accurate. What feels real isn’t always present. Before reacting, deciding, or judging: pause and ask: Am I seeing what’s there …. or what my brain expects to see?

Wow. I just built 3 mini-apps for PMs in under 10 minutes: an empathy mapper, a journey analyzer, and a competitive analysis tool with Opal (Google Labs). No PRD. No Figma. No tickets. Just an idea → an experience. Instead of debating documents, I’m now sharing working mini-apps with my team ask them "react to this, let’s refine it” I used Opal to prototype the vibe with an: -Empathy Mapper -User Journey Analyzer -Competitive Landscape Tool Each one took minutes. Each one was immediately shareable. Each one changed the conversation. Use Opal when: -You want to validate an idea before writing a PRD -You need a quick tool for a workshop or meeting -You want to make research or concepts visible -You want to better empathize about your user Think of Opal as your 10-minute lab. If it takes longer than that, move it to a full prototype — that’s where other AI prototyping tools come in. Tips for PMs adopting this workflow -Start tiny. Your first Opal app should take under ten minutes. That constraint keeps you focused on intent, not polish. -Think in verbs, not nouns. Prompts like “summarize feedback” or “visualize trends” produce far better prototypes than static descriptions. -Collaborate live. Invite designers, engineers, and stakeholders into the session. Watching the prototype evolve creates alignment faster than any meeting. -Reflect. After every prototype, note what worked. Each build sharpens your prompting instincts and your product intuition. 🔗 Guides + masterclass in the comments 👇

1–2 seconds to stop the scroll on platforms like Instagram or TikTok. Users form an opinion about a visual in ~50 milliseconds. Want to instantly grab attention? Great visual composition isn’t just about aesthetics, it’s about direction. Content with compelling visuals gets 94% more views than text-only content. It leads the viewer’s eye, shapes how your message is understood, and makes your content impossible to ignore. 8 essential principles to level up your visual game: 1. Rule of Thirds Break your frame into a 3x3 grid. Positioning key elements along these lines or at their intersections creates a naturally balanced and pleasing layout. 2. Leading Lines Incorporate lines, whether architectural, natural, or implied, to pull the viewer’s gaze toward your focal point or guide them through the composition. 3. Balance Create stability by distributing elements thoughtfully. This can be perfectly symmetrical or more dynamic and asymmetrical, depending on the visual weight. 4. Focal Point Every design needs a clear star. This is the element that immediately captures attention and anchors the composition. Clear visual hierarchy can improve conversion rates by up to 30% by reducing cognitive load and guiding decisions. 5. Negative Space What you leave out matters. Space around elements enhances clarity, improves readability, and gives your design room to breathe. 6. Hierarchy & Scale Use size, placement, and proportion to signal importance. This helps viewers navigate your design in a clear, intentional flow. Applying hierarchy, contrast, and spacing can increase content comprehension by up to 70% 7. Contrast Play with differences, color, size, shape, or texture, to create emphasis and depth. Contrast is what makes elements pop. High-contrast CTAs (buttons, key elements) can increase CTR by 20–40% in digital campaigns. 8. Repetition Consistent use of shapes, colors, or patterns builds rhythm and cohesion, making your design feel unified and intentional. Consistent visual systems can increase brand recognition by up to 80% Final Thought Visual structure isn’t optional, it’s how we make sense of what we see. As creators, it’s our job to shape that experience. Master these principles, and your designs won’t just look good, they’ll communicate with clarity and impact. Explore references, study great work, and keep refining your eye. #beautybusiness #beautyvisuals #keyvisuals #communication

Ever wondered why you feel relaxed in a green room? Or energised by a red sports car? Colours carry psychological weight. They evoke emotions and influence behaviours – more than we realise. The science of colour involves understanding how colour interacts with human psychology and emotions, and often they are shaped by cultural and social beliefs. In Western cultures, white is associated with weddings and purity. But it's the colour of mourning in several Eastern cultures. Red might make you think of passion or danger, but in China, it's the colour of good fortune and prosperity. When it comes to branding, these cultural perceptions play a significant role. The colour green universally symbolises nature, growth, and prosperity. That's why it's often used in hospitals and health-related brands. Similarly, have you noticed how many corporate brands use blue? It's not a coincidence. Blue is seen as trustworthy, dependable, and calming. Shades of blue inspire confidence. And that makes it a popular choice for brands that want to convey reliability and professionalism. Here's where things get really interesting: ▶ There's a biological reason, about 1 in 12 men are colour blind, compared to only 1 in 200 women! ▶ Men and women actually perceive colours differently. Women generally can distinguish between more shades. As a result, men's product branding tends to be more monochromatic i.e. by using easily distinguishable colours. Women generally perceive a broader spectrum of colours. This is why products targeted at women often use a more diverse and vibrant palette. Gender-neutral colours are also gaining popularity – aiming to appeal to a broader audience without leaning into gender-specific colour norms. Next time you feel drawn towards a brand/product, take a moment to consider how colour might be influencing your decision. In fact, during orientation week for our fellows at Kalaari, we gave a colour code for each day. Monday to Friday — we had colours like olive, lavender, amber, etc. After initial panic, most of them managed to show up in the colour spectrum and they got to expand their wardrobe, and hopefully learn something new about colours. Infographic: VMG Studios #branding #psychology #marketing #emotions #data

Customer discovery via functional prototypes + PostHog is night & day better than the old school way of asking for feedback on Figma mockups. Here's why: I get to observe actual user behavior instead of asking the user to guess how they might use my product. My favorite example of why this matters comes from a Sony Walkman user study. They asked a bunch of people what they thought about a yellow walkman and they said "so sporty! not boring like the black one!". And yet, when they were given the opportunity to take a walkman home after the study, everyone picked the black one. We learned a lot more from user behavior than we did expressed preferences. Here's my setup for now observing user behavior from prototypes: 1. Create a functional prototype in your favorite prototyping tool (Bolt, Lovable, Reforge Build, Magic Patterns, Claude Code) 2. Ask the prototyping tool to integrate PostHog analytics 3. Ask the prototyping tool to instrument key user actions in PostHog Then you get all of these ways of observing actual behavior: - DAUs \ WAUs \ retention curves - I can actually see if people come back and use my prototype instead of taking their word for it - Action metrics dashboards - I can see what actions people are taking vs not - Post-usage survey - I can add a built-in pop-up survey to ask the user a question about the experience after they have engaged with the prototype - Session replays - I can see exactly where people are clicking and how they are using the product to identify usability issues - Heatmaps - I can see what part of my design is working across all sessions I'd never go back to testing with just a mockup after this.

The old PM loop takes three weeks. Write the PRD. Wait for design queue. Wait for engineering queue. By the time something real exists, the conversation has moved on. The prototyping loop takes one afternoon. Abhi Muchhal runs international growth for ChatGPT. His team tracks dozens of countries across seven Databricks and Tableau dashboards. PMs used to spend mornings loading each one individually, trying to piece together what mattered. He built a single web app that pulls from all seven sources. It categorizes strengths and risks by country against a peer set Codex identified on its own. Refreshes every morning at 9am. No designer. No engineer. No sprint queue. Codex ran its own Playwright smoke tests before Abhi even opened the preview. Then someone asked him for a PRD. He started writing, stopped 20 minutes in, and built a working prototype instead. Attached a 10-question companion FAQ covering hypotheses, success metrics, guardrails, and safety review. The FAQ does what a PRD used to do. The prototype leads now. Here’s what actually flipped: when a PM walks into a review with a running prototype, engineers stop asking “what do you want?” and start asking “how do we make this better?” That conversation shift only happens when something runs. Three weeks of PRD → design queue → engineering queue compressed into one afternoon. Abhi works alongside world-class engineers at OpenAI. His code isn’t production-grade and he knows it. The goal was to skip the three queues sitting between a PM’s idea and an engineer’s reaction. His team also built a Codex skill for experiment reviews. Point it at a StatSig experiment, it writes the hypothesis, monitors the data, and generates recommendations when the engineer is ready to present. The person who cares most about the outcome authors the skill. So here’s how to make this shift: 1. Podcast with Abhi (full setup): https://lnkd.in/g-G_wn4B 2. Ship your first PR as a PM: https://lnkd.in/gAPBEKkr 3. AI prototyping tutorial: https://lnkd.in/eJujDhBV 4. The new AI PRD: https://lnkd.in/eMu59p_z 5. Become a Builder PM: https://lnkd.in/ggXYkwxB The PRD isn’t dead. But the PRD as starting point is. Prototype first. Document second.

The way colors interact with each other can make or break your brand’s perception. Yet, it’s one of the most overlooked aspects of branding. Many brands fall into the trap of relying on broad, generalized meanings for colors, like red for passion or blue for trust. ↓↓↓ While these are helpful, they aren’t the FULL story. The real power lies in how colors interact with each other within a palette. For instance, vibrant red and green appeal to the holidays, but pair that same red with deeper, muted reds, and you get a luxurious vibe. Hot pink might feel fun or feminine on its own, but combine it with black, and it suddenly exudes confidence and bold energy. The interplay of hues can subtly shift how customers emotionally connect with your brand. But don’t overlook trends either! Take Pantone’s recent Color of the Year, Mocha Mousse. While it might initially seem bland, its ties to sustainability make it a valuable accent for eco-conscious brands. I used it strategically for a high-end chocolate brand, not as the main color, but as an accent. Combined with richer hues, it told a deeper story about sustainable production and high-quality craft, steering away from overused color palettes in the industry. 💡 What’s the key takeaway? Your brand is more than JUST a color. Color is one of the first forms of communication. And how those colors interact, tell a story, and connect emotionally with your audience. Look at how your hues interact across visuals, packaging, and marketing touchpoints. Subtle shifts in contrast or tone can make a big difference in how your audience connects emotionally. Always test your palette as a whole. One approach I love to use when designing brand identities comes from the principles of Joseph Albers, who studied how our brains perceive colors differently depending on their surroundings. For brands, testing how your colors interact with one another is vital. These combinations tell a story about your brand’s tone, energy, and message. Which colors are driving your brand today? Have you considered what story they are telling? #LIpostingdayJune

In my former life, I was a graphic designer. I spent years obsessing over layouts, grids, color palettes, and the tiny details that make a design feel right. When I moved into learning design, I realized those same skills gave me an edge. The PARC principles I had been using for years—Proximity, Alignment, Repetition, and Contrast—translated perfectly into creating clearer, more engaging learning experiences. Proximity Group related content so learners instantly understand what belongs together. Alignment Position elements with purpose. Consistency in placement makes content easier to follow and trust. Repetition Repeat visual cues like colors, fonts, and layouts. Predictability helps learners focus on the message instead of figuring out the interface. Contrast Highlight what matters most. Use size, color, and whitespace to create a clear visual hierarchy. This simple system works in both worlds—graphic design and learning design—because it’s all about reducing friction, improving clarity, and guiding attention. What principles have you borrowed from another field that’s improved the way you create learning experiences?

1 in 12 men can’t see your design. And you’re still using red for errors. There’s a real chance your user can’t distinguish between your success green and error red. Yet most design teams still treat colour blindness like an edge case. It’s not. Here’s the simplified breakdown every designer should know: 1. Red-Green (Deuteranopia & Protanopia) - 1st Priority Affects ~8% of men, ~0.5% women. Users struggle to distinguish: • Red vs green. • Brown vs green. • Orange vs red. What to do: • Never rely on red/green alone for success and error states. • Pair every status with text and an icon (✓ ✗ ⚠). • Ensure colours differ in brightness and contrast, not just hue. • Meet contrast requirements: 4.5:1 for text, 3:1 for UI components. If you only fix one thing, fix this. 2. Blue-Yellow (Tritanopia) - 2nd Priority Very rare (~0.01%), but still worth checking. Users struggle with: • Blue vs yellow. • Blue vs green. • Purple vs red. What to do: • Avoid pairing blue/yellow for critical states. • Don’t rely on blue vs green to indicate meaning. • Add icons and text to “info,” “warning,” and “alert” states. • Maintain strong brightness contrast. Red/green works fine here. 3. Monochromacy - 3rd Priority Extremely rare. Users see only in grayscale (no colour perception). What to do: • Rely on contrast, not hue. • Use text labels, icons, patterns or structural differences. • Never use colour as the only indicator for meaning. If your design works in grayscale, you’ve already covered this. Here's a guide your team can use: ✅ DO • Add icons or labels to all colour-coded states. • Use contrast differences ; at least 4.5:1 for text, 3:1 for UI components. • Test with simulators (Stark, Colorblind, Who Can Use). • Ask yourself: “Does this work in grayscale?” ❌ DON’T • Use colour as the only indicator. • Rely on red/green for critical actions. • Skip accessibility testing. 👇🏽 What’s your experience with colour blindness? Drop your thoughts in the comments. ♻️ Share and save this for your team. --- ✉️ Subscribe to my newsletter for accessibility and design insights here: https://lnkd.in/gZpAzWSu --- Accessibility note: Contents in the image attached contain normal and large text ratios for WCAG 2.2 AA only.

What if the best solutions for your process started with cardboard? When testing new ideas or improvements, jumping straight to high-cost, permanent solutions can be risky—and expensive. That’s where cardboard engineering comes in. Cardboard is one of the simplest, most cost-effective tools for rapid prototyping and testing ideas. It’s lightweight, easy to shape, and lets you visualize, test, and refine your concepts before committing to more expensive materials. Why Cardboard Is Perfect for Prototyping: 1️⃣ Low-Cost Experimentation Testing with cardboard lets you try multiple iterations of a design without worrying about material costs. 2️⃣ Fast Feedback Loops You can build and modify a prototype in minutes, gathering instant feedback from your team or operators. 3️⃣ Hands-On Collaboration Cardboard prototypes allow teams to actively engage with ideas, making it easier to identify issues or opportunities for improvement. 4️⃣ Visual Validation Sometimes, seeing a physical model highlights challenges that wouldn’t be obvious in a drawing or plan. How to Use Cardboard for Lean Improvements: 🔍 Test Workstation Layouts Use cardboard cutouts to mock up layouts and placement of tools, parts, and equipment. Adjust until everything flows smoothly. 📦 Simulate Material Flow Prototype racks, bins, or carts to ensure materials are stored and moved efficiently before building them with more durable materials. 🛠️ Design Fixtures or Jigs Create cardboard versions of fixtures or jigs to test their functionality in the process. Refine the design before investing in the final version. 📐 Test Ergonomics Mock up equipment or workstation designs with cardboard to test ease of use, reach, and operator comfort. Example of Cardboard in Action: A manufacturing team wanted to redesign a workstation to reduce operator motion. Instead of committing to expensive reconfigurations, they used cardboard to prototype the layout. After several iterations, they found the optimal setup, reducing motion by 25% and saving hours of work. Cardboard isn’t just for packaging—it’s a powerful tool for testing and refining your ideas. By prototyping with low-cost materials, you can experiment, learn, and improve quickly without breaking the bank.