Web designing is a complex task. That’s because every element in web designing impacts the website’s overall UI and UX. And fonts are no exception to this statement. But people still don’t understand the importance of using the appropriate font families, styles, and sizes on a website. And if you are one of those people, this blog post is for you.
Here, we’ll share five factors to help you understand fonts’ impact on a website’s UI and UX.
1. By Making the Typography More Legible and Readable
One of the major ways fonts impact a website’s UI and UX is the readability and legibility of the typography. But why is the readability and legibility of a website essential? Let’s find out.
The primary purpose of any website is to educate or inform people. But if the typography on a website is too small or the web designer used a complex-to-read font family, how would readers understand the content? That is why it’s essential to use the appropriate font family and font size for the typography of a website.
When it comes to choosing an appropriate font family for a website, sans-serif fonts like Arial and Helvetica are popular choices. That’s because both these font families have excellent legibility and readability. In fact, here are two examples that convey the use of both these font families:
As you can see, the typography in the above images gives a cleaner and more organized look to the overall UI of the website. And a cleaner and more organized UI will always result in a better user experience. So, that’s how the choice of an appropriate typography style and size can affect the user interface and experience of the website.
2. By Creating a Visual Hierarchy
As we’ve mentioned earlier, people explore the internet to find solutions to their problems. Therefore, the content on the internet must be presented in an easy-to-read or skimmable form. Otherwise, people will find it hard to read the content, even if it’s written using easy-to-read language. But what’s the ideal way to do that?
Well, the ideal way to present the website content in a skimmable manner is to create a visual hierarchy between the typography. Doing so will help maintain the user experience of a website. But how can visual hierarchy help with maintaining the user experience of the website? Let’s find out.
When you create a visual hierarchy, you basically use various font sizes, styles, and colors to differentiate between the multiple sections of a website. Doing so will make the content easy to read and skimmable. And such content will eventually lead to a better UX and a cleaner UI. So, that’s how a visual hierarchy can impact the user experience of a website. And some of the best examples that demonstrate the perfect use of visual hierarchy on a website are as follows:
3. By Establishing a Brand Identity
Fonts are more powerful than your imagination. That’s because they can help you establish your brand identity. And by building a brand identity, you can improve the user experience of your website. So, let’s elaborate on this more.
When you use consistent fonts throughout your website, doing so will give a cohesive and professional look to your platform. But besides, it will also help people recognize your brand. This way, you can convey your brand’s tone or personality through the use of fonts. However, let’s understand this more through some examples.
For instance, if your brand has a modern or minimalist personality, you can use the Arial font family. Similarly, brands with funny or humorous tones often use Comic Sans or other funny text styles.
As Arial and Comic Sans are easily available in editing softwares like MS Word, you may find some difficulty in finding un-usual fonts like funny text. The best and simple way to create funny or humorous text is by utilizing an online funny text generator. This will help you to easily generate and use funny different funny text to represent your brand. However, if your brand has a formal or traditional tone, we recommend using Times New Roman because that’s what most people do.
Thus, consistently using a font family throughout your website will give an organized look to your website. But besides, it will also help people quickly find the information they need. And this will eventually lead to a better user experience. So, that’s how establishing a brand’s identity through fonts can help with the UI and UX of a website.
4. By Evoking an Emotional Response
As we’ve mentioned earlier, the power of fonts is unimaginable. However, besides helping with brand identity, fonts can evoke an emotional response in users. And the evocation of emotional response is an indication of a better user experience. So, let’s see how different font families can evoke various emotions among people and how the evocation of emotions can lead to a better user experience.
Let’s say you use backwards text (or mirror text) on your website with the help of online tools. Such a text style holds the power to create a surprise or novelty effect among people. Similarly, a modern bold font can evoke a sense of confidence among people, whereas handwritten or script fonts can evoke a welcoming feel.
So, that’s how you can use different font families to evoke various emotions among people and improve the user experience of your website.
5. By Optimizing the Website for Mobile Users
Research shows that 73.1% of website owners think visitors leave a website if its design is unresponsive on mobile screens. That’s because the ratio of smartphone users is increasing daily. And since the percentage of mobile users is on the rise, another research backs this claim by saying that 55.4% of people use mobile phones to browse the internet or buy online.
In light of the statistics mentioned above, it’s clear that optimizing a website’s design for mobile screens is essential nowadays. That’s because doing so will help you maintain the user experience of your website. However, when it comes to choosing a font family for your website, you must select a font family that is neither too small nor too elaborate. That’s because if you choose such types of fonts, people will leave your website. And eventually, the user experience of your website will go downhill.
Thus, that’s how the choice of font families can impact your website’s user interface and experience. So, be careful when selecting a font family for your website.
Conclusion
All in all, a poor font choice can result in a frustrating user experience, whereas the right choice of fonts can improve the overall look and feel of the website. But besides helping with the aesthetic, the right choice of font styles can also enhance the user experience. For instance, it can help you set up a brand identity, optimize your website for mobile devices, create a visual hierarchy and make your text more readable. So, read the above discussion in order to explore all that in detail.