In this post, we’ll cover the 12 Design Principles Every Product Manager Should Know: unity, variety, pattern, rhythm, balance, contrast, hierarchy, emphasis, repetition, movement, proportion, and white space. These core principles establish the interplay of consistency and careful variation which enables intuitive navigation. They form the flexible foundations upon which additional principles build layered emphasis and engagement.
Mastering these principles allows Product Managers to highlight priorities, choreograph seamless focus between elements, and craft sophisticated layouts reinforcing brand identity.
Combined, the 12 Design Principles Every Product Manager Should Know featured in this post will elevate your UX design expertise. They offer a lexicon to discuss impactful choices that shape perceptions and usability. By internalizing these concepts, you can transform static screens into flows where strategic emphasis delights users.
Design Principles Every Product Manager Should Know
1. Unity
Unity refers to the sense of harmony and wholeness within a design. When elements are unified properly, the design feels cohesive instead of disjointed.
For example, unity can be achieved through consistent use of fonts, colors, layouts, imagery, shapes, textures, spacing, etc. Ensuring brand guidelines are maintained throughout also promotes unity.
As a Product Manager, considering unity helps you:
- Create products that don’t feel fragmented to users
- Aid brand recognition and recall
- Guide intuitive navigation through clarity and flow
- Communicate identity and values through cohesiveness
Some tips for improving unity include:
Repeating visual elements: Use the same colors, fonts, styles, layouts, etc. throughout while allowing for necessary variation.
Establishing visual links: Use color, shape, texture, imagery, etc. to create relationships between elements.
Applying the 80/20 rule: Have a dominant visual theme taking up ~80% of space, and secondary accents for the ~20%.
Streamlining navigation: Reduce clutter and create intuitive IA so users can seamlessly flow through pages/features.
Planning layouts: Use consistent grids, columns, and alignment to unify pages.
Experiment by iteratively developing wireframes and prototypes while considering unity. Gather user feedback to improve coherence.
2. Variety
While unity aims for consistency, variety incorporates diverse visual elements to add interest and vibrancy.
Too much variety can feel chaotic and make it hard for users to know where to focus. But too little variety and users become disengaged. Striking the right balance is key.
Some variety adds essential functions too, like different CTAs for hierarchy and diverse content types to aid usability.
Here are some ways variety impacts PMs:
- Attracts attention to high-priority items
- Improves aesthetics through thoughtfully distinct designs
- Enhances memorability through changes in stimulation
- Supports diverse use cases and accessibility needs
You can inject appropriate variety through:
Color: Use multiple complementary or contrasting colors.
Typography: Mix different fonts, sizes, and styles to differentiate.
Layouts: Alter alignments, columns, padding, and sizes across pages.
Imagery: Include photos, illustrations, icons, textures, and patterns.
Content types: Support text, graphics, video, audio, etc. as needed.
Interactions: Have some buttons trigger overlays vs page changes.
When applying variety, first define the unifying foundation. Then layer in alternate accents while retaining harmony.
3. Pattern
Patterns refer to the repetition of elements in a consistent and predictable manner. They can be based on shapes, colors, spacing, layouts, interactions, etc.
For instance, having a logo top left of every page creates an identifiable pattern. High-priority CTAs having the same style and shape make them easier to learn.
Patterns allow users to intuitively predict what comes next. This leads to clarity and familiarity during navigation.
Some benefits of effectively using patterns include:
- Increasing learnability and discoverability
- Guiding attention toward important items
- Reinforcing brand familiarity and unity
- Balancing predictability with the right variety
- Automating decisions through recognition
Examples of UX patterns:
- Primary + secondary navigation bars
- Indicating required form fields with * or changing colors
- Using icons as universal symbols for common actions
- Carousels for featured or related content sections
- Following platform-standard interactions and behaviors
When applying patterns keep them consistent yet flexible enough to allow variety. Also, provide cues to signal deviations from common patterns when appropriate to manage expectations.
4. Rhythm
Rhythm refers to organized movement through varying visual stimuli. It leads the viewer’s eye to smoothly flow across key elements, establishing paths for consumption.
Some forms of rhythm include:
Repeated elements that offer anticipation through evenly timed units like icons spaced apart.
Progressions that gradually transition styles, sizes, and colors across a layout to indicate relationships.
Alignment of different components along common lines to link sections.
Effective rhythm improves usability by directing attention with appropriate pace changes. It balances simplicity with engaging dynamism.
For Product Managers rhythm supports:
- Guiding users across optimal paths
- Distinguishing distinct content areas
- Breaking lengthy pages into consumable chunks
- Establishing relationships and hierarchy
- Embedding brand personalities like playful or sleek flows
You can apply rhythm through:
- Consistent padding between grouped elements
- Proximity between related contents
- Strategic use of space and dividers
- Carefully varying fonts, sizes, colors
- Embedding repeating motifs and animations
When establishing rhythm start by defining relationships and hierarchy across layouts. Sketch wireframes applying indicative spacing and alignment. As you develop visuals, refine the flow to make it easy yet intriguing to follow.
5. Balance
Balance refers to the equal distribution of visual elements to create equilibrium. Symmetry and centralized alignments are common forms of balance.
But more broadly, balance represents stabilized tension to outline relationships. Dominant contents balanced by negative space, bright accents against muted backgrounds etc.
For example, balancing:
- Text-heavy and graphical sections
- Simplicity and complexity
- Consistency and variety
- Emphasis and subtlety
Benefits include:
- Directing attention more evenly across areas
- Preventing lopsided layouts that are tiring for the eye
- Enhancing aesthetics through stable compositions
- Subtly indicating connections between contents
Product Managers can use the balance to:
- Spread focus across priority features
- Highlight differences between sections
- Accentuate division in navigation or content groups
- Maintain visual stability across pages
Some ways to improve balance are:
Apply the rule of thirds – Mentally divide layouts into even grids placing key contents along divider lines
Distribute negative spaces – Use breathing room to balance dense sections
Create symmetrical composites – Distribute similar components across central or edge alignments
Color block – Balance vibrant colors against black/white/muted spaces
By considering balance early when structuring information architecture and wireframes, pages have improved structure as the visual design progresses.
6. Contrast
Contrast refers to incorporating distinct elements together to create needed emphasis and visibility. This draws attention to distinctions for improved clarity and aesthetics.
There are several types of contrast Product Managers should leverage:
Color contrast: Complementary or bold color variations – like vibrant orange CTAs on a muted grey background
Visual contrast: Distinct shapes, lines, textures – like round search bars against sharp corners
Scale contrast: Varying sizes and weights. For instance larger headings vs body text
Spatial contrast: Different densities and negative space, like tight groups and open areas
Style contrast: Mixing highly designed icons and illustrations with basic rectangular buttons
Effective contrast improves UX by:
- Guiding focus toward priority items
- Differentiating intent across interface elements
- Adding vibrancy and modern aesthetics
- Facilitating processing and recall speed
- Accommodating accessibility needs
Some best practices regarding contrast include:
- Ensuring sufficient color contrast for readability
- Establishing contrast early when structuring IA and layouts
- Balancing contrast with unity
- Applying the Pareto Principle: 80% aligned elements, 20% styled differently
7. Hierarchy
Hierarchy refers to deliberately arranging elements in order of their importance. This organization reveals at a glance what users should notice first vs last.
Some forms of visual hierarchy include:
- Order of content positioning and reading gravity
- Relative scale differences – largest to smallest sizing
- Color contrast levels – brightest colors are dominant
- Weight contrast – bolder weights indicate significance
- Negative space around components
- Style embellishments on key items only
Hierarchy allows Product Managers to:
- Guide users across optimal paths aligning importance
- Reduce cognitive load through clear precedence clues
- Focus attention on conversion goals and high-value information
- Shape perception of sophistication and quality
- Improve the findability of features
Tips for indicating hierarchy:
- Structure IA based on logical importance ordering
- Style most important UI elements distinctly from the rest
- Have scale mirror significance – largest items first
- Leave breathing room around focal areas
- Add visual indicators only on high-priority items
8. Emphasis
Emphasis refers to design techniques that increase the dominance of key elements over others. This aims to users’ attention to primary contents and actions you want to be recognized instantly.
For example, an orange subscribe button with bold text and a box shadow has more emphasis than muted grey text links.
Emphasis supports clarity and conversion by prominently featuring:
- Important navigation and alerts
- High-priority informational sections
- Key CTAs and transactional options
- Unique selling points of product/service/brand
- Event announcements/sales requiring attention
Some common tactics for adding emphasis:
Strategic positioning – higher proximity to reading gravity like top nav placement
Scale and sizing – increasing the size of buttons/headings/icons
Color vibrancy – brighter, complementary colors attract focus
Negative space – breathing room isolates the subject
Embellishments – shadows, glows, Outline/ underline styles
Avoid overdoing emphasis which dilutes its effects. Reserve strong emphasis for 1-2 CTAs per page max.
9. Repetition
Repetition refers to intentionally reiterating design elements in consistent placements across multiple pages and interfaces.
For example, primary navigation bars stay fixed on the top left throughout a site – or buttons retain the same shape/color scheme across pages.
Repetition strengthens UX through familiarity gained by predictable recurrences. Users build mental models to understand patterns, streamlining subsequent processing.
Benefits include:
- Reinforcing identity and brand recognition
- Increasing the speed of visual processing
- Guiding attention to repeated items signaling significance
- Building trust and expectations through reliability
- Reducing cognitive load
As Product Managers, we can leverage repetition for:
- Rapid learnability – UIs behave as expected
- Intuitive discoverability of features
- Seamless connections between pages/workflows
- Clear cues on current location within IA
Some best practices regarding repetition:
- Identify key components to remain persistent
- Balance with variety – not every element should recur
- Alter visual styling between instances for added flair
- Pair with emphasis changes to indicate status/priority
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10. Movement
Movement in design refers to techniques that direct the viewer’s gaze across layouts in purposeful sequences, seamlessly transitioning attention between elements.
Some examples include:
- Gradient color progressions across hero images
- Cascading visual scales draw eyes down the page
- Arrowing shapes to imply motions across directions
- Animation and micro-interactions guiding focus
This principle contrasts with more static, spreadsheet-like interfaces. When UIs leverage movement arts, it creates dynamism and liveliness that engage users as they interact.
Benefits of movement include:
- Directing attention across logical paths
- Sequencing information delivery for better comprehension
- Mimicking natural eye-scanning patterns
- Building interest and enjoyment with fluid journeys
- Branding sophisticated, quality aesthetics
PMs should apply movement to:
- Attract focus onto value propositions
- Choreograph navigation across important areas
- Showcase product capabilities and transitions
- Indicate relationships between elements
- Shape brand personalities like playful or stable
Use subtle, intentional movements in moderation. Excessive shifts can cause distraction and dizziness. Study eye-tracking heatmaps to analyze effects.
11. Proportion
Proportion refers to the balanced relationship between individual components and the whole page composition.
Elements shouldn’t feel disjointed. Instead, their scale and spacing should make sense as a cohesive layout. Pages that leverage proportion guide attention across meaningful groupings.
For example:
- Sufficient padding separating sections
- Navigation bars suit page width instead of stretching full-screen
- Images scaled to align with text blocks visually
Proper proportion contributes to aesthetics and UX by:
- Creating composed layouts instead of discordant elements
- Fitting components based on importance
- Preventing excessive large or small objects that strain usage
- Improving flow and organization
- Allowing key phases in journeys to feel substantial
Product Managers can apply proportion through:
The rule of thirds – Mentally overlaying vertical and horizontal guidelines to align items
Prioritizing whitespace – Adding breathing room between contents matched to the scale
Style and scale harmony – Unifying visual weight and sizes within groups
Platform-aligned metrics – Styling components to expected paddings and sizes
Experiment with wireframes using representative content. Evaluate if sizings feel appropriate at each step. Ask for user feedback on comfort.
12. White Space
Also known as negative space, white space refers to empty areas distributed between other elements.
Cluttered interfaces that maximize content density without breathing room fatigue users. Effective use of white space balances densities to ease processing.
For example:
- Blank padding around buttons and headings
- Margins aligning edge contents instead of stretching items wide
White space makes interfaces more usable and appealing by:
- Directing focus onto enveloped components
- Associating whitespace grouped elements
- Preventing cognitive overload
- Enabling better visual flow and journeys
- Highlighting differences between sections for contrast
Strategic white space gives:
- Visual relief when navigating dense pages
- Prominence to enveloped elements
- Room for other principles like movement across areas
- Aesthetic elegance with simplicity
- Accessibility accommodations
When applying, determine groupings conceptually and give whitespace appropriately. Evaluate if densities match their priority whether hero sections or supplemental info. Ask for feedback on comfort.
Conclusion – Design Principles Every Product Manager Should Know:
There we have it – 12 Design Principles Every Product Manager Should Know.
Whether launching simple MVPs or sophisticated platforms, consciously applying these interlinked fundamentals makes interfaces feel considered and polished. Aligned elements create flows where purposeful emphasis delights users through journeys tailored to human cognition.
From establishing underlying unity then accenting with variety and contrast, to implying relationships through rhythm and proportions, these principles enable product designers to highlight priorities with savvy subtlety. Users adore products where nothing feels out of place, yet vibrant touches hint at thoughtful intent.
By mirroring user mental models – like leveraging patterns and repetition for intuitive recognition, or choreographing movement to match natural eye scanning – UIs map to expectations with reliable delight sprinkled in. White space balances densities so navigation never overwhelms.
Now that you’re equipped with expanded design knowledge – how will you implement these principles in your upcoming projects? Feel free to save this piece as a handy reference. Then as you craft wireframes and prototypes, actively evaluate where applying principles could enrich interactivity. Design with strategy, simplify choices, and unify visions. Most importantly, gather feedback from real users so choices produce measurable wins in engagement and conversion.
Ready to create five-star experiences? Put these Design Principles Every Product Manager Should Know into practice to interface with purpose. Remember – behind every line of code lies human-centered design wins guided by knowledge like this.
