10 UI Hacks Every Developer Should Know
Have you ever used a tool and wondered: "What on earth were they thinking?" .
It doesn't have to be that way. With his 10 usability heuristics, Jakob Nielsen sets out the critical characteristics of intuitive user interfaces.
Applying these principles to web development results in software that is easy to use.
We have prepared an interactive example for each of his heuristics.
Usability rules the Web. If customers cannot find a website, or do not understand what it offers, they simply go somewhere else.
— Jakob Nielsen
About Jakob Nielsen
Jakob Nielsen is a renowned web usability consultant. He is co-founder of the Nielsen Norman Group and has written several books on web usability, among them "Designing Web Usability" and "Usability Engineering". Nielsen holds a PhD in human-computer interaction from the Technical University of Denmark.
1. Sichtbarkeit des Systemstatus
Die Nutzer sollen stets den aktuellen Zustand des Systems erkennen und wissen, welche Handlungsmöglichkeiten ihnen zur Verfügung stehen. Ladebalken, Status-Badges und Fortschrittsanzeigen sind klassische Beispiele.
Example
Enter an address without an @ and save it, then try again with an @.
Notification Config
Endpoint for event dispatch (RFC 5322)
ERR_VALIDATION_FAILED (422): field[recipient_addr] violates constraint EMAIL_RFC5322
TX committed. Entity #4812 persisted (async_dispatch=1).
Notifications
Where should we notify you when a new invoice arrives?
The email address needs an @, for example name@company.com.
Saved. New invoices will go to from now on.
What happens: Field names, date, button and error message all speak the language of the database. Users have to translate before they can act.
2. Match Between System and the Real World
The user interface should speak a language the user knows. Instead of technical terms it should use commonly understood wording, so that people feel more comfortable finding their way around.
Example
Enter an address without an @ and save it, then try again with an @.
Notification Config
Endpoint for event dispatch (RFC 5322)
ERR_VALIDATION_FAILED (422): field[recipient_addr] violates constraint EMAIL_RFC5322
TX committed. Entity #4812 persisted (async_dispatch=1).
Notifications
Where should we notify you when a new invoice arrives?
The email address needs an @, for example name@company.com.
Saved. New invoices will go to from now on.
What happens: Field names, date, button and error message all speak the language of the database. Users have to translate before they can act.
3. User Control and Freedom
Users should be able to undo any action. The option to correct themselves lets people navigate with more confidence, because mistakes can be reversed quickly and easily.
Example
Delete a document, then try to get it back.
Documents
- Quote Müller GmbHPDF · 2.4 MB
- Invoice 2026-0142PDF · 180 KB
- Contract Schmidt AGDOCX · 96 KB
- No documents here.
Documents
- Quote Müller GmbHPDF · 2.4 MB
- Invoice 2026-0142PDF · 180 KB
- Contract Schmidt AGDOCX · 96 KB
- No documents here.
deleted.
What happens: One click and it is gone. No intermediate step, no way back. Anyone who clicks by accident has to hope that a backup exists.
4. Consistency and Standards
Consistency throughout allows users to become familiar with the system. A unified design makes sure that every page looks intuitive and feels that way too.
Example
Switch between the pages and save on each one. How quickly do you find the right button?
New customer
New voucher
CONFIG
New customer
New invoice
Settings
What happens: Three pages, three vocabularies: “Save”, “Apply”, “OK”. The primary button moves around and changes shape and color, and on the last page “Abort” looks like the most important action. Every page has to be learned again.
Efficiency & Error Management
Good software prevents errors before they happen, and makes them easy to fix when they do occur.
5. Error Prevention
The user interface should prevent errors in the first place. Confirmation prompts such as "Do you really want to delete this entry?" or "Send this email without an attachment?" are proven patterns.
Example
Send the email without an attachment, or clear the recipient and try again.
New email
New email
Enter a recipient to send.
Attachment missing? The message says “attached”, but the email has none.
What happens: “Send” is always active. Missing attachment, empty recipient, the email goes out anyway. The mistake only shows up once it can no longer be corrected.
6. Recognition Rather Than Recall
The UI should make it easy for users to find the information they need. Buttons hidden behind deep menus and long click paths force people to remember routes, and that is avoidable.
Example
The pre-filled address contains a mistake. Will you notice it in step 4?
Step 1 of 4
Delivery address
Delivery date
Items
Complete order
Does the delivery address match the order? Are the date and the quantity correct?
Delivery address
Delivery date
Items
Review order
All details are shown on the right (above, on a phone). If something is wrong, “Change” leads straight to that step.
What happens: In step 4, users confirm what they entered three steps earlier, without seeing it. They have to remember or page back. A four-digit ZIP code goes almost unnoticed that way.
7. Flexibility and Efficiency of Use
The user interface should be built so that people can complete tasks quickly and efficiently, without walking through many steps or using complex mechanisms.
Example
Task: Approve all 5 requests from Müller GmbH.
Approval requests
- Customer
- Amount
- Status
- Waiting for approval
Really approve this request?
Approval requests
Keyboard: click the list, then j/k to move · x to select · a to approve · / to filter
What happens: Every request on its own: open, approve, confirm, go back. Four clicks per item, no filter, no selection. Five requests take twenty clicks, fifty requests take two hundred.
8. Aesthetic and Minimalist Design
Fewer options, focus on what matters and no visual noise, the way Apple demonstrates it. Users should find the information they need without distraction.
Example
Task: When is the invoice due? Then pay it.
Master data
Recent activity
28 Aug Document created by C. Wolf
28 Aug PDF generated
29 Aug Email sent to accounting@mueller.de
02 Sep Document viewed
💡 Tip of the day
Press Ctrl+Shift+P to open the command palette.
Statistics
Open items: 23
Avg. payment time: 19.4 days
⚠ 2 reminders overdue
Linked records
Quote QT-2026-0088
Order ORD-2026-0102
Delivery note DN-2026-0119
Invoice INV-2026-0142 · Müller GmbH
Amount due
€12,400.00
Due on Friday, 11 September 2026, in 7 days
What happens: An ad banner, seven tabs, six chips, fourteen data fields, eleven identical looking buttons and one blinking notice. The due date and the payment action are in there somewhere. Every element competes for attention.
9. Help Users Recognize, Diagnose and Recover from Errors
The user interface should help people recognize errors when they happen and give them clear guidance on how to resolve them effectively.
Example
The form contains three errors. Click “Invite” and fix them.
Invite user
Invite user
What happens: A message with an error code, no hint which field, no hint why, and the entries are gone. Users are left guessing and have to type everything again.
10. Help and Documentation
The user interface should come with documentation or a help system, so that users can learn how to work with it effectively whenever they need to.
Example
Task: 2% early payment discount within 10 days, otherwise net 30 days.
Payment terms
Payment terms
That is how many days the customer has, counting from the period start, to pay the full amount.
Typical: 14 or 30 days.
The reduction the customer receives for paying earlier than the payment term.
Typical: 2 or 3%. Leave empty for no discount.
The discount applies up to this day. After that, the full amount is due within the payment term.
Example: “2% discount within 10 days, net 30 days” means discount 2, discount period 10, payment term 30.
The date the days are counted from. In Germany the document date (invoice date) is the normal case.
What happens: Fields without explanation, without a unit, without an example. The only help is a 214-page PDF in the footer, with no link to the relevant passage. Anyone who does not know what a discount period is has to page through it.
That’s it?
The ten Nielsen heuristics described here lead to better user interfaces that are easier to operate. The work does not stop there. Other aspects matter just as much, among them color contrast, font sizes and visual hierarchy and, since 2026, a subject of enormous importance, accessibility.
You will certainly know a few negative examples from large software houses that are notorious for their poor user interfaces. To avoid saving money in the wrong place, we use modern web frameworks such as FilamentPHP. It already implements many of the recommended measures. Beyond that, we always take care during the design process to keep dialogs as simple as possible, or to add explanations that make the software easier to operate.
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