Best Practices for Designing UI Cards

Horizontal dividers can help separate unrelated elements or emphasize the hierarchy between them. However, they're rarely helpful in card design. Use typography tools and negative space to add distance or make content stand out.

The fundamental rule of simplicity in card design helps get rid of visual clutter that kills legibility and increases cognitive load.

Cards are perfect for splitting heterogeneous items. By establishing boundaries or a common background, cards indicate that elements within are related and those outside are not.

Placing items of different topics within one border increases cognitive load, making users wonder if the content is related or not. Instead, split the content into logical groups to help users navigate faster.

Making an entire card clickable simplifies user interactions, especially when there's only one action associated with that card. This design choice reduces the cognitive load, encouraging users to engage more effortlessly with the content. By providing a larger clickable area, you make the UI more accessible and responsive, ultimately streamlining the user journey.

To signal that an entire card is clickable, use a subtle hover effect, such as a color change or shadow, and a pointer cursor. Additionally, you might consider using a faint border.

When applying labels over images or videos, strive for foreground vs. background contrast. Make sure people with visual impairments won't have trouble reading labels or text overlaid on images.

The golden rule is to keep the contrast ratio of 4.5:1. The trick is to place a darker cover over the image and adjust its transparency. This way, the image stays visible and contrasting enough.

They're called cards because, well, they look like cards. Without visual tools like shadows, borders, and shared backgrounds, each group's items look less related and create more cognitive load for users scanning a page.

Use clearly defined containers to help cards stand out, get more attention as a group of related content, and increase comprehension.

Cards are meant for digestible pieces of content — users can open them to know more. It's an excellent example of the progressive disclosure technique that presents information or features in a progressive, step-by-step way. Firstly, it helps not overwhelm novice users with bulks of content and enhances the process of system learnability. Secondly, the interface looks more organized and clear.

Keep the supporting body text short and truncate it with three dots — it gives a feeling that there's something more to explore and invites users to continue reading.

Thoughtful use of white space within cards not only enhances readability but also guides users' focus towards key elements. Here are some tips on the effective use of space within cards:

• Maintain consistent margins: Keep a uniform distance between the card's content and its edges to avoid a cluttered look.
• Use dividers sparingly: If you must differentiate between elements, subtle dividers or varying text sizes can do the trick without eating up space.
• Group related elements: Place interconnected information or actions close together, guiding users naturally through the card's content.
• Prioritize content: Utilize space to emphasize important information, perhaps through a larger font or a more central placement within the card.

High-quality media says you care about users and their overall experience when interacting with a product. In the long run, such details impact your reputation and gain users' trust. Blurry and grainy images can be a deal-breaker, especially when they carry a vital message that users can't read.

Card labels are a part of the product's microcopy, and good microcopy should be concise. Firstly, people don't read. Secondly, digital interfaces, especially mobiles, have limited space. You can't use long sentences simply because they won't fit anywhere.

What can you do to make labels concise?

• Remove unnecessary modifying words, slang, and redundant punctuation (commas, semicolons, and clauses)
• Avoid stating the obvious and keep your labels bite-sized, so users can quickly grasp the information and move forward

Color hierarchy exists for a reason — it helps emphasize more relevant content and subdue elements of lesser priority. When everything on the screen is highlighted as important, nothing feels truly important, and users will find it hard to focus. For example, the title is more relevant than a preview, and the primary button Learn More is more important than the secondary buttons for adding to favorites and saving.

In UI cards that already feature shadows or high emphasis, adding additional shadows to media objects, buttons, or icons can create visual clutter. This overuse disrupts the established visual hierarchy, making it difficult for users to focus on key elements. Excessive stylistic touches can compromise the design's simplicity and clarity, leading to an overall messy appearance. Instead, aim for a more restrained approach to maintain a clean and user-friendly interface.

The kebab menu icon is most commonly found in the upper right corner of cards. This placement follows the reading pattern of users who usually scan from left to right and top to bottom, ending up at the top right corner.

It serves as an intuitive location for additional options or settings, making it easier for users to find what they're looking for without cluttering the main interface. By adhering to this design convention, you create a more predictable and user-friendly experience, aligning with users' natural behavior and expectations.