You probably know by now that a great UI (User Interface) can literally transform your project, product, business, into a success (or a failure).

You might also know that your bottom-line is directly impacted by the quality of the design behind your user interface.

Yes, of course.

But do you know why, or how? Really?

In the indispensable Universal Principles of Design, authors William, Kritina, and Jill present a theory:

Another name for this article might have been something like “Pure Product Satisfaction, and the Designs behind it”.

Today I’m talking about one of the essential design principles laid out in Universal Principles of Design (a book you should have), which I refer to as “The Triangle”, in order to throw you off for a moment while I feel 2 levels smarter.

Ok, really, “The Triangle” is better known as the Hierarchy of Needs, which in our case refers to the needs of our users.

It is the task of the UX designer to ensure these needs are met through the experience of using our products and services.

In order for these basic needs to be met, we first have to identify them. Here goes:

• Creativity
• Proficiency
• Usability
• Reliability
• Functionality

Recognizing a pattern yet? These needs are stacked by order of support, and by contribution to the perceived value of a user experience. They’re originally adapted from the more familiar stack of needs, known as Maslow’s Hierarchy: