Multimedia products – by definition – involve the use of multiple forms of media, including text, pictures, sounds, videos, and interactive elements like controls or simulations. When bringing together disparate forms of media into a single product, it is critically important to insure that these multiple media are organized and presented to the user in a clear, consistent, and intuitive manner. Multiple forms of media means multiple opportunities for users to become confused or disoriented when using your product. What is happening? How am I supposed to interact with this? Did I do something wrong?

Effective UI Design

The most important design criterion is consistency. Consistency creates predictability, which allows users to anticipate how your multimedia product will respond as they interact with it. Even complex or convoluted designs can be used if they are complex or convoluted in a consistent manner.

An example set of UI elements for websites.

Because consistency is so important, many organizations that undertake large multimedia product or software development projects create design guidelines and design libraries so that all designers and developers can create multimedia products with consistent and predictable interactions. (Imagine how confused you would be if the way you italicized text in Microsoft Word differed from the way you italicized text in Powerpoint. Or imagine how confused you would be if  the way you closed Photoshop differed from the way you closed Excel.) Take a moment to review the design guidelines for several popular products:

• Android Design Guidelines
• iOS Human Interface Guidelines
• OS X Human Interface Guidelines
• Yahoo Design Pattern Library

How do these guidelines  promote consistency across many kinds of user experiences?

Engaging Users

The images you use in your product set the mood for users.

Users are constantly bombarded by opportunities to use multimedia products. Many of them are boring and / or poorly designed. What kind of first impression does your product make? Users will decide very quickly – often in the first few seconds – whether your products looks fun, interesting, or dull. Here are some ways to make sure you engage users during the first few seconds of their experience with your product:

• Keep it professional – Nothing says “poor quality” like spelling errors and other obvious mistakes on the home screen or launch page of your product.
• High resolution imagery – A picture truly is worth a thousand words. The right photograph can express your product’s personality, set the mood, and create positive expectations for your users.
• Music – Like the right photograph, the right music can express your product’s personality, set the mood, and create positive expectations for your users.
• Motion – Moving elements around the screen, even very subtly, is much more attention-grabbing than leaving elements static.
• Value proposition – Quickly communicate to users what they will gain by using your product. Why should they want to continue using it beyond the first few seconds?