UI Design for Monitoring Systems: Must-Learn Design Techniques from the Pros

User interface (UI) design can be complex, but it can be simplified by following logical principles.
From reviewing UI design practices, it’s clear that most design decisions follow straightforward guidelines rather than relying on artistic talent or intuition.
Mastering logical UI design principles allows for efficient and wise decision-making, avoiding designs based solely on gut feeling.
The best way to learn is through practice, so here are a few UI design tips to help you along the way.

Even without much experience in visual or interaction design, you might notice when a raw design feels chaotic, cluttered, and hard to use.
That’s because it includes many problematic design details that compromise usability.
Perhaps you’ve already identified a few?

Group Related Elements Using Space

Breaking information into smaller, related groups helps structure and organize the interface. This makes it faster and easier to understand and remember.
You can group related elements using the following methods:

Place related elements inside the same container

Put spatially related elements close together

Make related elements look similar

Align related elements along a continuous line

Using containers is the strongest visual cue for grouping, but it can also add unnecessary clutter. Look for opportunities to use more subtle grouping methods that help simplify the design.
Using space is a very effective and simple UI technique for grouping related elements. You can also combine multiple grouping methods for better clarity.

In our example, the lack of spacing between content makes the design appear messy and hard to comprehend. Increasing the spacing helps group the content clearly, making it more organized and easier to understand.

Maintain Consistency

Consistency in UI design means similar elements look and behave similarly. This should be true both within your product and compared to established products.
This predictability improves usability and reduces errors because users don’t need to keep relearning how things work.

In our example, the icon styles are inconsistent — some are filled, some are not. This might confuse users since filled icons often indicate a selected state.
Using a consistent 2pt stroke weight and rounded corners helps all icons share similar visual weight and improves consistency.

Text labels are also added to the icons to help users understand their meaning — especially for those using screen readers (software that uses speech or braille to describe interfaces for visually impaired users).

Ensuring Similar Looking Elements Have Similar Functions

If elements look alike, users expect them to behave alike.
So, use consistent visual treatments for elements with the same function. On the flip side, make different-looking elements serve different functions.

In our example, the icon containers look similar to the “Book Now” button, making them appear interactive even though they’re not.
Removing the blue color and button styling from the icons helps prevent users from mistaking them for interactive elements.

Create a Clear Visual Hierarchy

Not all information in a UI carries the same level of importance.
Aim to present information in order of importance by making the more important elements stand out more.

A clear hierarchy helps users scan information quickly and focus on key areas.
It also improves aesthetics by creating a sense of order. You can build a clear hierarchy by varying size, color, contrast, spacing, position, and depth.

Here’s an example of a website hero section with poor visual hierarchy, followed by a version where elements are clearly arranged by importance.

A quick and easy way to test visual hierarchy is with the squint test:
Squint your eyes or blur your design and see what stands out.
You should still be able to identify the most important element and the purpose of the interface.

Applying the squint test to our example, we can see several elements competing for attention, while the main action in the bottom left barely stands out.

The primary action should generally be the most prominent element on the interface.
Giving it a high-contrast background and bold font weight helps achieve this.

Applying the squint test to the updated design, the primary action is clearly the most noticeable element.

The visual hierarchy is now clearer, but there’s still room for improvement.
For example, the body text block is too prominent for its importance. We’ll learn some quick typography tips to help fix that.

Remove Unnecessary Styles

Extraneous information and visual styles can be distracting and increase cognitive load (the mental effort needed to use the interface).
Avoid unnecessary lines, colors, backgrounds, and animations to create a simpler, more focused UI.

In our example, the whitespace and borders around the image add unnecessary complexity.
Since they’re not needed to convey information or group elements, we can safely remove them to simplify the design.

Use Color Purposefully

Use color sparingly and intentionally. Avoid decorative color use, as it can confuse or distract.
Start with black and white, then introduce color where it adds meaning.

A simple and effective approach is to apply your brand color to interactive elements like text links and buttons.
This helps teach users what is interactive and what is not. Try to avoid using brand colors on non-interactive elements.

Not all interactive elements need color, though — some already have visual cues indicating interactivity.
For example, cards in the following example remain interactive regardless of whether they include a blue link.

In our original example, the blue title might look appealing, but it makes the text appear interactive.
To avoid confusion, we removed the blue from the title since it isn’t clickable.
We also removed blue from other non-interactive elements like star ratings. This helps users distinguish interactive from non-interactive content.

Ensure a Minimum Contrast Ratio of 3:1

Contrast measures the perceived brightness difference between two colors, expressed as a ratio from 1:1 to 21:1.
For example, black text on a black background has a 1:1 contrast, while black text on white has a 21:1 contrast.

In our example, the arrow icon over the photo has too little contrast.
Switching to a gray icon with a solid white background ensures at least 3:1 contrast, regardless of the photo.
It also lowers interaction cost, as the clickable area is now larger and easier to see.

The main button in the original example also had poor contrast.
We already improved it when addressing visual hierarchy, but it’s worth mentioning again.

Low-contrast buttons are risky because users with low vision may not perceive them as buttons at all.
Increasing button contrast to above 3:1 improves accessibility and reinforces visual hierarchy.

Want to learn more? Check out tips on button design to avoid common mistakes.

After raising the contrast for the arrow icon and button to above 3:1, our design now looks much improved.
We’re getting there — but there’s still more to refine.

We Fixed It

With a few simple yet powerful UI design techniques, we were able to quickly identify and resolve numerous issues in our sample UI design.

About Us

At Picit AI, we’re redefining the way people interact with images through the power of artificial intelligence. Whether you’re a designer, content creator, entrepreneur, or just someone with a creative spark, Picit AI provides the tools you need to bring your ideas to life — fast, easy, and beautifully.

From our signature AI Image Generator to powerful features like background removal, photo enhancement, image upscaling, and watermark removal, Picit AI makes image customization effortless. We also offer creative tools for generating profile pictures, illustrations, advertising content, mockups, and more.

Our mission is simple: to empower creativity for everyone. No complicated software. No expensive tools. Just smart, intuitive AI that lets you focus on what matters — your vision.

Join thousands of users who are already using Picit AI to transform their content. Whether you’re designing a social media post, creating product images, or exploring bold new ideas, Picit AI is here to help you create with confidence.