Minimalism is a style that appears frequently in UI/UX today. We often see interfaces with limited colors, generous white space, clear typography, and very few decorative elements. At first glance, these designs may look very simple. But the more you work with UI design, the more you realize one thing: the fewer elements there are, the more important every design decision becomes.
Minimalism in UI/UX is not simply about removing everything from the screen. According to Nielsen Norman Group, minimalism in web design is often characterized by limited color palettes, fewer interface elements, negative space, and prominent typography. However, the core goal is still to remove unnecessary elements so users can focus on their tasks.
This creates an interesting paradox. When a screen contains many elements, designers can use colors, borders, backgrounds, or icons to create grouping and hierarchy. But when an interface contains only a few elements, small details such as spacing, font size, alignment, and contrast become much more noticeable.
For example, imagine a screen with only a heading, a short description, and a button. It sounds simple, but the designer still needs to answer many questions: Is the heading prominent enough? Does the spacing communicate the relationship between the elements? Is the button clearly the primary action? Does the user know where to look first?
This is why minimalism does not mean using the fewest elements possible.
An interface can contain very few elements and still be difficult to use if the hierarchy is unclear. On the other hand, an interface with many elements can still be easy to understand if they are organized properly. Nielsen Norman Group also emphasizes that visual hierarchy helps users understand the structure of a page and determine where to focus first. Hierarchy can be created through scale, color, spacing, position, and grouping.
Another common misconception is that minimalism requires lots of white space, white backgrounds, or neutral colors. In reality, a minimalist design can still use bold colors, large images, or expressive typography. What matters is whether these elements serve a purpose or are simply added to make the interface look more visually appealing.
Research on visual aesthetics also suggests that people can form impressions of a website’s visual appeal very quickly. Lindgaard et al. (2006) found that participants could form an impression of a website’s visual appeal after a very brief exposure. This shows that visual design can have an important influence on first impressions, but a visually attractive interface does not automatically mean a better user experience.
This is why designers need to be careful about treating “simple” as the goal itself. Nielsen Norman Group also points out that minimalism can become merely a visual trend when designers copy characteristics such as generous white space, limited colors, or fewer UI elements without considering the actual needs of users.
Personally, I think minimalism can be understood in a much simpler way:
It’s not about designing less. It’s about removing what isn’t necessary so what matters becomes clearer.
A junior designer might think that adding more elements will make an interface more complete or visually interesting. An experienced designer is more likely to ask the opposite question: Is this element actually necessary? What happens if I remove it? Will the user have a problem without it?
That is also why interfaces that look simple can sometimes be much harder to design.
Minimalism is not about making an interface emptier.
It is about making what matters more obvious.
References
Gordon, K. (2020, March 1). 5 principles of visual design in UX. Nielsen Norman Group. https://www.nngroup.com/articles/principles-visual-design/
Lindgaard, G., Fernandes, G., Dudek, C., & Brown, J. (2006). Attention web designers: You have 50 milliseconds to make a good first impression! Behaviour & Information Technology, 25(2), 115–126. https://doi.org/10.1080/01449290500330448
Moran, K. (2015, July 12). The characteristics of minimalism in web design. Nielsen Norman Group. https://www.nngroup.com/articles/characteristics-minimalism/
Fessenden, T. (2021, January 24). Aesthetic and minimalist design (usability heuristic #8). Nielsen Norman Group. https://www.nngroup.com/articles/aesthetic-minimalist-design/