What many business owners may not realize is that font choices affect our emotions and can impact our overall experience when we interact with websites. This is primarily why web fonts are important for user experience.

User experience design, or UX design for short, basically deals with how users feel when they use websites or applications. It deals with interaction design, information architecture, functional design, user research, and usability testing, among others.

In this article, we’ll discuss the importance of web fonts and how it can have subjective and functional impacts on user experience.

 

It aligns with your brand image

Web fonts play a major role in creating an image for a brand. With thousands of different web font styles available online, there is certainly a web font that suits your brand, helping it have a distinct character and personality that sets you apart from your competition.

Since typography can influence your website user’s mood and emotions, choosing the right web fonts for your website helps set the tone for your brand and ensures that you make the right impression. 

It also helps convey extra non-verbal messages to your website users that can encourage them to believe your brand image, whether you’re going for a professional image or something more friendly and personal. Overall, this helps with brand consistency and credibility.

Therefore, the web fonts you’re going to be using should align with your brand’s image if you want to enhance not only the UI design of your website but, its user experience as well.

It helps with usability and accessibility

In general, there are types that are made to look good in print and there are types that are optimized for web design.

In fact, the majority of content we encounter online is made up of texts rather than images. If this much content relies on the text then you, as a designer, should ensure that the texts in your website work well for your users.

By ensuring your website works well for your users, we don’t mean just making them look good, but they should also be eye-catching, readable, and easy to the eyes of your users.

But since web fonts are optimized for usability, readability, and legibility, they are important for user experience because it enhances user speed and comfort.

For instance, when it comes to web fonts, choosing the appropriate font styles for your website matters.

The details of serif fonts make it easier to read from left to right because it aids with the way our eyes transition from reading one letter to another. The downside of using serif fonts is that it can be difficult to read for other users because the additional lines and details may be distracting for them.

Here is an article with a list of 30 popular serif fonts for modern graphic designs. 

In contrast, sans serif fonts are more optimal for digital mediums. Their sheer simplicity makes them easier to read and understand.

Some web fonts are more accessible for those with visual impairment, color blindness, dyslexia, etc. and some are harder to read and strain the eyes.

When using small fonts, it can reveal huge chunks of text and it can seem like it’s overwhelming for users to read. Contrastingly, larger fonts are easier to digest because they expose fewer words and users won’t get distracted by how long the entire text actually is.

 

It stems from knowing your users

User experience deals with user research and usability testing. This lets you know the characteristics of your users and exactly what font your average user likes, further enhancing their web experience.

 

It guides users with their expectations and goals

In line with setting a brand image, web fonts can also manage your user’s expectations. If your brand promises premium quality, for example, you can adjust your web fonts to exude elegance and exclusivity.

Web fonts can also guide users toward their goals when they use your website.

If your website intends to introduce products to users, you can use web fonts that grab attention and help users immediately understand product information. If your website intends to tell deeper stories and display longer information, you can use web fonts that are much more readable and easier to the eyes so your users can read more content and stay on your website longer.

 

Lastly, it improves your website’s performance

Most web fonts, like Google Fonts, are optimized to load your website faster.

According to Google Fonts, their service “makes the web faster for all users—particularly in areas where bandwidth and connectivity are an issue. Now everyone can enjoy the same quality and design integrity in their products and web pages, no matter where they are in the world.”

Some web fonts are also optimized to make the web experience on mobile faster and more seamless. This is important for user experience because most online users nowadays use mobile devices rather than desktop devices.

 

In conclusion

Web fonts are important for user experience in lots of ways; like improving brand image, website usability and accessibility, and website performance. It’s about knowing your users through user research and usability testing and using the proper web fonts accordingly.

When it comes to web fonts and user experience, you can rely on Graphics Zoo’s exceptionally talented graphic designers to help you with your every need. Send us an email at support@graphicszoo.com.