{"id":10413,"date":"2024-05-22T17:07:06","date_gmt":"2024-05-22T17:07:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.uxdesigninstitute.com\/blog\/?p=10413"},"modified":"2024-07-29T13:50:45","modified_gmt":"2024-07-29T13:50:45","slug":"card-design-for-ui","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.uxdesigninstitute.com\/blog\/card-design-for-ui\/","title":{"rendered":"The ultimate guide to card design for UI (with examples)"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">If you\u2019ve ever used a streaming service like Netflix, swiped on a dating app like Bumble or Tinder, or scrolled through a social media feed, you\u2019ve likely encountered card-based design.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In UI design, cards are square or rectangular containers that present a concise unit of content. This is especially useful when you want to display many different types of content on one page without overwhelming the user.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">When used in the right context, UI cards don\u2019t just look great. They can also enhance the user experience significantly.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">So when is it appropriate to use a card-based layout? And what are the exact benefits of card design? Discover everything you need to know in this guide.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n\n<h2><strong>What is card design in UI? (With examples)<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">When designing a user interface, you want to present information in a way that\u2019s aesthetically pleasing, easy to digest, and straightforward to navigate. Card design is one solution.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Card design involves dividing your content up into a series of cards\u2014with each card representing just one item. The <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nngroup.com\/articles\/cards-component\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Nielsen Norman Group<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> provides the following definition of a card:<\/span><\/p>\n<blockquote><p><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">A card is a UI design pattern that groups related information in a flexible-size container visually resembling a playing card.<\/span><\/i><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">You can think of each card as a content container with a clear border. This conveys each card as a distinct element, signalling to the user that all the information contained within that border is related\u2014and should be perceived as such.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><strong>What\u2019s the anatomy of a UI card?<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">A UI card typically contains:<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">An image<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">A heading (and, if necessary, a subheading)<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">A short description<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">A call-to-action<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">UI cards are clickable, providing the user with a snapshot summary and inviting them to click on their chosen card to expand on a particular piece of content. As such, UI cards are a doorway to further information\u2014usually housed on a separate page or screen.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><strong>UI card design examples\u00a0<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Consider the home screen for Now TV, a British streaming service. Each show is contained within its own card. If you click on a card, it expands to provide more information about that particular program. Click the play button (the call-to-action) and you\u2019ll be taken to a new screen to stream your chosen show.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-10414 size-full aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/www.uxdesigninstitute.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/Screenshot-2024-05-20-at-00.24.58.png\" alt=\"Screenshot of home screen for Now TV, a British streaming service\" width=\"1562\" height=\"724\" title=\"\"><\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-10415\" src=\"https:\/\/www.uxdesigninstitute.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/Screenshot-2024-05-20-at-00.26.43.png\" alt=\"Screenshot of a show page for Now TV, a British streaming service\" width=\"626\" height=\"660\" title=\"\"><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The Fitbit app is another great example of card design in action. Each card represents a different piece of information on the dashboard: sleep duration, exercise days, zone minutes, and so on. Click on a card and you\u2019ll be taken to another screen with a more detailed breakdown of the data. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-10416\" src=\"https:\/\/www.uxdesigninstitute.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/Screenshot-2024-05-20-at-00.28.28.png\" alt=\"Screenshot of FitBit app\" width=\"370\" height=\"640\" title=\"\"><\/p>\n<section id=\"promotion\" class=\"promotion-content-raw inlinepromo inlinepromo_professional-certificate-in-ui-designp-1 my-4\" style=\"\">\n\t<div class=\"w-container\">\n\t\t<div class=\"row align-items-center\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"col-md-12 promotion-info\">\n                <a class=\"link-content\" href=\"https:\/\/www.uxdesigninstitute.com\/courses\/ui-design?utm_source=blog&amp;utm_medium=blog_panel_text&amp;utm_campaign=blog_promo\" style=\"\">\n                    <p>[GET CERTIFIED IN UI DESIGN]<\/p>\n                    <span>Take our Professional Certificate in UI Design course<\/span>\n                <\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div>\n<\/section>\n\n<h2><strong>When to use UI cards<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Card design is ideal when you want to present heterogeneous content items\u2014that is, many different types of content\u2014on one page or screen.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Think of a dashboard that displays various data in different formats; say, bar charts, line graphs, pie charts, and percentages. Cards are a great way to separate each content type into its own distinct container, giving the user a clear overview of all key information on the page.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Card design also works best in contexts where the user is browsing rather than searching. When you log onto Netflix, for example, and don\u2019t know what you want to watch, it\u2019s useful to have a series of cards that you can scan through to find something you\u2019re interested in. If you\u2019re searching for something specific, on the other hand, you\u2019d probably want the results presented in list format.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Card design is a popular choice for:<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><b>Social media feeds. <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Think of sites like X and LinkedIn, where each individual user post is presented within its own distinct container. <\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li aria-level=\"1\"><b>E-commerce sites. <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Card design is useful for showcasing individual products\u2014think of sites like Etsy and ASOS.<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><br \/>\n<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li aria-level=\"1\"><b>Blogs and online magazines, <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">where each card represents a different article.<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><br \/>\n<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li aria-level=\"1\"><b>Analytics dashboards. <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Many analytics platforms use card design to present different data points in a variety of formats.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li aria-level=\"1\"><b>Project management tools. <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">If you\u2019ve ever used a tool like Asana or Trello, you\u2019ll be familiar with the \u201cBoard\u201d view where each project or task is represented by a UI card. You can then drag and drop these cards to categorise them.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li><b>Dating apps. <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Swipe through apps like Bumble and Tinder and you\u2019ll find individual UI cards to represent different user profiles. Click on a UI card and you can learn more about a potential match.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Now we know what card design is and when to use it, let\u2019s delve deeper into the benefits.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<section id=\"promotion\" class=\"promotion-content-raw inlinepromo inlinepromo_product-design-programmep-1 my-4\" style=\"\">\n\t<div class=\"w-container\">\n\t\t<div class=\"row align-items-center\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"col-md-12 promotion-info\">\n                <a class=\"link-content\" href=\"https:\/\/www.uxdesigninstitute.com\/courses\/product-design?utm_source=blog&amp;utm_medium=%20blog_panel_text&amp;utm_campaign=blog_promo\" style=\"\">\n                    <p>[GET CERTIFIED IN PRODUCT DESIGN (UX &amp; UI)]<\/p>\n                    <span>Enrol now in our Product Design Programme<\/span>\n                <\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div>\n<\/section>\n\n<h2><strong>The benefits of card design in UI<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">There are several benefits of using card design for your UI:<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><b>UI cards are versatile. <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">They can be used for many different content types, and they work well for a variety of digital products\u2014from weather apps to accounting software to dating platforms, and many more. <\/span><\/li>\n<li aria-level=\"1\"><b>Card design is conducive to responsive design. <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">UI cards are easily scalable and can adapt to different devices, screen sizes, and page orientations\u2014ensuring a seamless user experience no matter what. <\/span><\/li>\n<li aria-level=\"1\"><b>UI cards are scannable. <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">People don\u2019t want to be overwhelmed with dense blocks of information; they want bite-size snippets that are easy to scan and digest. With UI cards, you can present many different types of content on one page or screen without sending your users into cognitive overload. That\u2019s crucial for providing a positive user experience!\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>Card design helps with consistency. <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Even if you\u2019re displaying lots of different content types on one screen, UI cards will ensure that your interface is visually coherent. This creates a predictable user experience, enhancing the usability of your interface. <\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>UI cards are great for creating a clean, clutter-free aesthetic. <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Card design organises your content into neat containers, bringing structure to the page and creating interfaces that are visually pleasing.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<section id=\"promotion\" class=\"promotion-content-raw inlinepromo inlinepromo_professional-certificate-in-ui-designp-1 my-4\" style=\"\">\n\t<div class=\"w-container\">\n\t\t<div class=\"row align-items-center\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"col-md-12 promotion-info\">\n                <a class=\"link-content\" href=\"https:\/\/www.uxdesigninstitute.com\/courses\/ui-design?utm_source=blog&amp;utm_medium=blog_panel_text&amp;utm_campaign=blog_promo\" style=\"\">\n                    <p>[GET CERTIFIED IN UI DESIGN]<\/p>\n                    <span>Take our Professional Certificate in UI Design course<\/span>\n                <\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div>\n<\/section>\n\n<h2><strong>How to design UI cards: a step-by-step guide<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Want to incorporate UI cards into your next design project? Here\u2019s a step-by-step guide to get you started.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><strong>1. Define the content<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Consider the purpose of your UI cards. What kind of content will they present? This will help you determine what elements to include in your cards, and how much real estate to allocate to each.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">If you\u2019re designing UI cards to display user profiles on a dating app, for example, you may want most of the card to be taken up with a photo. If you\u2019re designing UI cards for blog articles, on the other hand, you might opt for a smaller thumbnail image and more text.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><strong>2. Sketch the layout<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">With pencil and paper (or a simple <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.uxdesigninstitute.com\/blog\/best-ux-wireframe-tools\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">wireframing tool<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">), sketch the basic layout for your UI cards. Think about where each element will sit\u2014will you place the headline at the top with an image beneath, or the other way round? Where will you position the call-to-action? Experiment until you\u2019re happy with the structure.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><strong>3. Design your UI cards<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">You\u2019ve got a basic layout in mind. Now it\u2019s time to design your cards. Open up your chosen design tool\u2014Figma, Sketch, and Adobe XD are all popular choices, or you can find more <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.uxdesigninstitute.com\/blog\/ui-ux-design-tools\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">UX and UI design tools here<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Starting from a blank canvas, design your UI card bit by bit. Use the shape tool to create a square or rectangular container, then add your desired elements such as heading and subheading text, an image, and a call-to-action.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><strong>4. Style your cards<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Next, style your cards to make sure that they\u2019re visually appealing, on-brand, and accessible for the end-user.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Define your colours, ensuring plenty of contrast between text and the card background, and style the text. Use a typeface that\u2019s easily legible, and apply appropriate fonts and font sizes to different text elements.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Need some guidance with this step? Learn how to make effective colour choices with this <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.uxdesigninstitute.com\/blog\/guide-to-colour-theory\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">complete guide to colour theory<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, and use these <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.uxdesigninstitute.com\/blog\/hacks-to-transform-your-ui-designs\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">5 simple hacks to take your UI from good to great<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><strong>5. Define interactive properties\u00a0<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Last but not least, think about how the user will interact with your UI cards. Will they be able to hover over them? Click to expand them and reveal more information? Swipe them? The interactions you define will depend on the context.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Remember that every interaction should provide the user with feedback. With hover\u00a0 states, for example, the UI card might change colour, get bigger, or produce a drop shadow.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Once you\u2019ve got a working prototype, test your designs to make sure that they look great and function correctly on different devices and screen sizes. <\/span><\/p>\n<h2><strong>The takeaway<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">With well-designed UI cards, you can present diverse types of content in a clear, organised, and digestible format. This achieves a clean, clutter-free aesthetic\u2014and, most importantly, it provides a positive user experience, ensuring that your interface is intuitive, responsive, and easy to navigate.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>Want more UI design tips and inspiration? <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Check out these guides:<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.uxdesigninstitute.com\/blog\/designing-for-mobile-best-practices\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Designing for mobile: 5 best practices for UI designers<\/span><\/a><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.uxdesigninstitute.com\/blog\/guide-to-responsive-grids\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">A complete guide to responsive grids (and how to use them)<\/span><\/a><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.uxdesigninstitute.com\/blog\/ui-design-dos-and-donts\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">8 UI design dos and don\u2019ts (with examples)<\/span><\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>What is card design in UI and when should you use it? Learn all about card design here\u2014including a step-by-step guide and real-world examples.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":22,"featured_media":10418,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"content-type":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[273,271],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-10413","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-how-to-guides","category-resources"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uxdesigninstitute.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10413","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uxdesigninstitute.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uxdesigninstitute.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uxdesigninstitute.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/22"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uxdesigninstitute.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10413"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/www.uxdesigninstitute.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10413\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10420,"href":"https:\/\/www.uxdesigninstitute.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10413\/revisions\/10420"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uxdesigninstitute.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/10418"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uxdesigninstitute.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10413"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uxdesigninstitute.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10413"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uxdesigninstitute.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10413"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}