The heated topic that has taken over the internet nowadays is which website design offers the best user experience when Dark Mode vs Light Mode designs are compared. With a plethora of options available to the users they have a choice to switch to either of the options based on which design offers adaptability and accessibility, ensures readability, and provides control for switching the mode. However, we still need to explore which UI design is better and how would designers know which design to prioritize. Here the designer’s job takes a complicated turn as they have to accommodate diverse user preferences that include flexible, unusual, and inclusive designs.
Dark modes are believed to provide eye comfort in environments with low light such as late-night scrolling, reduce battery consumption on OLED and AMOLED screens, and have an aesthetic appeal to them. While, light Modes are ideal for bright outdoor environments to make content readable, especially for sites with a bulk of content.
Let’s explore the best design practices for both Dark and Light Modes to help you create user interfaces that align with the majority of user preferences.
Tips and Best Practices: Dark vs Light Mode Design
Dark Modes
Black modes aren’t only about white material on an entirely black user interface. It is more technical and needs well-thought-out strategies to design an interface that aligns with your audience. Here is what you are required to do:
Opt For Gray Shades
Dark mode doesn’t necessarily mean complete black instead a whole science. Gray shades provide better contrast for other design elements otherwise one can’t move beyond white when it’s completely black. Moreover, in reduced light, the gray shade is soothing to the eyes as reduces strain on them. This reduction in visual fatigue leads to improved readability. Most importantly, when different design elements are integrated it increases visual appeal significantly.
GitHub and Medium websites can be considered as one of its examples.
Avoid Overdoing The Contrast
Though we have established that gray shades provide better contrast with design elements you need to strike a balance to not compromise the readability of users. The contrast can be balanced in the following ways such as light gray shades for the main content and pure white for headers and highlights. You can also use shades that align with your brand identity however, you need to do it strategically so that it doesn’t compromise readability.
Carefully Chosen Color Combination
Though vibrant colors that shine brighter may look appealing in some contexts such colors may irritate users’ eyes and force them to leave your website. Therefore, brighter colors in dark mode aren’t preferable in most cases. Therefore, dark colors without the hint of shine are worth using such as the Spotify theme.
Test Design In Multiple Conditions
Dark modes are a bit technical as they require you to test them in multiple light conditions to ensure the effectiveness of color combinations and their impact on one’s eyes. You can test the user interface in conditions such as high vs low screen brightness and bright sunlight vs dark room.
Light Modes
We refer to white modes as entirely white design but it is more than that as it requires you to strategically craft a visually appealing website that is also easily readable.
Leave Enough Room For Clarity And Openness
Light mode symbolizes clarity and openness therefore negative spaces should be embraced wholeheartedly by also balancing design elements. Negative spaces prevent users from getting overwhelmed with the content and design as it strikes a perfect balance between them. These white spaces are meant to draw the user’s focus to key elements on the website therefore thoughtful integration of them is essentially required.
Color Combinations To Soften Pure White
To reduce harshness, promote a natural look, and improve aesthetics use off whites and light gray shades. You can also choose to include colors that are part of your brand identity but integrate them carefully such as in a way that colors draw users’ attention to important elements in your website. Here creating appropriate contrast is crucial to make text readable by making it stand out from the background.
Final Thought
Considering all these pointers is crucial to ensure that in either mode your website seems consistent in terms of font, icons, texts, images, and color contrasts. For dark mode, muted and transparent backgrounds are preferred as they help the dark theme shine through. Whereas, for light mode non-overwhelming bright visuals are recommended. If you need attention to detail for every element and require realistic and helpful suggestions, it’s better to work with a UK web design agency to seamlessly
