UX that matters but often goes unnoticed!

Hi, I'm Sneha, and if you’re a designer, this article will resonate with you! BOLD statement, right? Go on, read this article, and by the end, you will agree with me.

Imagine going to a coffee shop with aesthetic appeal, a beautiful aroma, and a relaxing background sound. What else do you need? It just feels good! You will spend a good amount of time there. But, now picture the opposite. No music, menus or even a call if your coffee is ready. You will feel confused, anxious, and constantly ask strangers for help.

The difference? That’s Invisible UX for you.

What exactly is Invisible UX?

Consider them as silent heroes of your website or apps. They don’t make you crave them until you notice them. For example, when you’re loading your website and it’s taking time. Then, it reminds you to use “Skeletons” for great UX.

These are not the primary features but something that will boost your website’s interactivity, user experience, accessibility and performance. It’s like detailing your favourite artwork with borders, shadows and a frame.

Let’s understand it with some real-world examples.

Focus States

I am sure, somewhere, you must have encountered a situation where, after filling a field, when you press “Enter”, nothing happens. Ideally, when you press Enter, an event similar to “click” should fire. This is what contributes to a great UX.

Another usage of the focus state is when you press “Tab” to move and nothing happens. Below is just an example of how you can add this to your CSS.

button:focus { outline: 2px solid #000000;}

Micro-interactions

These are tiny details like tooltips, SVG fillings, or a “Copy” icon that changes to “Copied!” for 2 seconds.
They lift up the emotions in your design and make users feel more connected, leading them to spend more time on your website.
An example:

<button onClick={coptToClipboard}>

{copied? "✅ Copied!" : "📋 Copy"}

</button>

Skeleton Loaders

Remember when you open the Amazon app, and instead of seeing a white screen, you see grey boxes as content shapes? This is called Skeleton, a blueprint of how your website or app is going to look.
Without it? You get a blank screen, and users might think the app is broken.
You can use external libraries like “react-loading-skeleton” to save time.

Empty States: Say Something When There's Nothing

Picture a fresh app screen. No data. No messages. Just blank space. Boring and confusing!

Instead, show:

• A message like "You haven’t added any notes yet."

• A cute illustration

• A CTA like “Add your first note”

• A subtle alt text for image.

Error Handling

I know sometimes we don’t get what went wrong. But instead of panicking and leaving it, write clean and understandable error-handling blocks. This will create a minimal experience for your user.
Instead of showing:

Error: 404. Cannot GET /abc

Show:

• A friendly message (“Oops, something went wrong.”)

• A retry button

• A fallback UI (like showing cached data)

These are some examples of the invisible UX. If you have a favourite invisible UX trick? Or a time it saved your project? Drop a comment, let’s share the unsung heroes of good design.

Also, if you're looking to get frontend development or content writing done, I’d love to collaborate with you. Feel free to reach out for gigs, freelance work, or any exciting opportunities at:

• LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/sneha-farkya

• Portfolio: sneha-farkya.vercel.app

• Hashnode: snehafarkya.hashnode.dev

• X (formerly Twitter): x.com/sneha_farkya

Until next time…