Label overload

I know this may seem counterintuitive, but hey, here's another inconvenient truth - labels in UI aren't as important as most people assume.

What's more, they can even be harmful, as they make it difficult for us to create a visual hierarchy.

Where does this sentiment for labels come from? I suspect that mainly out of respect for the tables and database-like scheme.

It's hard to resist the impression that in our chaotic world, tables bring a sense of order and proper organization.

The label: value scheme seems so reasonable.

And it often is. But not always!

Don't treat the user like an idiot

Sometimes labels not only do not bring any benefit, but they can give the impression that we treat the user like an idiot.

Let's take a look at the product card below:

Does the user really need additional support to understand that:

• "Elegant dress" is the name of the product?
• "-15%" means a discount?
• "Dresses" means a category?
• Stars mean rating?
• "$101" is the price?

Of course he doesn't! So let's take him seriously in our UI.

Free your mind from the database-like schema

Whenever you have to use a label, ask yourself - Is it really needed? Am I treating the user like an idiot? Am I falling into a database-like scheme?

Don't take it wrong - labels are still important and useful.

They often provide much-needed context and information about a particular element or action. However, they can also clutter the interface, make it harder for users to navigate, and slow down their interactions. When used excessively, labels can cause cognitive overload, leading to confusion and frustration.

By avoiding labels (if possible), we can create a cleaner and more streamlined UI.

If you can't avoid the label, de-emphasize it

We talked about this in the previous lesson - even in situations where the label is necessary, it is rarely the most important element of the interface.

Therefore, it is often the best approach to treat labels as secondary elements and lower their visibility so that primary elements can get the attention they deserve.

In the example from the previous lesson, the card titles ("Users", "Page views", etc.) serve labels and cannot be removed. We need them to identify what the statistics are about.

However, it's not the labels that should be the most important here, but the main stats. Therefore, we should de-emphasize the labels by reducing their size, font weight and changing the color to the lighter one.

Practical tip with an example

Product name	Mountain bike
Manufacturer	Cannondale Bikes
Year of production	2010
Price	$920
Color	Black
Weight	27 kg
Gender	Men
Seller	Sandra C Stuart
Contact	sandra.stuart@gmail.com

Mountain bike - 12 years old

$920

Cannondale Bikes

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27 kg Black For men

Sandra C Stuart

sandra.stuart@gmail.com