What to know about Salesforce Lightning Design to build powerful applications

A well-designed user interface improves user experience and engagement and delivers measurable business advantages, such as boosting productivity, maximizing return on investment (ROI), and improving overall operational efficiency. Due to their complex structure, enterprise-scale applications require a thorough approach to design. Salesforce Lightning provides a solution to this challenge by simplifying customization processes and potentially cutting down development time by up to 25%.

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Lightning Design System offers diverse features essential for creating compelling and user-friendly interfaces. Understanding these features is crucial for developing functional applications that meet user expectations. At Noltic, we provide UI/UX design services, utilizing our expertise to optimize interfaces for our clients. In this article, we explore Salesforce Lightning Design, sharing insights and best practices to empower developers in maximizing its potential.

What to know about Salesforce Lightning 

Salesforce Lightning facilitates efficient and cohesive user interface development by adhering to certain principles. Understanding them is essential for developers to harness the full potential of the Lightning framework.

‍Design tokens

Salesforce Lightning operates on a distinct set of design tokens that define visual elements such as colors, fonts, spacing, and other stylistic attributes. These tokens ensure consistency across different components and layouts within the system, allowing for cohesive and branded user interfaces.

Components

Central to Salesforce Lightning are its modular components, which are reusable building blocks for creating interfaces. These Salesforce UI components encapsulate functionality and design, promoting consistency and efficiency in development. They enable developers to assemble complex interfaces quickly while maintaining flexibility and scalability.

Layouts

Lightning provides predefined layouts that guide the placement and organization of components within an interface. They are designed to optimize user experience by structuring information logically and intuitively. Also, the layouts support responsive design, ensuring interfaces adapt seamlessly across various devices and screen sizes.

Events and communication

Salesforce Lightning uses an event-driven architecture to facilitate communication between components. Events allow components to interact without tightly coupling them, promoting modularity and maintainability. This approach enhances flexibility and enables developers to create dynamic user experiences that respond to user actions and system events.

Accessibility

Accessibility is a fundamental principle of Salesforce Lightning, ensuring that interfaces are usable by individuals with diverse abilities. The framework includes built-in accessibility features and guidelines like keyboard navigation and high contrast mode. By prioritizing accessibility, Lightning promotes inclusivity and compliance with accessibility standards.

Performance optimization

Lightning emphasizes performance optimization by leveraging techniques such as lazy loading, efficient data fetching, and client-side caching. These strategies ensure that interfaces load quickly and respond promptly to user interactions, enhancing overall user satisfaction and productivity.

Salesforce UI API

Salesforce UI API allows developers to design custom user interfaces for both mobile and web apps that seamlessly integrate with Salesforce data. This API provides a single source of truth for data and metadata, eliminating the need for developers to manage layouts, security, and sharing permissions. Developers can leverage the same UI components and design elements used by Salesforce itself, ensuring a consistent user experience while incorporating their own branding and functionality.

Key elements of Salesforce Lightning‍

Salesforce Lightning components empower developers to create, customize, and interact with applications more efficiently and intuitively, driving productivity and enhancing user satisfaction.

Lightning Experience

Lightning Experience is the modern, responsive example of Salesforce UI that replaces Salesforce Classic. It offers a more intuitive and visually appealing layout, making it easier for users to navigate, access data, and perform tasks.

Lightning Components

Lightning Components are reusable building blocks that allow developers to create custom pages and applications within Salesforce. These components can be combined to design personalized interfaces and functionalities, enhancing the user experience.

‍Lightning App Builder

The Lightning App Builder is a user-friendly tool that empowers users and developers to design and customize their own Salesforce pages, applications, and dashboards. It simplifies the process of creating tailored user interfaces.

Lightning Design System

Salesforce provides a comprehensive design system with guidelines and resources to maintain a consistent and aesthetically pleasing look and feel across all Salesforce applications and components.

Principles of effective UX design in Lightning

Here are some tips to help maintain clarity, consistency, and responsiveness in Salesforce Lightning, ensuring a user-friendly experience across different devices and scenarios:

Emphasizing clarity and simplicity

• Arrange information hierarchically to highlight essential details first.
• Use up to three shades to maintain visual consistency and reduce cognitive load.
• Simplify interface elements to avoid overwhelming users with unnecessary complexity.
• Ensure straightforward paths to information and features for easy access.

Ensuring consistency in design

• Adhere to a consistent visual style with standardized fonts, colors, and icons.
• Maintain consistent patterns for user interactions across the application.
• Ensure similar actions lead to consistent outcomes for user confidence.
• Facilitate seamless knowledge transfer between different parts of the application with consistent design.

Prioritizing responsive design for mobile users

• Design interfaces that scale and function well on various screen sizes.
• Optimize buttons and navigation for touch input on mobile devices.
• Simplify content and navigation for clarity and ease of use on smaller screens.
• Enable users to access and utilize Salesforce Lightning UI efficiently on mobile devices for enhanced productivity.‍

Tools and resources for designing in Lightning

‍Designing in Salesforce Lightning requires access to a variety of tools and resources that facilitate efficient development:

Salesforce Lightning Design System

The Salesforce Lightning Design System (SLDS) is a comprehensive set of design guidelines, resources, and components. It serves as a foundational toolkit for designers and developers working on the Salesforce Lightning platform. SLDS includes a library of pre-designed UI components, such as buttons, forms, icons, and data tables, ensuring that designers maintain visual consistency while creating user interfaces. This system not only streamlines the Salesforce UI design process but also promotes best practices for accessibility, responsiveness, and usability.

Mockup and prototyping tools compatible with Salesforce

Designers can enhance their Salesforce Lightning design process by using various mockup and prototyping tools:

• Sketch: Create interactive wireframes and prototypes with Salesforce-specific design kits.
• Figma: Design and prototype interfaces collaboratively with real-time feedback and Salesforce integration.
• Adobe XD: Design and prototype user experiences with seamless integration of SLDS components.
• InVision: Collaborate on interactive prototypes and gather feedback to refine Salesforce designs.
• Sketch plugin for Lightning Design System in Salesforce: Integrate SLDS components directly into design workflows to ensure adherence to Salesforce's visual standards.

Accessibility testing tools

‍Accessibility is a crucial aspect of design, and Salesforce provides accessibility testing tools and guidelines to ensure that designs are inclusive and meet accessibility standards. Salesforce's Lightning Accessibility Developer Guide offers detailed information on accessibility requirements and best practices for designers and developers.

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Additionally, designers can use third-party accessibility testing tools such as:

• Axe: Identifies and helps resolve accessibility issues in designs.
• WAVE: Provides insights into accessibility errors and offers solutions.
• Pa11y: Checks web pages for accessibility issues and suggests improvements.

‍Incorporating these tools and resources into the Salesforce Lightning design process expedites design tasks and helps maintain consistency, accessibility, and user-friendliness, ultimately resulting in a more effective and inclusive user experience.

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Challenges in UI/UX design for Salesforce Lightning and overcoming them

‍Designing effective user interfaces and user experiences in Salesforce Lightning comes with its own set of challenges. Here, we explore common difficulties encountered in UI/UX design for Salesforce Lightning and strategies to overcome them:

Managing the balance between aesthetics and functionality

‍One of the primary challenges in UX/UI design for Salesforce Lightning is striking the right balance between aesthetics and functionality. Designers must create visually appealing interfaces that also provide users with efficient and effective tools to accomplish their tasks. 

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Overcoming this challenge involves careful consideration of user needs, feedback, and usability testing. Collaborative design processes that involve cross-functional teams, including designers, developers, and end-users, help find a harmonious balance between a sleek visual design and robust functionality. Continuous iteration and refinement based on user feedback are key to achieving a successful equilibrium in Salesforce Lightning's UI/UX.

‍Navigating limitations inherent to Salesforce Lightning

While powerful, Salesforce Lightning has certain limitations and constraints that designers must navigate. They can include constraints on customization, such as limitations in the number of custom components that can be used on a page or restrictions on certain functionalities in Lightning components. 

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Overcoming these limitations requires a deep understanding of the platform's capabilities and constraints. Designers can collaborate closely with Salesforce administrators and developers to find creative workarounds or to identify alternative solutions that meet both user needs and platform constraints.

Ensuring compatibility across various Salesforce updates

‍Salesforce is a dynamic platform that undergoes frequent updates and releases. Designers face the challenge of ensuring that their UI/UX designs remain compatible with these updates to maintain a consistent and seamless user experience.

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To overcome this challenge, designers should stay informed about Salesforce's release notes and changes. Regular testing and quality assurance are essential to identify any issues or inconsistencies that may arise with updates. Moreover, a modular and component-based design approach can make it easier to adapt and update the Salesforce UI's specific elements without requiring a complete redesign. 

Best practices for continuous improvement in UI/UX Salesforce design

‍To ensure a superior user experience and keep pace with evolving user needs, continuous improvement in UI/UX design is essential. Here are some key strategies for maintaining and enhancing the quality of UI/UX design in Salesforce:

Gathering and incorporating user feedback regularly

‍It's essential to create mechanisms for gathering feedback from end-users, administrators, and stakeholders. This feedback can be collected through surveys, usability testing, interviews, and monitoring user behavior within the platform. By regularly seeking and incorporating user feedback, designers can identify pain points, usability issues, and areas for enhancement. This user-centric approach ensures that design changes align with actual user needs, improving the overall user experience.

How to keep yourself informed of Salesforce Lightning's new features and updates 

‍Designers should proactively stay informed about these changes by closely monitoring Salesforce's release notes and announcements. This awareness enables designers to leverage new functionalities, design patterns, and components to enhance user interfaces. By aligning design strategies with the latest Salesforce innovations, designers can keep their designs fresh, relevant, and in tune with the platform's evolving capabilities.

Here are some specific sources to stay updated:

• Salesforce Release Notes: Detailed notes on each new Salesforce release.
• Trailhead: Modules and trails focused on new features and updates.
• Salesforce Webinars and Conferences: Insights from Salesforce experts on upcoming changes.
• Trailblazer Community: A platform for discussions and sharing experiences with other Salesforce professionals.

Regularly testing and iterating designs

‍Continuous testing and iteration are fundamental to design improvement in Salesforce Lightning. Designers should employ usability testing, A/B testing, and prototype testing to identify areas for improvement and validate design decisions. Regularly testing designs with real users helps uncover usability issues and informs necessary adjustments. Furthermore, embracing an iterative design approach allows for ongoing refinement and optimization. By systematically iterating designs based on user feedback and testing results, designers can ensure that the user interface evolves to meet changing user needs and expectations.

Noltic’s experience in delivering user-friendly Salesforce interfaces 

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A UK-based technical textiles manufacturer aimed to streamline their ERP system to cut down on manual processes, reduce waste, and manage expenses more predictably. They approached us at Noltic to find a solution to their needs. 

Noltic’s design solutions:

1. ERP System Design: We created a user-friendly ERP interface to automate production tracking and inventory management. During the design phase, we emphasized clarity and simplicity in the design for ease of use by all staff.
2. Integration: Our team developed a custom application that integrated on-premise machinery data with Salesforce, providing real-time insights. Also, we designed intuitive dashboards for monitoring production metrics.
3. Accounting integration: We synchronized Salesforce with Sage 200 for automated financial tracking. Additionally, we designed a seamless interface for easy navigation between financial reports and production data.
4. Document management: Our team implemented a document generation and management system to facilitate document workflows. These solutions resulted in consistency in document design, making them easy to generate and retrieve.

Results:

• Improved inventory management accuracy.
• Significant reduction in production waste and costs.
• Enhanced operational efficiency through automation and real-time data insights.

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Learn more about Noltic’s solutions that transformed businesses in our Case studies. 

Wrapping up 

This article explored how Salesforce Lightning simplifies designing through its extensive library of customizable components, adhering to the Lightning Design System (SLDS). This system offers clear guidelines, frameworks, and design tokens for maintaining consistency and accessibility across applications. We discussed navigating limitations and constraints, ensuring compatibility with Salesforce updates, and implementing best practices in the design process.

Salesforce Lightning unlocks a world of user-friendly app development. However, mastering UI/UX design requires expertise. Noltic's team bridges that gap. We craft intuitive interfaces that facilitate workflows and increase user satisfaction.

Here is what you get by partnering with Noltic:

• Simple interfaces for productive and satisfied users.
• Fast development: our Salesforce knowledge translates to cost-effective solutions.
• Future-proof designs aligned with the latest design practices.
• Measurable results with a data-driven approach.

FAQs

What are the key steps in the UI/UX design process for Lightning Apps?

The UI/UX design process for Lightning Apps follows a similar structure to most design projects. Here's a simplified breakdown:

• Define Goals & Users: Identify your app's purpose and target users. What problems are you solving, and who will benefit most?
• Research & Analyze: Understand user needs and pain points through research methods like user interviews and competitor analysis.
• Information Architecture & Wireframing: Plan the app's structure and layout, creating low-fidelity wireframes to visualize the information hierarchy.
• Visual Design & Prototyping: Apply Salesforce Lightning Design System examples and principles for a cohesive look and feel. Develop prototypes for user testing and feedback.
• Usability Testing & Iteration: Gather user feedback through usability testing to identify areas for improvement. Based on the feedback, refine the design and iterate until you achieve an optimal user experience.
• Deployment & Maintenance: Launch your app in Salesforce and gather ongoing user feedback to inform future updates.

Do I need to be a professional designer to create effective Lightning Apps?

Not necessarily! While outsourced professional designers can create highly polished and user-friendly interfaces, there are resources available to help non-designers build effective Lightning Apps.

• Salesforce Lightning Design System (SLDS): This comprehensive resource provides design guidelines, pre-built components, and best practices for creating consistent and user-friendly Lightning Apps.
• Lightning App Builder: This user-friendly tool allows you to drag and drop components to build basic Lightning Apps without extensive coding knowledge.
• Online Tutorials & Courses: Numerous online resources offer tutorials and courses specifically focused on Lightning App design for beginners.

How can I test the usability of my Lightning App?

Usability testing is crucial for ensuring your Lightning App is easy and intuitive to use. Here are some methods for Salesforce UI testing:

• Guerilla Testing: Have colleagues or friends with no prior experience with your app test it and provide feedback.
• Remote Usability Testing Tools: Several online tools allow you to recruit remote testers and observe their interactions with your app.
• Internal Testing: Get feedback from Salesforce users within your company through surveys or in-person sessions.

What are some tips for iterating on my Lightning App design?

The design process is iterative, meaning it's okay to refine your design based on feedback. Here are some tips:

• Focus on user feedback: Prioritize addressing usability issues and areas of confusion identified during testing.
• Make small, incremental changes: Don't overhaul the entire design at once. Introduce changes gradually and test their effectiveness.
• Use A/B testing: Compare two versions of your design with a small group of users to see which one performs better.
• Gather ongoing feedback: Encourage users to provide feedback after launching the app to inform future iterations.

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