Your user doesn’t prefer your design

By Dave Bitter

3 min read

As developers and designers, we make a plethora of design decisions while building a website. We try to cater to everybody, but that is an impossible task. So how can we listen to some of the preferences of our users?

Your user doesn’t _prefer_ your design
Authors

The new Apple Vision Pro has been a lot in the news lately. This new device comes with a new design language in the new VisionOS. One of the key characteristics that stood out to me was the “frosted glass” backgrounds being used everywhere. Whilst looking great, not all people will appreciate this as they may find it difficult to see.

A person using the Apple Vision Pro showing three transparent screens around them

Since the backdrop-filter CSS property was added with a value of blur() we can create the same frosted glass effect on the web. So this got me thinking, is there a way I could still use this, but only when the user doesn’t mind? It turns out, there is a Media Query for that!

prefers-reduced-transparency (experimental)

You can use the experimental Media Query prefers-reduced-transparency to alter your design based on the preference the user sets on their device. This can be either no-preference or reduce and can be changed here:

  • In Windows 10/11: Settings > Personalization > Colors > Transparency effects.
  • In macOS: System Preferences > Accessibility > Display > Reduce transparency.
  • In iOS: Settings > Accessibility > Display & Text Size > Reduce Transparency.

For example, you can do this:

.blurred {
  background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.2);
  backdrop-filter: blur(4px);
}

@media (prefers-reduced-transparency: reduce) {
  .blurred {
    background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);
    backdrop-filter: blur(10);
  }
}

As you might notice, I don’t completely remove the transparency. I mean, you could, but the key part in this media query is the word reduce. You can still offer the nice design you want, but with the users preference in mind.

Other Media Queries for user preferences

There are a few more Media Queries, some experimental, for user preferences. A quick overview:

prefers-reduced-motion

Many users might feel nauseous when large elements on the screen are animated. They might turn on reduced motion in their system settings. Your browser can detect this and you can provide a reduced version of the animation:

@keyframes slideDown {
  0% {
    transform: translateY(-100%);
  }
  100% {
    transform: translateY(0);
  }
}

@keyframes fadeIn {
  0% {
    opacity: 0;
  }
  100% {
    opacity: 1;
  }
}

.animated {
  animation: slideDown 500ms ease-in-out forwards;
}

@media (prefers-reduced-motion: reduce) {
  .animated {
    animation: fadeIn 200ms linear forwards;
  }
}

Here we still have an animation, but it’s a simple fade of 200 milliseconds.

prefers-contrast

A large portion of you users may find difficulty in reading the text on the screen with low contrast. Besides having a solid contrast as a base, you might want to provide an increased contrast for people who have that setting turned on as they need it. You can increase the contrast for those users like so:

.article {
  background-color: #cfcfcf;
  color: #444444;
}

@media (prefers-contrast: more) {
  .article {
    background-color: #ffffff;
    color: #111111;
  }
}

Naturally, you can change a variety of CSS attributes to increase contrast.

prefers-color-scheme

Probably one of the better known Media Queries is prefers-color-scheme. This Media Query allows you to change the styling based on whether the user is using “light mode” or “dark mode”:

.page {
  background-color: #ffffff;
  color: #111111;
}

@media (prefers-color-scheme: dark) {
  .page {
    background-color: #111111;
    color: #ffffff;
  }
}

prefers-reduced-data (experimental)

The user preferences might not even be visual. By using prefers-reduced-data you can reduce the data consumption of your styling. For example, you might decide to not load a custom font for these user or load a smaller image size for a background-image (or perhaps even none at all):

.header {
  background-image: url('large-image.png');
}

@media (prefers-reduced-data: reduce) {
  .header {
    background-image: url('small-image.png');
  }
}

Work together as developers and designers

Many of these Media Queries require a joined effort from both developers and designers. For example, when implementing the prefers-reduced-motion Media Query, both disciplines have to create an animation with reduced motion together and test it with actual users who’d benefit from this. As developers, I feel it is our duty to raise awareness at the designers we work with about these possibilities on the web to create a better user experience for all!

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  • Coven of Wisdom - Herentals - Winter `24 edition

    Worstelen jij en je team met automated testing en performance? Kom naar onze meetup waar ervaren sprekers hun inzichten en ervaringen delen over het bouwen van robuuste en efficiënte applicaties. Schrijf je in voor een avond vol kennis, heerlijk eten en een mix van creativiteit en technologie! 🚀 18:00 – 🚪 Deuren open 18:15 – 🍕 Food & drinks 19:00 – 📢 Talk 1 20:00 – 🍹 Kleine pauze 20:15 – 📢 Talk 2 21:00 – 🙋‍♀️ Drinks 22:00 – 🍻 Tot de volgende keer? Tijdens deze meetup gaan we dieper in op automated testing en performance. Onze sprekers delen heel wat praktische inzichten en ervaringen. Ze vertellen je hoe je effectieve geautomatiseerde tests kunt schrijven en onderhouden, en hoe je de prestaties van je applicatie kunt optimaliseren. Houd onze updates in de gaten voor meer informatie over de sprekers en hun specifieke onderwerpen. Over iO Wij zijn iO: een groeiend team van experts die end-to-end-diensten aanbieden voor communicatie en digitale transformatie. We denken groot en werken lokaal. Aan strategie, creatie, content, marketing en technologie. In nauwe samenwerking met onze klanten om hun merken te versterken, hun digitale systemen te verbeteren en hun toekomstbestendige groei veilig te stellen. We helpen klanten niet alleen hun zakelijke doelen te bereiken. Samen verkennen en benutten we de eindeloze mogelijkheden die markten in constante verandering bieden. De springplank voor die visie is talent. Onze campus is onze broedplaats voor innovatie, die een omgeving creëert die talent de ruimte en stimulans geeft die het nodig heeft om te ontkiemen, te ontwikkelen en te floreren. Want werken aan de infinite opportunities van morgen, dat doen we vandaag.

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  • Mastering Event-Driven Design

    PLEASE RSVP SO THAT WE KNOW HOW MUCH FOOD WE WILL NEED Are you and your team struggling with event-driven microservices? Join us for a meetup with Mehmet Akif Tütüncü, a senior software engineer, who has given multiple great talks so far and Allard Buijze founder of CTO and founder of AxonIQ, who built the fundaments of the Axon Framework. RSVP for an evening of learning, delicious food, and the fusion of creativity and tech! 🚀 18:00 – 🚪 Doors open to the public 18:15 – 🍕 Let’s eat 19:00 – 📢 Getting Your Axe On Event Sourcing with Axon Framework 20:00 – 🍹 Small break 20:15 – 📢 Event-Driven Microservices - Beyond the Fairy Tale 21:00 – 🙋‍♀️ drinks 22:00 – 🍻 See you next time? Details: Getting Your Axe On - Event Sourcing with Axon Framework In this presentation, we will explore the basics of event-driven architecture using Axon Framework. We'll start by explaining key concepts such as Event Sourcing and Command Query Responsibility Segregation (CQRS), and how they can improve the scalability and maintainability of modern applications. You will learn what Axon Framework is, how it simplifies implementing these patterns, and see hands-on examples of setting up a project with Axon Framework and Spring Boot. Whether you are new to these concepts or looking to understand them more, this session will provide practical insights and tools to help you build resilient and efficient applications. Event-Driven Microservices - Beyond the Fairy Tale Our applications need to be faster, better, bigger, smarter, and more enjoyable to meet our demanding end-users needs. In recent years, the way we build, run, and operate our software has changed significantly. We use scalable platforms to deploy and manage our applications. Instead of big monolithic deployment applications, we now deploy small, functionally consistent components as microservices. Problem. Solved. Right? Unfortunately, for most of us, microservices, and especially their event-driven variants, do not deliver on the beautiful, fairy-tale-like promises that surround them.In this session, Allard will share a different take on microservices. We will see that not much has changed in how we build software, which is why so many “microservices projects” fail nowadays. What lessons can we learn from concepts like DDD, CQRS, and Event Sourcing to help manage the complexity of our systems? He will also show how message-driven communication allows us to focus on finding the boundaries of functionally cohesive components, which we can evolve into microservices should the need arise.

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    PLEASE RSVP SO THAT WE KNOW HOW MUCH FOOD WE WILL NEED What distinguishes a software developer from a software team lead? As a team leader, you are responsible for people, their performance, and motivation. Your output is the output of your team. Whether you are a front-end or back-end developer, or any other discipline that wants to grow into the role of a tech lead, RSVP for an evening of learning, delicious food, and the fusion of leadership and tech! 🚀 18:00 – 🚪 Doors open to the public 18:15 – 🍕 Let’s eat 19:00 – 📢 First round of Talks 19:45 – 🍹 Small break 20:00 – 📢 Second round of Talks 20:45 – 🙋‍♀️ drinks 21:00 – 🍻 See you next time? First Round of Talks: Pixel Perfect and Perfectly Insane: About That Time My Brain Just Switched Off Remy Parzinski, Design System Lead at Logius Learn from Remy how you can care for yourself because we all need to. Second Round of Talks: Becoming a LeadDev at your client; How to Fail at Large (or How to Do Slightly Better) Arno Koehler Engineering Manager @ iO What are the things that will help you become a lead engineer? Building Team Culture (Tales of trust and positivity) Michel Blankenstein Engineering Manager @ iO & Head of Technology @ Zorggenoot How do you create a culture at your company or team? RSVP now to secure your spot, and let's explore the fascinating world of design systems together!

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