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Web design is complex.
Designers and developers must consider the website's visual appearance and functionality. The process of designing can be complicated because there are so many factors to consider.
This article will focus on the key principles, heuristics and approaches that will allow you to create an amazing user experience for your website.
We will start with the global aspects, such as user flows (how to structure a website), and then move down to each page (what to look at when designing a web page). Other aspects of design will be covered, including testing and mobile users considerations.
Designing User Flows
Your user flow is the way that your visitor navigates through your website. Web page design doesn't mean creating pages but creating flows.
The visitor follows a path from their entry point (the page they land on) to the action you want them to take (typically, a sign-up or purchase). These steps will help you to determine the user flow of your website.
Information Architecture
Information architecture (IA) is a discipline that helps you organize information clearly and logically. Information architects study how people organize information to create a hierarchy that meets their expectations.
Solid user research and usability testing are the key ingredients of good IA.
There are many ways to gather user needs. Information architects often participate in user interviews, card sorting and moderated usability tests.
This allows them to observe how users interact with the design and give their feedback.
Navigation Worldwide
Usability is built on navigation. Visitors will only leave your website if they can navigate it. The navigation of your website should follow a few guidelines:
- Simplicity: Visitors should be able to navigate your site in as few clicks as possible.
- Clarity: No one should be confused about the meaning of each navigation option.
- Consistency: All pages of the website should use the same navigation system.
These are some things to consider when designing navigation:
- Choose a Navigation Style that Best Suits the Needs of your Users: If your users don't know the meaning of the icon, you should avoid hamburger menu navigation.
- Prioritize Navigation Options: A great design team will prioritize navigation options based on common user tasks. This takes into account both priority and frequency.
- Make it Easily Visible: Reduce cognitive load by making navigation options always visible. Visitors will only find navigation options if they are visible.
- Communicate Current Location: This is a problem that many websites have. Visitors asking "Where are We?" will know you need to improve your navigation. Large websites should include location indicators such as breadcrumbs.
Web links: Visual and Functional Design
Links dominate web navigation. The usability of the links is directly affected by their visual and functional design.
These interactive elements require you to follow a few guidelines:
- Be aware of the Differences Between External and Internal Links: Users expect different behaviors from external and internal links. All internal links should be opened in the same tab to make it easy for visitors to use the "back".
- Change the Colors of Visited Links: Users could accidentally revisit the same pages several times if visited links don't change their color.
- Double-Check your Links: It can be frustrating to land on a page with a 404 error. To find broken links on your website, use Dead Link Checker.
Individual Pages Design
After we have reviewed the basic principles of user flow, let's now learn how to design individual web pages. We've compiled the most important website design guidelines below.
Content Strategy
The most important thing when designing a web page is to consider the page's goals.
This is done by creating a content strategy, which refers to planning, creating, and managing your website's content. Each page has a different goal. For example, each page may be designed to inform visitors or encourage them to convert.
Only after you have understood the page's purpose can you begin to design the page or write the content.
These are some practical tips to help you think through your content strategy:
- Avoid Information Overload: Visitors can be overwhelmed by too much information. There are a few simple ways to reduce information overload. A common technique is to chunk: Breaking down content into smaller chunks to make it easier for users to understand and process. This is evident in a checkout form. You can display up to five to seven input fields simultaneously and break down the checkout process into simple steps like this screenshot.
- Don't use Jargon or Industry Terms: Visitors will need help understanding any unknown terms or phrases on your page. It is best to write for everyone and choose words easily understood by all.
- Minimize Long Sentences: Write in small, scannable segments. Robert Gunning's book, "How to Take the Fog Out of Business Writing", states that sentences should not exceed 20 words.
- Do Not Capitalize any Letters: For logos and acronyms, all-caps text works fine. It's better to avoid using all caps for paragraphs and form labels.
Page Structure
Visitors will find every user interface element on a properly designed page. There aren't any one-size-fits-all rules for website design.
However, these guidelines can help you to create a solid structure.
- Be Consistent: Look at your competitors' websites and identify common design patterns. Then, align your website with user expectations using design patterns familiar to your target audience.
- Use Layout Grids: Layout grids divide a page into main regions and define the relationships between elements according to their size and positions. A grid makes it easier to combine different pages into a coherent layout.
- Privatize the Essential Elements with a Low-Fidelity Wireframe: Wireframing is a time-saver for web designers. Make a wireframe before you start building the page. Analyze it and eliminate anything not necessary.
Content Loading
Although an immediate response is the best, there will be times when visitors may need to wait for your website to respond.
Bad Internet connections can cause slow responses, and the operation may take longer to complete. No matter what the reason, your website must appear responsive and fast. These are some of the ways you can achieve this.
- Regular Loading Should Take a Little Bit of Time: Our natural attention spans could be longer. Nielsen Norman Group research shows that the limit is 10 seconds. Visitors who have to wait for websites to load can become frustrated and leave. Users will leave even if the loading indicator is well-designed.
- Use Skeleton Screens During Loading: Numerous websites use progress indicators to indicate that data is loading. Although the purpose of a progress indicator can be positive, it can also provide visual feedback. It's like looking at the clock ticking down--when it does, time seems slower."
These screens can be replaced with skeleton screens. These containers act as a temporary blank page into which information can be slowly loaded.
Designers can create a skeleton screen to focus the user's attention on actual progress and build anticipation for what's next. It feels as if things are happening instantly because the information is presented incrementally on the screen.
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Buttons
Buttons are interactive UI elements which play a crucial role in conversational flow. These are the best button practices:
- Make Sure Clickable Elements Look Clickable: Users can tell how an object looks by the way it looks. Users can be confused easily by visual elements that appear like buttons or links but need to be clickable. For example, underlined words and elements with a rectangular background that aren't buttons or links that don't have underlined text, which look similar to buttons or links,
- Label Buttons According to Their Purpose: Any actionable interface element label should always be tied back to the intended purpose of the button. This can be done with descriptive labels. Users will feel more at ease knowing what an action button does. Vague labels like "Submit" or abstract labels like the one below don't give enough information about the action.
- Consistently Design Buttons: Users retain details whether they are conscious of it. They associate certain elements' shapes with button functionality when browsing websites. Visual consistency not only makes a website look great but also makes it easier for visitors to predict the behavior of an element. This is illustrated perfectly in the image below. Three different buttons will confuse your user.
Imagery
A picture is worth a thousand pictures, as the old saying goes. Images are powerful tools for grabbing the attention of humans, who are visual creatures.
One image can communicate more information to the user than a complex text block. Images can also cross language barriers in ways that text cannot.
These principles will allow you to integrate imagery into your web design:
- Make Sure your Images Convey the Right Message: Choose images that support your product goals and are clear.
- Avoid Using Generic Photos of People: Engaging users with human faces is a great way. Visitors will believe the company or product is real when they see human faces. Many corporate websites use stock photos to help build trust. Visitors may begin to question the authenticity of the photos they see.
- High-Quality Assets Should not be Distorted: Your website's visual assets can greatly impact how users perceive you. Visitors will doubt the quality and reliability of your products if they are pixelated. Make sure you test different resolutions for different devices.
Read More: Ultimate Guide to hire cost-effective Web Development Agency
Videos
Videos are becoming more popular with increasing Internet speeds. This is especially true considering how they can extend your time on-site.
Video is now everywhere. It's everywhere: on smartphones, tablets, desktops and laptops. Video is one of the most powerful tools for engaging your audience when used well.
It conveys more emotion and gives you a feeling for the product or service.
These are some recommendations for using video on your website:
- Audio can be Set to "Off" by Default: You can turn it off. Users don't expect any sound to play on a webpage. Users might not enjoy sudden, unexpected audio if they are in public places and don't have headphones. Most users will leave the site as soon as the audio starts.
- Promo Videos Should be Kept as Short as Possible: According to D-Mak Productions research, shorter videos are more popular with users. Keep business videos under two- to three minutes.
- Offer an Alternative Method to Access Content: Design your products to be accessible to people with different abilities. Include captions and a complete transcript of the video for accessibility.
Call-To-Action Buttons
CTAs (calls-to-action) are buttons that direct users to your conversion goal. CTAs are designed to direct users to take a specific action.
CTAs come in many forms, including:
- Start a trial
- Download the book
- Sign up to receive updates
- "Get a consultation"
Here are some things to keep in mind when designing CTA buttons:
- Size. Your CTA should be large enough that it attracts attention. You can determine the size by running a quick test that takes five seconds. Take five seconds to look at a website and then list the elements you can recall. Congratulations if the CTA is one of the elements. It is properly sized.
- Increased Visual Prominence. Certain buttons can stand out by being more prominent. CTAs are best when they have contrasting colors. They make striking buttons.
- Negative Space. The visual hierarchy of elements is influenced by the space surrounding a CTA. The button is separated from the rest of the interface by white (or negative space).
- Labels. Use actionable text for CTA labels. This will encourage visitors to take action. Use strong verbs like "Start," "Get," or "Join."
Use Web Forms
Users on the internet are most familiar with filling out forms. Users must be able to complete forms quickly and with clarity.
These design tips will help you improve the form design:
- Only Ask What is Necessary: Each additional field you add to a form can affect its conversion rate. Users will only be motivated to give the information if you ask a few questions. Consider why you are asking for certain information and how you intend to use it.
- Use Logic to Complete the Form: It might seem odd to ask for someone's address before their name.
- You can Group Related Fields: The flow between one set of questions and the next is created by grouping. The user can also make sense of the information by grouping similar fields.
Animation
Animation is an important tool to facilitate interaction. To enhance the user experience, more designers incorporate animation into their designs.
Animation in design can improve the user experience, but it must be used at the right place and time. Good UI animation serves a purpose. It is functional and meaningful.
These are just a few animation examples that can improve the user experience.
- User Action is Visual Feedback: Good interaction design gives feedback. Visual feedback can be helpful when you want to inform users about an operation's outcome. Functional animation can help you to identify a problem. For example, a shake animation can indicate the user entered an incorrect password.
- System Status Visibility: A website must provide visual feedback to users so they can see what is happening in the system. Users need to be able to identify their current context at all times. Functional animation is a great choice for data uploading and downloading. An animated loading bar, for example, shows how fast a process moves and sets expectations about how fast it will end.
- Navigational Transitions: Navigating between states is a way to move from one view to another on a website. Functional animation connects the two states and seamlessly transports users between them.
- Parallax Effects: Parallax is a common technique in web design where the background scrolls at a slower speed than the foreground content. This effect can add dynamism and movement to web layouts. Learn more about parallax best practices here.
- Branding: A well-crafted animation creates an emotional connection with the visitor. It can help highlight a product's strengths and make the user experience memorable and delightful.
Ten Most Common Web Design Mistakes Small Businesses Make
It is now possible to have a unique and engaging website. Poor websites can prevent businesses from losing customers and cost them money.
This happens all too often. Small business owners often design their websites themselves to save money and retain more control. Sometimes they don't understand the principles of good web design practices and end up with a less-than-perfect website.
Web Design is, at its core, a form of art. Web design is a form of art. It aims to create an experience for its visitors.
Web designers need to follow certain rules, both spoken and unspoken. People often ignore these rules, which is why websites like this occur (ps. This website is a joke...but we have seen sites that make it challenging! ).
Do not be that website. These are the biggest web design trends of blueprints that small business owners make:
1. Too Much to Do
Your website should include relevant business information. Only visitors who get to your site within seconds will leave.
This is a good thing to remember, but it can also lead small business owners to overcrowd their sites. A crowded website is not only a bad idea but also a myth. Websites with many images, text and other items will take longer to load and confuse visitors.
Avoid using busy designs.
2. Too Little Going On
Websites with very little content are at the opposite end of this spectrum. Using minimal design elements is a popular trend, but it can work if done right.
Many small business websites leave too much room for imagination and need to be more cryptic. Another mistake is this. Visitors want to know more about you and your business. Your visitors will be left guessing if you rely too heavily on imagery that doesn't provide clear direction.
3. Too Confusing
The feared "confused brand website" is somewhere in the middle. A confused website uses a variety of fonts, images and color palettes.
They also have themes that don't relate to each other. There are many reasons this can happen. This can happen if you need to know what your brand looks like.
This can happen if you have too many design templates that you want to use. This can also occur when you try to communicate too many ideas simultaneously and see your website as individual parts rather than as a whole.
Choose one theme, one logo and one typeface when designing a website. Keep them consistent across all aspects of the site.
4. A Terrible CTA
Your CTA is the gateway to your business. It tells your visitors what to do: Click here! Get a coupon! Find out more about this product.
It is essential that your CTA clearly explains what visitors need to do. Visitors should have enough information to know what they will get by taking action and what information they must provide.
However, it's important to be helpful without being irritating. Your CTA should be clear and concise. You should keep form-filling to an absolute minimum and allow customers to spend a few minutes on the page before they see the CTA.
5. Poor Content and Whitespace Use
Your website's content is an essential part of your marketing campaign. Your content tells visitors about your business and your services or products.
Pay attention to how the content is presented on the page and your fonts.
Your brand's typeface is more than the words you write. Make sure your font choice is legible and appealing. Make sure to use whitespace to draw the eye around your website and make large blocks of text less intimidating.
Many people need to incorporate more text on their websites. You should break up the text and use visual elements to illustrate concepts. Customers might believe you are out of business if your content needs to be updated regularly.
6. Images That Are Both Ugly And Irrelevant
Web design decisions also include graphics and photos. Images are a great way to convey complex ideas quickly and without reading any text.
Many businesses use low-quality or irrelevant images. Images of low quality can cause problems on your website and deter visitors. In the same way, unrelated images can confuse your visitors and make them wonder what you are trying to communicate.
7. Hidden Navigation
Navigation issues will quickly impact your website's popularity. People are used to getting everything in a flash, so anything more than that will cause them to abandon your website.
One common web design process error is making your navigation menu difficult to find. Are you a frequent visitor to websites that don't have a search bar or menu? It's infuriating. It's frustrating.
8. You Are Missing Your Target
You understand the importance of knowing your target audience as a small business owner. You have probably spent hours researching customer profiles and finding ways to get their attention.
This is equally important in web design. Your site's appearance and feel will attract certain types of visitors. Some websites are professional, others are more modern and trendy, while others are playful and fun.
Sometimes a website attempts to appeal to too many people. Websites that try to please too many customers will end up needing clarification. You must identify and profile your target audience before catering to them.
9. Inadequacy Of Contact Information
A lack of contact information is a common error. Visitors must decide to purchase your products or use your services as soon as possible.
They must have all their contact information before deciding to use your company. Visitors who must navigate your website for contact information will be frustrated and likely leave. You should ensure your "Contact Us" page is always a click away.
Or, you should have your information at the bottom of every page.
10. Advertisements in All the Wrong Places
Advertising is an essential evil in the web design world, especially blogs, where it is one of the main income streams.
Too many or flashy ads can frustrate visitors and prevent you from losing business. Your ads should be viewed as a bird's eye view. It will undoubtedly affect your visitors if they bother you in any way.
Pop-ups are worth extra attention. Pop-ups are making a comeback. However, they should be easy to close and take up only a small screen space.
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Conclusion
Do you want to learn more about the intersection of UX and UI Design? You can learn the necessary skills by taking online UI Design Patterns and Design Thinking: You can earn an industry-recognized certificate for taking a course to advance your career.
You can also take the online course User Experience (or any other design topic) to refresh your knowledge of UX and Usability.
These web design tips are only a starting point.
These ideas can be combined with your own to achieve the best results. Your website should be considered a living project. You can always improve it by using analytics and user feedback.
Remember that design guides are not just for designers but also for users.
