Principles Of Web Design
Web design is the visual aesthetics and layout of a website. This goes hand in hand with web development when creating a static website or dynamic web application.
Even if you don’t consider yourself a creative person, learning how to design a web site is still a good idea. Whether you want to create static websites or dynamic web applications, design is an important part of the process. Design is the first thing people notice when they get to a website. If it is not good enough, they will leave. You don’t want to create a website that frustrates people, do you?
If you identify yourself as a creative person, you may even consider a career as a web designer. Nowadays, there is a great need for competent web designers with current skills. There is no way to sneeze.
Learn to code and you will be a great asset to many. But learn coding and design and you will be second to none!
Principles of good website design and effective guidelines for website design
To properly apply the principles, we must first understand how users interact with websites, how they think and what basic behaviours users use.
What do users think?
Basically, the habits of users on the Web do not differ significantly from the habits of customers in a store. Visitors view each new page, scan some of the text, and click on the first link that piqued their interest or vaguely resembled what they were looking for. In fact, there are large parts of the page that you don’t even look at.
Most users are looking for something interesting (or useful) and clickable. Once certain promising candidates have been found, users click. If the new page does not meet users’ expectations, click the Back button and the search continues.
- Users value quality and credibility. If a page offers high quality content to users, they are ready to compromise the content through advertising and website design. This is the reason why poorly designed websites with high quality content get a lot of traffic for years.
- Users don’t read, they scan. Users look for fixed points or anchors that guide them through the content of the page.
- Internet users are impatient and insist on instant gratification. Very simple principle: if a website cannot meet user expectations, the designer has not done his job properly and the company loses money. The higher the cognitive load and the less intuitive the navigation, the more likely users are to leave the website and search for alternatives. [JN / DWU]
- Users do not make optimal decisions. They also do not analyse the website in a linear fashion and pass successively from one section of the site to another. Instead, users are satisfied; You choose the first reasonable option. As soon as you find a link that could lead to the goal, chances are it will be clicked immediately. Optimization is difficult and time consuming. Satisfying is more effective.
- Users follow their intuition. In most cases, users are confused instead of reading the information provided by a designer. According to Steve Krug, the main reason is that users don’t care.
- Users want to stay in control. Users want to be able to control their browser and rely on a consistent presentation of data on the site. For example, they don’t want new windows to appear unexpectedly and they want to be able to return to the site they were on with a back button. It is therefore advisable never to open links in new browser windows.
1. Don’t let users think
According to Krug’s first usability law, the website must be obvious and explicit. When you create a website, you need to remove the question marks – the choices users have to make consciously, taking into account the pros, cons and alternatives.
If the navigation and architecture of the site are not intuitive, the number of question marks increases and it becomes more difficult for users to understand.
2.Don’t lose the patience of the users
In each project, if you want to offer your visitors a service or a tool, try to limit user needs as much as possible. The less action users take to test a service, the more likely it is that a random visitor will try it. New visitors are ready to play with the service and not fill out long web forms for an account they may never use in the future. Let users explore the site and discover your services without forcing them to share private information. There is no need to force users to enter an email address to test the functionality.
As Ryan Singer – developer of the 37Signals team – notes, users would probably like to provide an email address if they asked for it after seeing the feature in order to get an idea of what they would get in return.
3.Manage to focus user attention
Since websites provide both static and dynamic content, some aspects of the user interface attract more attention than others. The images are obviously more striking than the text – just like the bold sentences are more attractive than the plain text.
The human eye is a highly non-linear device and web users can instantly see edges, patterns and movements. For this reason, video advertising is extremely boring and entertaining, but from a marketing point of view, it perfectly attracts the attention of users.
Humanized perfectly uses the principle of concentration. Subtle reviews give users enough information on how to learn more about the “free” product.
4. Aim for functional exposure
Modern web designs are generally criticized for guiding users with visually appealing 1-2-3 steps, large buttons with visual effects, etc. From a design point of view, however, these elements are not a bad thing. On the contrary, these guidelines are extremely effective as they guide visitors through the content of the website in a very simple and user-friendly way.
We combine visual appeal with a clear site structure.
It is a basic principle for a successful user interface design to make it clear to the user what functions are available. No matter how it is done. It is essential that the content is well understood and that visitors feel comfortable with the way they interact with the system.
5.Use effective writing
Since the Web is different from printing, the writing style must be adapted to users’ preferences and browsing habits. Advertising letters will not be read. Long blocks of text without images or keywords in bold italics are ignored. Exaggerated language is ignored.
Talk about business. Avoid cute or smart names, names related to marketing, company-specific names, and unknown technical names. For example, if you are describing a service and want users to create an account, “Sign in” is better than “Start now!” It’s better than “exploring our services again”.
6.Strive for simplicity
The principle of “keeping things simple” (HIS) should be the main objective of the site design. Users are rarely on a website to enjoy the design. In addition, in most cases, they seek information despite the design. Look for simplicity rather than complexity.
From a visitor’s point of view, the best website design is plain text with no ads or other block of content that exactly matches the query that visitors used or the content they were looking for. This is one of the reasons why a user-friendly printed version of web pages is essential for a good user experience.
Frequently Asked Questions
Que.1 What does a web designer do?
A web designer is a person who is both creative and technical who uses both attributes to create or redesign websites. The web designer has the ability to understand what is necessary to make a website functional and user-friendly, while making it aesthetically pleasing to the user.
Que.2 How can I learn web design?