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WEB DESIGN ARTICLES |
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| Web
design do's and don'ts |
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Summary
- If you are about to launch your website
or you are a designer working on a client's
website, this article is a must read for you.
Given here are some of the most commonly missed
web design principles that must be followed
as per several surveys done over the past
decade.
Consistency
Consistency is the key to any website's success.
Make the user relate to your website rather
than scaring him away by showing jazzy navigations
and funky design elements, or worst still,
changing your website's design on every page.
Best idea would be to follow design elements
that an average internet user is very much
accustomed to. Design elements, such as a
standard top navigation or a simple left navigation,
are something internet audiences have been
using since ages and they have figured their
way in and out of them. With such elements
your website users don't have to figure out
much on the first visit, they can simply follow
their intuitions. Since they are seeing what
they expect they will feel in control of the
system rather than the system controlling
them.
Following website design standards also ensure
that users: |
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- Already know what features to expect,
- know how these features will look in
the interface,
- know where to find these features on
the site and on the page,
- know how to operate each feature to
achieve their goal,
- don't have to ponder the meaning of
unknown design elements,
- don't miss important features because
they overlook a non-standard design element,
- don't get nasty surprises when something
doesn't work as expected.
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In case you have all plans to try a new system
altogether for your website, like the find-me-if-you-can
menus seen on many web design portfolio websites,
make sure you follow them consistently through
out the site to make your audiences used to
it. An unconventional user interface might
work for media, photographic, or even personal
websites, but if the idea behind your site
is to provide a good amount of information
to the user, it's advisable not to go too
far from standards.
Flash and other media elements such as video,
MP3 etc. should be used only when there is
a need. Flash can be used to emphasize key
information or better still to demonstrate
some functionality. The latest version of
Flash is has amazing features to add functionality
to a website.
So, the idea is to use media elements sensible
and if-and-when required. Despite such good
intentions, most of the Flash that Web users
encounter each day is bad Flash with no purpose
beyond annoying people. The one bright point
is that splash screens and Flash intros are
almost extinct. They are so bad that even
the most clueless Web designers won't recommend
them, even though a few (even more clueless)
clients continue to request them.
Browser compatibility
This must be the most annoying task for a
web designer. Although a lot of browser incompatibility
issues have been taken care in past 2-3 years,
but even now we see some minor disagreements
between the leading web browsers.
You like it or not, web users choose to browse
web on the browser of their choice. So rather
than turning them away just because they use
a different platform, it is a must to design
a website that performs reasonable alike on
major web browsers (IE and Firefox for sure)
Form Pages
Try to keep your forms short and to the point.
Big forms, featuring too many unnecessary
questions and options tend to irritate a user.
Try top cut all the questions that are really
not needed. For example, do you really to
know the first and last names in separate
text boxes?
Navigation
Even the web-design-for-dummies book will
tell you the importance of easy to use navigation
system. But surprisingly a lot of webmasters
seem to restrict this fundamental principle
to the positioning and appearance of their
website's menu system/navigation.
Apart from look and feel of your menu system,
here are two essential elements of internet
navigation that will do wonders for your site
audience, especially the ones who are visiting
it for the first time: |
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- Bread crumb navigation: This in simple
words is a trail of user's journey through
a website and is seen in a lot of well
designed websites, somewhere above the
body text (see the picture below).
A good idea of past navigation helps you
understand your current location. Knowing
where you came from and where you are
helps you decide where to go next.
- Color of visited links: Changing the
color of visited links is another finer
detail that a lot of web designers miss
out on. Knowing which pages they've already
visited frees users from unintentionally
revisiting the same pages over and over
again.
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Text
Formatting
Content placement and formatting of body text
is often overlooked while designing a website.
A lot of web masters forget that the main
purpose of the user visiting a website is
to get information. A long copy with no highlighting
or formatting is not just boring, but also
lacking emphasis on key information points.
Some design elements that should always be
used which laying text in HTML: |
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- Headings and subheadings
- Bulleted or numbered lists
- Properly highlighted keywords
- Short paragraphs
- Appropriate use of color or font style
to show hyperlinks
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| Get
your website
analyzed for FREE to know what additional
functionalities can be added to it. If you
already know what functionality the web site
requires, request
a FREE quote now to get a detailed proposal. |
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