“Your website’s goal is to COMMUNICATE,
not to DECORATE the Internet”
Basics
Most web sites have problems, even ones created by experienced
and highly-paid web designers. They're either hard to navigate, confusing,
cryptic, badly organized, badly written, over-designed, under-designed, or
simply don't give the user what he or she want.
Web design is a complex discipline, and there is a tension
between designing for beauty and designing for function. However, you can make
web sites both pleasurable and functional, appealing and usable.
How real people use web pages
-
We move quickly
because we don't like
looking at the screen
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We're impatient
— we tend to click the first promising link, and often don't wait for
pages to finish loading (Put the most important stuff at the top so it loads
and is seen first.)
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We scan pages for
clues that "You're in the right place"
-
We're looking for
things to help us do what we want to do
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We decide in as
little as 1/20 of a second whether a site is appealing or not.
Scanning
Scanning is what you almost certainly do when you look at a web
page.
Instead of starting at the top and reading downwards, most
people have learnt that they get better results by scanning over the page,
looking for certain ‘clues.’
The specific 'clues to what' will depend on the context, and
very much on the user's goals. Very often the clue might be "Am I in the
right place?", or "How can I find what I'm looking for?".
When navigating around, we don't read the whole page and then
make an educated, fully informed guess. What most people do is click on the
first thing that appears to offer a fairly good chance of being the right
thing.
How to design for scanning?
You can't make people read. If visitors are going to scan, a
good designer knows how to help them find what they’re looking for on your
website.
When your eye scans a page, it only settles on a few elements:
the ones that seem most likely to be useful. There are ways of 'promoting'
elements to help them stand out to the scanning eye.
To aid scanning, we can:
- understand
what features will be most relevant and important to the user.
- apply
visual styles and techniques to help point the eye towards those elements,
and skip over the unimportant.
A good site design creates a structure that enables a clear two-way
dialogue with all its users.
Your site's goals
If
you already have a web site, or you have a site project in mind, what needs
does it fulfill? How many different needs are there? How strong are they?
The general purpose of design is to facilitate communication of
information. What is the important information that your site wants to collect
or promote?
What does your site have to do?
To best figure out how to make your website work in the intended
way, it can be very helpful to create scenarios how your website can benefit
the visitor:
Examples of scenarios:
-
"The site must
enable Janet to find out what help MyCompany can offer to help solve her
issues, as quickly as possible, and without patronizing her."
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"The site must
give Mark enough new information about MyCompany to keep him coming back
regularly to check for updates."
-
"The site
should enable Sharon to register quickly and easily."
Get to know your target market
You should base your scenarios as much as possible on facts you
know about your target market or actual user base. The best way to do this is
to do research and to interview a number of actual or typical site users.
-
Who are your visitors? Are they male or female? How old are
they?
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Think about their cultural background. What's their language?
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What skills do they have? IT skills and familiarity with using
computers.
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Are they likely to be challenged by any impairments, such as
difficulty with sight or reading? Do they have any special needs, such as
accessibility issues?
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What specific goals will drive them to use your website?
-
What will they appreciate? What would insult, annoy or upset
them? What might make the difference between a tolerable experience and a
pleasant experience? What do they expect?
-
What do they want to go away with when leaving your website?
Also remember, there is a mental conversation running in our
minds when we’re visiting a website. Try to think what NOT make people think
when visiting your site:
Design Basics
- Design around the content — not the opposite
- Some think that web design is all about the interface –
the look, and that content is what's added on later.
- The purpose of design is to enable communication between the
consumer and the content.
- It’s content that makes a site work, flow and communicate well
with the right tone.
- It's the web designer’s job to maximize a web site's
effectiveness and that means understanding how users will interact with a
site's content.
Principles of good web page design
So how do you give your readers the stuff they need in the way
that they want it?
There's nothing our brains like so much as order and meaning.
It's what they search for from the moment they encounter anything new —
and that includes your web page. If brains can't find the sense and order they
need, they soon grow exasperated and give up.
Headlines, subheads, body copy point size, pictures, colors
— are all supposed to work in a way to help the reader find the route you
want him or her to take through the website.
A bunch of stylistic touches, different colored texts, various
fonts, strong photos, etc., etc. — it may look really cool but instead of
helping the reader it might do exactly the reverse: disrupt natural eye
movement and strain the eyes by asking them to jump around the page from
element to element.
If you only want one guideline, make this it:
Your website’s goal is to communicate,
not to decorate the Internet
Everything
that goes into your web site must have a purpose!
Every
single element must help users achieve their goals and support the site's
goals.
Successful design does not always depend on attractive visuals,
though that can help. Success is primarily a result of good thinking.
Every single feature must either
-
Help your visitors
achieve their goals, or
-
Support the site's
goals without obstructing the visitor's goals
Keep it Simple
It's not as easy as
it sounds. Creating simple designs takes courage, clear vision, and skill. A
skilled web designer knows how to create a website that works and is easy to
use – it’s not only what meets the eye that needs to work smoothly.
-
Layouts that you
know work will be more likely to work for your users than complicated,
innovative designs.
-
A simple message
will be understood better than a complicated one.
-
Interactions with
simple, clear steps and few instructions will be completed by more people than
a long, wordy alternative.
-
Clear, uncluttered,
recognizable visual design will reduce cognitive friction, reduce mistakes, and
help visitors succeed.
There are also
important user benefits to gain from keeping the design simple:
-
Load faster - less
waiting
-
Render (shows up on
screen) faster — quicker responsiveness
-
Usually clearer,
easier to scan
-
Easier to navigate
Web Page Personality
If your company has a certain tone-of-voice or style for print
publishing, your designer’s goal is to translate that to your web presence.
-
Your whole message
should be punchy and to-the-point.
-
Don't cajole, or try
to intrigue, you don't have time.
-
Decide on your
site's personality, and stick to it.
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Talk about
positives, and avoid negatives, i.e. say what you do, or can do, what you
believe in, how you work, what you have done, what your experience is...
-
If you don't have as
much experience, mention any relevant experience you do have.
-
If you're young, talk
about your energy, enthusiasm and value-for-money.
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If you're a small
company, emphasize your commitment, availability, and flexibility.
-
If you have fewer
skills than competitors, turn them into specialties and focus.
Website Project Checklist
Before:
-
Decide on
your website’s goal(s)
-
Research
your target market and find out what they expect from your website
-
Make sure your
website fulfills the visitor’s need(s) and expectations
During:
-
Decide what
content to have on your website
- Make sure
the content:
- fits
your target group
- is
to the point
- answers
any potential question
- has
a good “flow” to keep the visotor’s interest
- Create a web
design around the content that enhances the experience and helps
communicate your message
- Keep it
simple!
After:
-
Check your
site for programming errors that can make it hard to use (make sure there
are no “dead” links or missing images)
-
Make sure
your website works in all major browsers and on both Mac and PC
-
Ask a few
persons from your target group to “test-drive” your website. Listen
carefully to their feed-back
-
Consider
using a professional marketing company for website promotion on the
internet
