Effective Web Design Techniques

Effective Web Design Techniques You Should Apply

When creating an effective website design, it’s important to understand that visual design doesn’t determine the success of a site. Instead, usability and utility do. After all, it’s the user that decides if a site is viewable. User-centric designs have become an industry standard for the most profitable and successful sites. The following are tips & latest web design techniques.

If a user finds that they can’t use a given function, they will often become frustrated and leave the site. In truth, it would be better to not offer a feature than to have it available but not working properly. We won’t go into detail concerning implementation. If the reader needs this information, they will find a large amount of it on the web.

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Instead, we will look at the major principles of heuristics and approaches for the development of a profitable site. After all,  effective web design techniques when used correctly can lead to more sophisticated design decisions and may simplify the process of perceiving the presented information.

Just as “beauty is in the eye of the beholder” so is the web design’s effectiveness. It’s not just about form (visual aspects) anymore. Function (how easy is the site to use) now plays a large part in how users will judge the site.

First though, to use modern web design techniques/principles properly we will need to understand how users interact with websites. That is how do they think about it and what are the basic patterns of user behavior when interacting with the site.

Effective Web Design Techniques

Focus on your users

Focus on your users
Image source: stgitalian.com

A user’s habits on the web aren’t that different from what researchers see in a store. They will glance at each new page and scan a small amount of text. They will then click on the first thing to catch their interest or that resembles what they are looking for. The truth is that users often ignore vast amounts of information found on a site.

Most of them will only want entertaining information. As soon as something catches their attention they will click the link. However, if it doesn’t hold their interest, they hit the back button and will continue the search. Below is a list of common user behavior that every web designer should understand.

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effective web design techniques

Users appreciate quality and credibility. They scan rather than read and demand instant gratification. Users may not make optimal choices, so you must tell them or direct them to what they should be doing.

Krug’s first law of usability states that effective web design techniques should be evident and self-explanatory. When creating a site the first job is to remove as many questions as you can. Decisions, when made by users, need to be made consciously.

These decisions need to be made with all pros, cons, and alternatives considered. If your site’s navigation and architecture aren’t intuitive, then the number of questions will grow. This will make it harder for users to comprehend. Making it difficult for them to travel from A to B. A clear structure with moderate visual clues that are easily recognizable helps your users to find the pathway to the information they desire.

Precedence

Precedence
Image source: soverin.net

A good web design, more than other forms of design, should be all about information. It’s one of the most valuable weapons a web designer has, and it’s known as precedence. While navigating a good design, the user is led through the page by its design. Precedence is mostly concerned with how much weight each visual detail is given.

An example is the placement of the logo. It’s one of the biggest items on the page. The logo is best set in the left-hand corner as researchers have determined that this is where the eye is first drawn. This placement works for everyone since the user knows immediately that they are on the right site. That said, here’s a website redesign checklist you can follow to make your site visitors stay.

Make it simple

Make it simple
Image source:
purgotea.com

Whenever you offer a visitor a service or tool to try out keep the requirements to a bare minimum. The less action required from the user to test a service the more likely they are to try it. A first-time user may be willing to play around with a service or tool they are considering purchasing.

Yet they may be less ready to try it if they are required to fill out an extended form. This is particularly true if they feel it’s asking for too much personal information. You should also consider that don’t want to give personal information to a new website until they begin to trust it.

It’s better to allow the visitor to explore the site without gathering an unnecessary amount of personal data. For example, a newsletter may need an e-mail address but not a phone number. Many services don’t need either. Also, the person may fear a phone call with a high-pressure salesperson, which will drive them to a different more lenient site.

Check out: Top Web Design Trends

Draw attention to the elements that you want users to see first

Draw attention to the elements that you want users to see first
Image source: heapanalytics.com

An effective web design technique offers both static and dynamic content. Some of these aspects, such as images, will draw the eye quicker than plain text just as bold text draws attention faster than ordinary text.

The human eye is highly non-linear, and web users can quickly recognize edges, patterns, and motion. For this reason, video-based advertisements are annoying and distracting to so many users. However, as an effective web design example, video can do a good job of capturing a user’s attention and be a good marketing ploy.

Navigation

One of the most frustrating experiences for any user can have on a website is being unable to figure out where they are or how to get somewhere. The good news is that almost all web designers have mastered these skills. However, there are still some sites that are just not up to par. There are two aspects of design that all developers must learn:

Make it predictable

Make it predictable
Image source: weblounge.be

There are a few rules that need to be remembered here. Most importantly is that navigation buttons should look like, well, navigation buttons. The text on them should explicitly state where the button will take a user. Also though this seems to be a common sense the designer needs to ensure that the buttons work and is usable for navigation.

For example, if you use a rollover sub-menu make sure the person can get to the sub-menu without losing the rollover feature. Similarly, you can change the color or image on a roll-over menu. This feature is an excellent form of feedback for your users.

There are many ways in that a designer can use to keep their users orientated. In a small site, it can be as easy as using large headings or a “down” button in the menu. For a greater and more complex site, the designer might include a “breadcrumb” trail, sub-headings or for the truly lost a sitemap could be employed.

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Good copy helps more than you imagine

Good copy helps more than you imagine
Image source: robinhood.com

Web writing is very different than print writing. You may need to adjust the style of writing on a site to please your users as they browse your site. To start with promotional writing can be seen as pushy or as a type of scam. Also, long stretches of text without whitespace or images will be skipped for more scannable forms of writing. Keywords should not be displayed with bolding or italics.

Any exaggerated language will cause your users and possible customers to abandon the site in large numbers. You and your users are there to see if you can do business, so business or professional writing is what is expected. The writer should avoid cute or clever names as well as those that are marketing-induced names,company-specific names, and even worse unfamiliar technical names.

Make sure your call to action is very clear if you hope to have your users start an account. Some terms will work better than others, for example, “sign up” is better than “start now” which in turn is better than “explore our services”. Remember to keep all writing simple and to the point.

KISS

The KISS principle (keep it simple, stupid), should always be a primary goal in website design. User’s rarely if ever go to a site just to admire its design. In most cases, they are looking for particular types of information. The design may be seen as secondary. The person responsible for writing the content of a site should always strive for simplicity and avoid the overly complex.

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Use known patterns for your design

Use known patterns for your design
Image source: educreations.com

People visiting your site will expect certain conventions from all the sites they visit. Not providing these features in a recognizable form will cause confusion. For example, if a user sees an underlined text they will expect it to be a link.

Doing it differently will most likely confuse and frustrate the user, driving them to a different site. There are of course some conventions that can and sometimes are they may be broken, but most of your site should give visitors what they have come to expect.

Put yourself in your users’ shoes

Web designers commonly use prototyping as a standard tool to “try out” a design. This is so that as you use the design and notice little things that may make a big difference. Some time back the ALA published an article called Never Use A Warning When You Mean Undo, this article is an excellent example of how a small interface design can cause big complications for visitors.

User Tasks

User Tasks
Image source: getfinal.com

When a user visits a site, the designer should know what they hope to do. Try making a list of all the tasks that users may want to do on your site. Consider how they will want to perform these tasks and what you can do to make them easier.

This could be putting certain tasks such as “shopping” or “learn” on the homepage where they’re easily seen. Remember at the end of the day your design is a tool intended to be used by visitors. Most people will want to use a simple and understandable tool.

Responsive Web Design Techniques

This is one the most important techniques for responsive web design. It’s common today for people to use a variety of devices to get on the web, and it seems that they all have a different screen size. You need to make sure your website is mobile-friendly. If you can’t for some reason, you could always rebuild it in a responsive layout. Try avoiding building a dedicated mobile site.

Conclusion

It’s easy to create a beautiful and functional site by keeping these design elements in mind. It doesn’t matter if you’ve got a site that needs reviewing or optimizing. It could be that you are in the planning stages for a new site. Just think of the tips for effective Web Design Techniques discussed here and you will have a beautiful as well as functional and memorable site. We hope you learnt a lot about the best web design tips and techniques.

Credit for featured image: Oli Lisher

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