Web Design Principals
Posted 9th March 2011 at 08:44 AM by Orderof47
When you are working on developing a website it needs to have the fundamentals of good design. When we work on developing a site, we always follow these rules
Presence
Your site needs presence to own the browser window once it has been pointed to your site. Its the same as when a celebrity walks into a club, they need to be the feature of attention to keep their status and notoriety. Your site needs to do that too, if it does not your potential client or reader will not stay.
With this in mind you cant just make the screen explode with a thousand flashing banners, you have to make the design work with the content, as this is the most important part of the site. Your design must not dominate but has to flow and integrate with your content – your viewer has come to see this after all.
Navigation
If you cant navigate round a website then the site has failed, website navigation is one of the most important parts of the functionality of the site. It needs to be ergonomically designed with clear and easy structure. If you don’t adhere to this your visitor will not stay on your site and your product will not get the exposure.
Oh, don’t forget that a badly made menu starts to hit you at your all important SEO heart. If your menu doesn’t do the job at a user level its a good chance those spiders cant read the links and then your already behind in the marathon which is SEO. Make the menu simple, clear and concise and you can’t go wrong.
Spacing
That white space doesn’t look good does it, wasting valuable screen space is bad practice, white spaces are empty canvases and need to be filled. If a user sees it they aren’t getting your message, there is no product to display or information as they are just seeing a white space. Fill it with content and make the most of the users time, this is why they are on your site - content is king and use it to your advantage.
But at the same time don’t let everything get crammed together, the reader will find it harder to concentrate on the content and your message will get lost. Keep everything in proper proportion and like Zen everything will balance perfectly.
Typography
Picking a font that fits in to your design can make or break your site’s look and functionality. If its not clear or doesn’t fit with your design, your user will not stay on your website and the sites purpose, has failed. Your website is a tool, it’s a directory of your information that can be accessed at any time day or night, if it is not clear to the user the text may as well be written in martian for all it would be good for.
Keeping a selection of fonts to work with is valuable practice and spending that time to select the right one is worth its weight in gold.
Usability
Making an ergonomic site is something that is easily forgotten in this age of digital design. Working within defined parameters is not something a lot of designers choose to do, with technology moving at an incredible pace designers are looking to push the envelope of design and make the next big thing. But by doing this you are giving an infinite amount of monkeys typewriters and an infinite amount of time, sure you will one day get the works of Shakespeare but you will get a lot of OK magazine articles with monkey faeces on them.
Working with a site’s usability in mind is the key to making a great site work and grow. Facebook did this with great effect, they took the complicated and unregulated way MySpace operated and gave users a clean and easy site to use – Now Facebook is worth 25 Billion Dollars and MySpace is on the verge of closing its doors.
Clarity
The final Principal is to make that sites information clear, don’t hide the information away behind needless graphics and adverts, don’t use pop-ups or extras that take away from the most important job your site can do – convey the information your company wants. Keep that content at the heart of the sites design, don’t let it get lost in the background.
By keeping to these principals you can ensure proper use of your site and keep your information clear for your visitors. If you need a website head on over to Orderof47!
Presence
Your site needs presence to own the browser window once it has been pointed to your site. Its the same as when a celebrity walks into a club, they need to be the feature of attention to keep their status and notoriety. Your site needs to do that too, if it does not your potential client or reader will not stay.
With this in mind you cant just make the screen explode with a thousand flashing banners, you have to make the design work with the content, as this is the most important part of the site. Your design must not dominate but has to flow and integrate with your content – your viewer has come to see this after all.
Navigation
If you cant navigate round a website then the site has failed, website navigation is one of the most important parts of the functionality of the site. It needs to be ergonomically designed with clear and easy structure. If you don’t adhere to this your visitor will not stay on your site and your product will not get the exposure.
Oh, don’t forget that a badly made menu starts to hit you at your all important SEO heart. If your menu doesn’t do the job at a user level its a good chance those spiders cant read the links and then your already behind in the marathon which is SEO. Make the menu simple, clear and concise and you can’t go wrong.
Spacing
That white space doesn’t look good does it, wasting valuable screen space is bad practice, white spaces are empty canvases and need to be filled. If a user sees it they aren’t getting your message, there is no product to display or information as they are just seeing a white space. Fill it with content and make the most of the users time, this is why they are on your site - content is king and use it to your advantage.
But at the same time don’t let everything get crammed together, the reader will find it harder to concentrate on the content and your message will get lost. Keep everything in proper proportion and like Zen everything will balance perfectly.
Typography
Picking a font that fits in to your design can make or break your site’s look and functionality. If its not clear or doesn’t fit with your design, your user will not stay on your website and the sites purpose, has failed. Your website is a tool, it’s a directory of your information that can be accessed at any time day or night, if it is not clear to the user the text may as well be written in martian for all it would be good for.
Keeping a selection of fonts to work with is valuable practice and spending that time to select the right one is worth its weight in gold.
Usability
Making an ergonomic site is something that is easily forgotten in this age of digital design. Working within defined parameters is not something a lot of designers choose to do, with technology moving at an incredible pace designers are looking to push the envelope of design and make the next big thing. But by doing this you are giving an infinite amount of monkeys typewriters and an infinite amount of time, sure you will one day get the works of Shakespeare but you will get a lot of OK magazine articles with monkey faeces on them.
Working with a site’s usability in mind is the key to making a great site work and grow. Facebook did this with great effect, they took the complicated and unregulated way MySpace operated and gave users a clean and easy site to use – Now Facebook is worth 25 Billion Dollars and MySpace is on the verge of closing its doors.
Clarity
The final Principal is to make that sites information clear, don’t hide the information away behind needless graphics and adverts, don’t use pop-ups or extras that take away from the most important job your site can do – convey the information your company wants. Keep that content at the heart of the sites design, don’t let it get lost in the background.
By keeping to these principals you can ensure proper use of your site and keep your information clear for your visitors. If you need a website head on over to Orderof47!
Total Comments 2
Comments
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Wow!! I'm so happy to see some serious bloggers here! Indeed a good read!
Posted 9th March 2011 at 09:14 AM by MervikHaums
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Thank you very much!Posted 9th March 2011 at 09:34 AM by Orderof47
