Web Design: Keep It Simple
When someone comes to a website, they are usually looking for information on a subject, a product, or a service. Not everyone is looking for a challenge when surfing the web. They want to find what they are looking for in an organized manner. Without a solid structure and good informational organization, people will get lost in your site and won’t be back. This is why when it comes to web design, you should keep it simple.
The Simplest Answer is Usually the Best One
Don’t get me wrong, it’s great to be innovative in web design. The thing about that is, it should be for a reason. Your approach to any website should be based on who your target visitors are. If they can’t navigate your site, then they’ll leave, and they won’t tell others about it, because their experience was bad. When designing for the general user, the simplest answer is usually the best one, because it is intuitive.
Think Like a User, Not a Designer
When you approach any website, your approach should be to look at the site form the aspect of the user end. Why are you coming to the site? What do I want to know? Where’s the first place I would look for information? Taking this approach will help you to design an intuitive user interface that is easy and fun to use, and makes sense.
Don’t Add Design Elements Just Because
If you’re not familiar with Milton Glaser, you definitely need to be. He is famous for saying that “Just enough is more”. This statement is absolutely brilliant when you think about it. Having too much ruins the whole design, and it feels cluttered. Not enough, and the design feels like it’s missing something. So the answer is to take away everything extra, until you have just enough. There should never be anything in your design work, whether it is for print or the web, that is there without a purpose. Strip everything down until you have just enough.
Just Like the Design Itself: Apply This to Development
The same principles apply to development, too. Adding extra scripts for unnecessary functionality will only slow down your site. Having extra webfonts will slow it down, too. The performance of your site depends on the decisions that you make. Compressing and caching your site speeds it up, too. Don’t add extra widgets or bells and whistles, just because you can. When you combine this approach with focusing on a website’s content, you’ll end up with a better result.
Conclusion: Keep it Simple
What do you think about this approach to web design? Keeping the process, the end result, and the intended experience simple is a great way to make sure your website is streamlined. It’s all about the user’s experience and how they explore your website. I’d love to hear your thoughts on this. Feel free to leave your 2 cents in the comments section below.
