Web Design Don’ts!
jeff
I find myself critiquing just about every website that I visit now. I, like many of you, use them every day and the web has become an integrated part of my every day life. I also appreciate a good design when I see one. So many websites that I visit lack some design basics. Here are a few things I feel should always be addressed when doing any web design.
1) Why Am I Still Waiting????
When visiting a website, how often have you found yourself waiting for the page to load? When a web page is so loaded full of large images and graphical elements, it slows everything way down. Even with the hi-speed connections that most of us use today, these things take time. When designing a website, use of such imagery should be used in moderation. The common rule of thumb states that most people will not wait any longer that four seconds for a page to load before getting impatient and moving on to another site. What does this mean? No traffic. No sale. No good.
2) Where am I at?
Poor navigation of a website is one of my biggest gripes. We are all creatures of habit. A site’s navigation should always remain consistent throughout the site. It’s location. It’s appearance. The harder it is to navigate through a site, the less likely people will spend any time there. Keep things simple to avoid user frustrations. The easier your site is to use, the more likely you’ll get a return visit.
3) Advertising…….How Much is Too Much?
I understand that some websites should get some form of revenue from advertising spots, but I have seen sites where I have not been able to find the content I was looking for in between all of the site’s advertising. Pretty annoying. When designing a site that will incorporate some advertising, do it tastefully and minimally.
4) Color
When designing a website, keep in mind that not everyone likes bright orange text on a sunset yellow background. This is where common sense should kick in. Keep things legible and offer a good contrast.
5) Clearly Display Links
If your page is going to contain links, display them clearly. I find it aggravating when there is no difference between the content color and a link’s color. If using an image for a link, make sure that the image is relevant to what it is actually linking to. For instance, you would not expect to click on the shopping cart icon and it take you to a newsletter sign-up form.