Ten Simple Web Design Principles

by: BJ Novack

Website design has become so complex, with scripting, and dynamic content and pulling content from RSS and ATOM feeds and Ajax enhancement and ad rotation and . . . and . . . and . . .

I’ve got a sticky note right on the lower right corner of my monitor. On it are four letters.

K-I-S-S

A glance at those four letters reminds me that there are many people who surf the web who have no clue what all the above stuff means. So I have to Keep It Simple, Stupid! I have to make sure that my website designs function no matter what the skill level happens to be of the person who is using the page. And any person doing web building, whether you’re a hot New York Web Design Company or a one-woman web design boutique in East Jibippy PA better remember these ten simple website design principles.

• Each web page must have its purpose clearly stated.
• Web Navigation must be clearly visible and easy to use.
• Avoid clutter, distraction, and flashing/moving objects, and make things easy to find.
• Business websites should have contact information easily visible.
• Not everyone has broadband. Design it SLIM, and dialup users will love you.
• Bells and whistles may be fun, but if a gadget or page element doesn’t add necessary functionality, don’t use it.
• Not everyone can see well, so make the text contrast enough against the background, and run the page through a “colorblind filter” (http://colorfilter.wickline.org/) to check usability.
• Because not everyone sees well, keep the text scalable, don’t use fixed pixel or point sizes.
• Keep page lengths “bite size”, no more than two page-downs.
• ALWAYS remember that the page user can override almost anything you do. Does your design scale and/or degrade well?

These ten simple website design principles can make the difference between a page that’s easy to use and a page that surfers will click away from before it even finishes loading.

About The Author

BJ Novack runs a web design boutique for small businesses and non-profit organizations, specializing in up to date, search engine friendly, templated, client-managed sites. http://kickasswebdesign.com.

Understanding Good Web Design Principles

by: Adrian Mullan

We've all heard the line 'Don't judge a book by its cover'...but let's get real for a moment.

In the real world everyone judges you (and your business) by the image you project. The same goes for your website.

For many businesses, a website is the first point of contact for potential customers so it's vital that you make a good first impression.

The three key components of any web design are:

1)Presentation
2)Functionality
3)Usability

Presentation refers to the way your website looks.

Great websites are easy to spot because they:

- Look clean and professional
- Make sensible use of colors and graphics
- Attract the right target market

Bad sites are equally easy to spot, because they:

- Are difficult to use
- Make bad use of color combinations and graphics
- Have text that is too difficult to read
- Pages that take too long to load

Functionality refers to your website's ability to give users what they want.

For example, if you wanted to a book an airline ticket online, a site with good functionality would allow you to:

- Easily view the available flight times
- Compare pricing options
- Make a booking with your credit card

A less functional site, would:

- Not have the ability to check pricing or book flights
- Contain vague or ambiguous information
- Have a confusing payment process

And finally, Usability refers to how easy (or difficult) it is to use and navigate your website.

Have you ever visited a site that took too long to load?
A website where the text was too small and you struggled to read it?
Or a website where the menu system was confusing to navigate?

That's bad usability in a nutshell.

If you want to create a website that is functional, easy-to-use and quick-to-load, here are a few tips to keep in mind:

DO:

- Immediately tell visitors what your company does.
- Allow visitors to find information with a minimum amount of clicks.
- Keep your menu options clear and simple.
- Use decent font sizes that are easy to read.
- Keep sentences short and split paragraphs into chunks.
- Give your visitors relevant content.
- Use dark text on light backgrounds.
- Make liberal use of 'white space' as it helps break up the page.
- Keep your website quick-to-load by using graphics sparingly.
- Design for your target audience, not your own personal preferences.

DO NOT:

- Use more than 3 main colors on your site. Try to stick to a consistent color theme across your website.
- Use multiple font styles, sizes and colors. Stick to the one font style to keep your site looking consistent.
- Overuse graphic effects, flashy logos or sound effects - they'll simply distract users from the main message of your site.
- Use lots of industry 'buzz' words.

About The Author

Adrian Mullan is the author of 'The Internet Demystified' and founder of WebDummy.com, which is a popular internet marketing resource for small business owners.