We’ve just hit 1.8 billion websites across the planet when this article was started. You would think that website design would be old hat by now, right?
Wrong – website design is more important and less understood than ever before. Don’t let it scare you though.
As technology changes, so do the rules. One advantage we have is looking at the history of design for insights.
Unlike trends, how we behave as human beings never change. Are you ready to tap into that kind of power and stop chasing trends?
We thought so. Keep reading to find out more!
Device Compatibility
Do: Make customer experience (CX) a priority. 36% of leading companies who integrated a strong CX mindset exceeded their growth goals by a large margin. Your customer cannot have a valuable experience if you don’t have a responsive design and good content.
Don’t: Have a one-size-fits-all approach to your website. There are users with different needs and accessibility levels. Bonus: Don’t build your site for only Google crawlers.
We used to talk about “design for mobile” but it should be “design for accessibility.” That includes the blind and those with other accessibility issues.
Layout
Do: Make it clean and usable. A cluttered website is one that induces anxiety and turns away users and customers. If you have a website that is inviting and intuitive with CX in mind, you’ll be a success story.
You can make a creative statement while still giving your customer the information they need. Take Gentex‘s website as an example. They have several layers but they use whitespace wisely to guide their users.
Don’t: Have huge blocks of text, image overload, and too many layers of visuals.
Do: Make a menu system that is pleasant and easy to use. Take away the barriers to buying your product or service.
Don’t: Build unnecessary navigation barriers. All too often desktop sites are using design elements that are meant for smaller formats. It’s an extra click, and if you have a user who has accessibility issues it’s one more barrier to getting the information they want and need.
Images
Do: Create content as much as possible. That doesn’t need to be difficult as platforms like Adobe Spark Post and Canva can show you – even as a novice. Using custom background images and shapes are a suitable alternative to hiring a photographer.
Sometimes you can’t get around it though, such as with food, or real artisan products you create.
Don’t: Use too many stock images. If the story of the “Everywhere Girl” and being associated with online scammers isn’t enough of an incentive, we don’t know what is.
Website Design in a Nutshell
Website design is tough work because there are so many factors to consider before even thinking about aesthetics. Just because something looks good doesn’t mean it will function well. Also, just because you follow a trend, doesn’t mean you’ll be successful.
There’s a better way to know you’ll always be on the right side of trends, which is to follow what we have learned about how humans make decisions. Take away barriers, put things within easy reach, and make that thing something they desire.
