Sure, you’ve thoroughly thought about all aspects of your website’s visual design—carefully choosing photographs, the right color scheme, and fonts, even the littlest favicon detail. The big question, however, still needs answering: is your website user-friendly? If it is, how user-friendly is it?
Beyond the aesthetics and visual appeal, utility determines the success or failure of a website. Since it is the user who navigates through the site and decides everything, it’s important that a user-centric design be your top priority when it comes to planning your website.
This article will not tackle how to use web design elements like how to match font colors with different types of backgrounds because you probably have read that a million times already. Rather, this post will discuss the principles and approaches that will help you make more refined web design decisions that are centered on what’s most important: the user.
1. State the obvious.
When users go to your website, do you think they will find themselves asking how to get to the products and services page? The first rule in website user-friendliness is to make it as obvious and self-explanatory as possible. When planning your site, the goal is to eliminate all possible questions your visitors might have. Web design experts from Bricks & Mortar Creative suggest planning a distinct structure, visual hints and easily noticeable links. These elements will help users easily find what they are looking for.
2. Keep user’s requirements at minimal.
Other than getting rid of questions, it’s also your goal to minimize the things users need to accomplish when they visit your site. The less action demanded from users, the more likely they will stick around and come back. So, those long web forms visitors need to fill out before going to a page on your site? Cut them out. Allow users to navigate through the site without requiring them to disclose private information.
3. Strive for simplicity.
Simplicity is beauty. Users visit the site primarily to get information, not to enjoy the design. For users, the best web site design means no advertisements or content blocks. This is it’s important to have a user-friendly print version of your page. It promotes good user experience.
Your goal in designing a website is to make it as user-friendly as possible. Remember these principles as you plan your website; collaborate with experts to ensure your site stays relevant and friendly for users.
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