Are some of the best website designs that you see on the internet, perfect? Is there nothing really wrong with them? The answer to both these question is a No. Of course they are not perfect and there is definitely something wrong with them. It’s just that you couldn’t find anything wrong with them. That’s the definition of perfect in website design. You mustn’t let website visitors know that the design of the website lacks in any way or form or there is some design element out of place on it
But does this mean you can’t try and get some perfection in your website’s design. No it doesn’t; and as a professional website designer it must be you must constant endeavor to create a perfectly designed layout. Perfection in web design isn’t a myth; it’s just the way you look at perfection while designing a website has changed. It is definitely achievable especially if you keep the pointers given below right at the top of your minds while designing a website.
1.Purpose of Web Design – Complement and Highlight Website’s Message
This is the # 1 rule of website design. The message is primary and the design is secondary. The design of your site must do everything to prop up the message and ensure it’s delivered with finesse and the necessary impact. All those call-to-action buttons that you use, the interesting visuals that are implemented and the innovative navigation bars mean nothing if the message of the website doesn’t come across perfectly. So, make your designing decisions based on the website’s message and how best you can deliver it to the target audience. This will help you make better designing decisions, which in turn will lead to a certain amount of perfection in your designs.
2.Relevance, Relevance, Relevance
The theme that you choose for your website’s design, the images that you pick and design elements that are used, must be relevant to the purpose of the website. Now, this might come across as a simplistic enough tip and you might wonder why I have mentioned it in the first place; but you will be surprised to note that there are plenty of websites out there that are packed with irrelevant design elements that have nothing to do with the purpose of the website. This is a cardinal error. If the design elements are irrelevant, the website in totality will be rendered irrelevant after a period of time. As can be imagined, irrelevance and perfection don’t walk hand in hand.
3. Get over your need to make a visual impression
Sometimes, the purpose of a website is such that you don’t really need striking visuals, but there are some designers who believe one of the core purposes of a website is to create a visual impact on the psyche of website visitors. Well, here’s news for them – website visitors are looking for a user friendly website rather than a visually appealing one. Modern day users are grown up version of earlier website users who believed a perfect website was one that had striking visuals. Today, they are more interested in getting access to the information on the website quickly and effortlessly. If your design facilitates quick access to this information, it will be considered a perfect design.
4.Go Minimal, Make Less Mistakes
There is no doubting your experience and expertise as a website designer, but why take unnecessary risks when there is a designing trend that is yours for the taking; it’s called minimalist web design and it subscribes to the philosophy of using the bare minimum of design elements to create an impression on the minds of the viewers. An oversized image on the Home Page suffices as a design element rather that the use of multiple images that can clutter the website’s message. Also, the use of minimal design elements and restricting yourself to only the most necessary, means you make fewer mistakes, which in turn lend your design to perfectionism.
5.Thinking too much about your competitors
I have come across this attitude in plenty of website designers, especially, those that are just starting out. They are more concerned about what their competitors will think, rather than getting their design right. As a designer, you need to get some of the intrinsic basics right about your designing project while taking it through the process of design. You must carefully plan your website’s design keeping the client’s requirements in mind and also ensuring that the design concept will match target users’ expectations. Just worry about your stakeholders and nobody else. Don’t wonder what your competitors will think about your site or some such rot. Focus on your clients and the job at hand. This will ensure your website will work. If your website works, the competition is taken care of, automatically.
End Words
Clearly the dynamics of designing perfection with respect to a website have evolved over the years; they have kept pace with the expectations of an end user of the website. In fact, a perfect website is something that comes good on the user’s expectations. That’s it. There is no better explanation than this. So, always make sure that your website is client oriented but user defined. Everything should begin and end with the user. So, while planning the design of your website, make sure that you put yourself in the users’ shoes and think like they would think when they browse your site. This will ensure you don’t choose a design element that will interfere with your target users’ experience of using the site.
At the end of the day, perfection in a website is all about how well it is able to convey the message of the website that it represents. Nothing more, nothing less!
June 13, 2013
