Web Design
Design and usability choices that decide whether your website works: layout, animation, attention and trust.
Web Design
Design and usability choices that decide whether your website works: layout, animation, attention and trust.
Good web design is not decoration. It is the set of choices that decide whether visitors find what they need, trust what they see and take action. This category explores those choices: when accordions help and when they hide your content, whether "above the fold" still matters, how to design for the way people actually pay attention, and when animation earns its place.
Our view is shaped by building and rebuilding business websites for over two decades, and by measuring what real visitors do through tools like website replays and site speed monitoring rather than relying on taste alone.
Whether you are planning a new site or improving the one you have, these articles will help you ask the right questions of your designer, or of us.
Articles in Web Design
Web Design - Accordions
Everybody is familiar with accordions on websites, those little tables (popular for FAQ's for example) where clicking on the text of the question, or the icon next to it, opens up…
Designing For Attention
One of the most critical things to bear in mind when it comes to website design is that the website, whatever it is for, is not being designed for you . (Whoever you are.) It's…
To Animate Or Not To Animate
In a technological era characterised by sensory overload, your content is required to constantly compete for the attention of your audience. With increased internet access and…
Above The Fold - Does It Matter
The origin of the term "above the fold" lies in the world of newspaper layout. Anything that was visible on the front page of the newspaper when it was folded in half on news…
Designing Websites for the Colour Blind Visitor
Website accessibility is one of the popular new buzzwords in modern web design. Essentially it allows people: with physical disabilities, who speak other languages or who have…
Making Site Navigation Easier
When designing a website, it can be easy for someone to confuse the concept of exciting designs, with practical ones. People tend to think that if visitors find your website…
Web Design For Instant Preview
As you may have noticed, Google launched their new feature, Instant Preview, two days ago, and already the web is abuzz with discussion of what it means for businesses in general,…
Design for Ease Of Use
It's a well known fact that internet users, on average, spend less than a single minute on any given page unless there is a compelling reason for them to stay. This means that,…
Effective Website Design - Less Is More
When it comes to hiring somebody to design a website for your business, you're usually paying attention to the goals you'd like your website to achieve. In other words, bringing…
Website Usability Development
In his book Designing Web Usability , renowned expert Jakob Nielsen says, "There is no web page so important that I cannot go elsewhere." Web usability is one of the most…
Common Web Design Mistakes Impact SEO
As we've pointed out before, no matter what keywords you target , there are likely to be thousands, if not millions, of websites that are competing for the same keywords and that…
Webdesigns - Functional Appeal
Some of the most frequently discussed aspects of a website revolve around webdesigns. It's generally accepted that the design of your site plays a major role in attracting…