Put your page on diet
by cloud on Apr.07, 2009, under Website Publishing
Designing your living room and designing a web page for the internet, is not all that different. Just like there are features that an artistic eye can use to make the living room look more interesting, a designer of a web page can similarly make a website more attractive and thus make the company’s business more lucrative. However, there are also some grand mistakes which a talented designer can make which might just make the web page an extreme flop.
The first mistake a web designer might make while designing a page for his client, is to throw in a lot of creative ideas. Although this might prove a designers worth, it will not always prove the webpage to be very user friendly. Usability has to be utmost on the designers list of things-to-do. He must make sure that once a user visits the site, he is not driven away due to complicated settings, difficult navigation or a jarring background or colours that might give him an eyesore. A design on the web must be kept as simple as possible. Even though colours and attractive designs are useful for attracting the correct target audience, some of the features of the site must also not make them less enthusiastic about exploring the site.
The site should also not take very long to be displayed. In some cases, some overtly enthusiastic designer might decide to display his talent and use all sorts of applications and chunky images to make his site unique. But the downside of this is that the site might never be viewed, if it takes forever to be displayed. Thus simplicity is the key to a hit design. The trick lies in making the design simple though unique and attractive. The talent of a good web designer lies in this very fact.
The appearance is definitely a key factor for the site to be attractive. Often the very appearance of a site, rather than its content or its subject matter might attract a user to a different similar site. So here, most importantly, the designer needs to be careful with the mood he sets with the appearance. The opening look of a site gives away a lot of first impressions regarding the company the site represents, and the kind of information that would be given out at the site.
He needs to use the colour scheme and set it for the site with a lot of thought put into it. He cannot just juxtapose all his favourite colours into one website. Most of the time it fails to please the user, only leaves him confused and at times absolutely disgusted.
In order for a web designer to execute the above features of his site with professionalism, he must have certain knowledge of how the technology works. He needs to keep himself updated with the latest softwares available for designers to make their job easier.
However it should be kept in mind that no matter how simple a software might seem and the tools they offer, a designer has to use them with restriction. The weight of a site is crucial for the site to be successful. If the site becomes too heavy with softwares and showy accessories, as mentioned above, the site might take extra long time to open. Thus, if a designer tends to veer towards over feeding his page, he will need to put the page on a strict diet.