WEB DESIGN! What does it mean?! What is it for?! How do we use it?! These are tools and guidelines we follow as web developers in order to ensure our sites created repeated visits/use by surfers, or clients.
For this blog post, when asked what 10 rules to follow for web design would involve, this was a no-brainer for me because of my history in web design and computer science as a minor. Instead of scour the internet for these concepts, I decided to post what I, personally, keep in mind when creating web pages.
1. User Friendly!
Pages should be embarrassingly simply in instruction. Too often, we visit pages or online stores that make it really hard to add items to a cart, navigate back to the home page, etc. To make pages user friendly, I like to use elements that are repeated in more than one page of a site, things like search bars and browse menus, or even a header or footer with a link to the home page, or an 'about this page' link that is super easy to find.
Another way to implement a user friendly template, is to add IMPLICIT instructions, like: "click on the link", or "click on the picture"! As silly as it sounds, some users cannot recognize a hyperlink, so instructions can help.
2. Navigation Ease!
This is somewhat of a continuation of the first principal, where you should be able to navigate a page easily, for example, go to the home page or back to a search result without having to hit 'back' on the web browser, ESPECIALLY if you are using cookies to store user information such as, contents of a shopping cart or an email address, as going 'back' on the browser can effect this.
3. MAKE IT PRETTY!
Users want to visit a site that is appealing to the eye! Pages that lack aesthetic qualities aren't super popular, unless its a government website... which brings me to my next point!
4. Know Your Audience!
Your design and layout is 100% dependent upon who your target audience is. If you are making a website for your local DMV, the use of a lot of color, moving elements, and interactive elements is not really important. You're not trying to achieve repeat use from the website, people HAVE to use it, whether you make it look pretty or not.
An online store, however, or a blog, or site for a restaurant, HAS to use elements directed at its audience. Its not enough just to provide the information the customer needs. What does it mean to use concepts in elements directed at an audience?
5. Contrast!
Certain elements, links, or information bits REALLY need to catch the attention of a viewer. This is easy to implement, with bright colors, bold fonts, large fonts, and separate sections or elements for important elements. The use of interactive elements or hyperlinks helps here (when the mouse passes over a link, the creates a text bubble, for example).
6. Alignment!
Information that is repeated on each page needs to be in the same spot, on each page, and clearly separate from other elements. This is easy with the use of functions, and for example, using separate php pages with the repeated information, and using an 'include' function on each page, so that if you make an edit, you only have to do it ONCE and not on EACH PAGE the element is used on.
7. IT MUST BE MOBILE FRIENDLY!
Google says that over half of searches now are made from mobile devices, AND it is starting to show only mobile friendly sites in the search results first! There are many ways to make a site mobile friendly, but if you want your site to be seen, you better do it.
8. Make a Contact Page!
Its important for users to feel like the company or service is easy to reach. Contact info like a number isnt enough, make a form to submit a user message right on the page!
9. Easy on the Colors....
Contrast is GOOD. Colored text to get attention: GOOD. Too much color: BAD. No one wants to feel like they are on an acid trip when they visit your site, dont induce headaches.
10. IVY LIKES TO USE ANIMALS!
As a secret element to almost all my pages, I use or include hyperlinks to ANIMALS. Everyone likes animals, and I think they give the sites a little something extra that users will enjoy. Not a necessary part of web development by any means, but my favorite for sure. Bringing users joy is the best.
ONE MORE.....
11. USE YOUR OWN CODE.
Dont be a cheater. Using someone elses code found on the internet is laaaaame, unless you give them credit.
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