The basics of web design - part 2: creating a user-friendly website

The user-friend­li­ness of a website is one of the main com­po­nents of software er­gonom­ics. Also known as usability en­gi­neer­ing, this dis­ci­pline refers to the ease with which users are able to access and navigate a given web presence, be it desktop, mobile or tablet. An easily un­der­stand­able and quick-to-operate website is what counts the most when it comes to user-friend­li­ness. Adhering to the con­ven­tion­al design norms and making sure to stay up to date on technical re­quire­ments are two central prin­ci­ples that should never be over­looked. Here are the char­ac­ter­is­tics to consider when de­vel­op­ing a user-friendly website.

The optical design of a website always depends on its re­spec­tive topics and the sector that it is being created for. Website layouts are also dis­tin­guished from one another according to industry-specific trends and styles. While large companies mostly rely on the typical bag of old school web design tricks (en­com­pass­ing the usual features such as multiple language options and a navigable page header or sidebar), smaller companies are in­creas­ing­ly beginning to favor scrolling websites.

There are well-es­tab­lished con­ven­tions for web design and these determine the look and feel of a modern website. The design of many con­tem­po­rary websites has been strongly in­flu­enced by the user in­ter­faces of social media platforms such as Facebook or LinkedIn. Ori­en­tat­ing your layout on already-es­tab­lished struc­tures is therefore advisable, as most users are familiar with such in­ter­faces. Whereas playful animation and other gimmicks once con­sti­tut­ed the basis of modern design, today’s ideal demands a much sleeker and orderly design. However, sep­a­rat­ing yourself from the herd with a bit of extra pizzazz never hurts.

A clear and easy-to-follow structure is the most important guideline to follow when creating an optimal layout for your website. Pages with too much content can cause users to lose their ori­en­ta­tion, which might result in fewer hits and a decrease on your company’s bottom line. It is precisely for this reason that it is so important to make sure the content of your site is evenly dis­trib­uted. Drafting succinct, easily readable texts of ap­pro­pri­ate lengths are practices that go hand-in-hand with a struc­tured and well-balanced layout. Longer texts need to be separated with para­graphs and titles. Pictures and videos should be ef­fi­cient­ly in­te­grat­ed into the site’s structure and follow a common theme. The easier it is for a user to navigate your website, the more they will prefer to stay there.

The same things that apply to a site’s looks, also count for its nav­i­ga­tion. Again, the most important guideline here is to maintain clear and simple routing through­out the site. Good nav­i­ga­tion is char­ac­ter­ized by quick and intuitive use, users should be able to im­me­di­ate­ly recognize and un­der­stand menu struc­tures. One nav­i­ga­tion bar usually suffices, and keeping menus down to a simple structure com­pris­ing of main menus and sub menu points is ideal. Pop-up menus should be straight forward to use, and should never hinder the main goal of achieving a clear and unified nav­i­ga­tion structure.

Menu points should easily be rec­og­nized as such, and nav­i­ga­tion links should include the use of icons. Im­ple­ment­ing a hover effect that changes the ap­pear­ance of these features when the cursor is over them is also an option.  Submenu points fur­ther­more need to be clear and outfitted with concise labelling.

The technical im­ple­men­ta­tion of a website is in­cred­i­bly important. A flawless set-up of all the page’s content is crucial for guar­an­tee­ing smooth use. Make sure that all content is properly main­tained. Display and loading errors come across as un­pro­fes­sion­al and dis­cour­age users from returning to the site. Content that requires robust computing capacity can lead to long and ir­ri­tat­ing loading times that quickly burn through users’ patience. Regular test-runs of the site prove to be valuable, as they help ensure that you discover short­com­ings before somebody else does.

A website should be ac­ces­si­ble for every device that is com­pat­i­ble with internet use. For this reason, platform in­de­pen­dence and ac­ces­si­bil­i­ty of a website are vital for any web presence. This allows a site to be accessed re­gard­less of the operating system on the user’s end. Uncommon software should not be employed to display content just as requiring excessive computing capacity should be avoided, as this could po­ten­tial­ly prevent users on less tech­ni­cal­ly endowed devices from accessing the site.

The in­creas­ing preva­lence of mobile devices with internet access means that today’s websites need to be in tune with the various demands of all devices, not just desktops. Not long ago, most websites relied on static layouts. Pages designed in this fashion are rigid and don’t fit well into the size of a given display, making it es­pe­cial­ly difficult for mobile users to gain an ap­pro­pri­ate­ly sized overview of the site’s content.

Re­spon­sive web design offers a much more flexible solution that allows the structure of internet sites to be adjusted to the in­di­vid­ual screen sizes of various devices. This technique strives to use the available space of a display in the best possible way. In contrast to static or adaptive web design, re­spon­sive web design employs a variable design grid. Not only does this type of format au­to­mat­i­cal­ly adapt to whatever screen size is being used, it also presents all the most important nav­i­ga­tion elements of a site in the fore­ground. This con­ve­nient aspect increases the usability of a website, re­gard­less of the device being used.

Here is a list of mistakes that you should avoid if you want to ensure a user-friendly site:

• Pop-up windows: It wasn’t long ago that clicking one link opened up another, smaller window. Many users nowadays avoid pop-up windows by de­ac­ti­vat­ing them through browser ex­ten­sions.

• Missing contact in­for­ma­tion: Offer users as many ways as possible to get in contact with you and make sure that your contact in­for­ma­tion is easy to find.

• Dead links: Dead links are ir­ri­tat­ing and increase bounce rates. Once you’re finished with your site, make sure that you regularly check for inactive or faulty links.
   
• Outdated links: Many websites offer old or no-longer-relevant content. Content material on your website should always be up to date.

• Poor nav­i­ga­tion: Above almost anything else, users expect speed online. Most users have little patience for content that is not easily found. Including a nav­i­ga­tion bar that leads users to the most important pages of the site is therefore rec­om­mend­ed.

• Too many colors and fonts: Websites should maintain a unified look that meshes well with all of its ap­pli­ca­tion. Novices are es­pe­cial­ly prone to letting the diverse selection of colors and fonts get the best of them. Following the following simple rule of thumb will help you stay on the straight and narrow: never use more than three colors or fonts for a single website.