by Matt McGee
One World Telecommunications
posted: February 2, 2004
There is nothing more subjective in the creative
world than the idea of design. Whether you're building homes, creating
new car designs, doing interior design ... whatever ... one person's
joy is another person's junk. The professional designer, no matter
the industry, will try to learn his client's likes and dislikes,
and then tailor his work to the client's preferences. When working
with a new client, we always ask for a short list of web sites
that the client likes and what the client likes about each. To
use an automotive analogy, that list helps us learn if the client
is interested in a Chevy, Buick, or Cadillac. Knowing the client's
likes and dislikes offers a direction that we can take when determining
the best way to develop a web site that meets the client's goals.
But even when trying to design a web site or web project to the
client's likes and dislikes, there are still some
basic rules that must be applied. What many people
don't understand is that design is not just a
measure of the appearance of a web site; it's
also a measure of the site's usability and even
search engine "friendliness". All of
these things must combine to serve the company's
message (i.e., the site content) and help the
company reach the goals set out at the start of
the development project.
Rule #1: Focus on the Customer
Too many companies get selfish when having their web site designed
(or re-designed). They want to see the company name in big,
bold letters and they want it to slide across the screen while
something
that sounds like it came from the Star Wars soundtrack plays
in the background. They probably saw something like this on
a competitor's
site, and their ego tells them they have to "keep up with
the Joneses" and outdo the other guy. They sure don't want
to look less "cool" or less capable than their competition.
It's a selfish approach to design because it serves the company,
not the company's customers.
Your web site exists for your customers, not for you. Focus
on what they expect and need, not on what you want. (Don't
know
what they expect and want? Better start asking them!) The details
may
differ from industry to industry, but here are some basics
from Internet user studies about web surfers in general.
They want:
- fast-loading web sites that are easy to navigate
- content that is easy to read, reliable, and accurate
- tools (shopping carts, database applications, whatever) that
are easy to use
- their time to be well-spent, not wasted
- a way to get help if they need it
They don't want:
- to wait absurdly long for a page to load
- to sit through unnecessary graphics and/or animations
- to have to guess where to go on a web site to find what they're
looking for
- to have product costs and/or shipping costs hidden from them
until the end of the purchase process
Rule #2: KISS (Keep It Simple, Sam)
Simplicity in design is the key to giving your customers
the five things mentioned above in the "They want" list. Simplicity in design leads to a more
enjoyable experience for your customers. It means your web site will be easier
to use, and that means more sales, signups, or whatever "call to action" is
built in to your web site.
One of the basic rules of being a professional web designer
is this: Just because you can, doesn't mean you should.
A professional designer
can build
a flashy,
complicated, graphics-heavy web site; but those types
of sites tend to get in your customers' way. And who
wants
to do that?
And keeping it simple doesn't mean keeping it boring,
plain, or ugly. Quite the contrary, simple designs can
be (and
usually are)
more
appealing to
the eye than
sites that are burdened with the weight of heavy graphics
and page load. And simple designs are more likely to
succeed on
different platforms (PCs and Macs),
and on different browsers (Explorer, Netscape, Safari,
Mozilla, etc.) So keep it simple, Sam. (You thought we'd
call our
readers "stupid"?)
Rule #3: KICK (Keep It Consistent, Kathy)
Your web site must maintain a consistent look from
page-to-page, and it must maintain a consistent navigation
scheme from page-to-page.
"Consistent look" means that design elements (such
as your logo, your site menu, etc.) should be positioned in the
same place on every page of your web
site. If your site menu is on the left side on one
page, then on the bottom of the next page, then at the top of the
next page, you invite confusion and you
get in your customer's way. A professional design doesn't
get in the way of what your customer wants to do on your web site,
it helps him/her do it!
"Consistent navigation scheme" means that your site
menu should be available (with a few acceptable exceptions) on
every page of the site and should function
the same across the site. If your menu uses a rollover
feature where the links change color, for example, that should
be consistent across the site. The idea,
again, is to help your customer use your web site.
Inconsistent navigation schemes and inconsistent appearances lead
to confusion.
Rule #4: Thou Shall Not Do Any of the Following
Rules 1-3 are about what you should do. Here's Professional
Web Design 101's list of what NOT to do with your
business web site.
Thou shall
not:
- lose focus (do you really need local weather or the latest
stock quotes on your blue widgets site?);
- use a frames-based design;
- fill your site with "coming soon" pages;
- use music on your web site (unless you're in a band!);
- use a hit counter;
- host your site on a free, advertising-based service;
- hire an amateur designer and expect a professional web site.
For more information, please read an expanded
discussion of these bad web design techniques.
Rule #5: Don't Forget About Search Engines
We said earlier that you must focus on
your customers' needs, and now we're
going to
ask you to stretch
your definition of a "customer" to include the
online search engines. Professional web site design must take into account the
needs of search engines (yes, they have needs!) so that the web site has a chance
to be listed and rank highly in search engine results.
Fortunately, the ideas presented above
in Rules 1-4 already constitute a good
start
on design
a site
that is search
engine friendly.
In general, when
you
serve your customers well, you will
likely also serve the search engines.
Search engine-friendly design, in a
nutshell, means that your site:
- has focused content, with information about blue widgets separated
from information about green doodads
- has an adequate amount of text on every page to describe the
product or service (or other aspect of your business) shown
on that page
- has at least one complete text-based menu on your site for
search engines to follow
- doesn't rely strictly on DHTML or javascript to present the
site navigation
- doesn't use Flash or other animation to present information
that's not available in plain text elsewhere on the site
There are many other considerations
related to content, coding, etc.,
that make a
site search
engine-friendly,
but the above
are the main
elements related to
the design of a site, which is
the focus of this article.
For more information, read our in-depth article
about Building a Search Engine-Friendly Web Site.
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