Small web design mistakes easy to avoid

Being an active web user and experienced designer, I often see an identical pattern of the same small web design mistakes affecting the user experience. These small web design mistakes are very easy to fix, without further ado let’s review these tips on how to make your design better.

Users do not read they scan pages

We need to understand common user behaviour when they are looking for something on a website. In most cases, the user will be trying to find crucial information, as well as time is a key factor. Information on a site should be presented in an easy to digest manner with the ability to dive in for full details. Do not assume that the user needs all of the available information in one go, let them make that decision and offer them a quick way getting the key information, intrigue them.

Recommendations:

  • Make use of headings, this will improve user experience. With proper heading use, it will be easier to scan the content and quicker to find needed information.
  • Try to keep the paragraph length concise. This is crucial if you want to make your content easy to digest.
  • Instead of generating lot’s and lots of commas think about introducing a bullet list.
  • Make sure you headings make sense to your visitors.

Building visual relationships

For a good user experience consider making text and UI hierarchy as logical as possible. It should be easy to visually determine relationships on the page.

Recommendations:

  • Crucial and most important information should be the dominant element in the viewport.
  • Try to communicate logically, visually relating elements being that copy or combination of different things.

Don’t overcomplicate

We assume that our users want something new, fresh, unusual so it leaves a strong memory. Inappropriate overcomplication and unnecessary familiarisation with the interface will most certainly lead to poor user experience. Your users will have to go through the educational curve at may not worth it, as well as this may lead to user frustration. Don’t forget that often everything new is well forgotten old.

Before you reinvent the wheel, understand the value of what you are trying to remake, and examine carefully whether it’s worth it or not.

Minimise use of instructions and user guides

Think carefully about the design and put yourself in your user’s shoes. Make sure that familiarisation with the interface is well thought through and that the educational curve intuitive and fed to a user in portions.

Not many people would love to go through instructions before they use your website or services. Make use of progressive learning, where the user is able to learn step by step using the given interface.

Don’t communicate in-between lines

Try to be clever and simplistic in your decisions, do not write in between lines or hide crucial information. Your message should clearly state what you want your customers to understand. We want our visitors to think, but obviously to a certain extent as they landed on your website in search of something. Your visitors need to quickly validate the search query before making a decision either stay or leave.

Make sure to do your research

We all went through this, but at the end of the day, we need to make it work for all users, so please don’t assume – research. Most of the times you’ll get sufficient information from doing sessions with your client. Build personas and gather as much information as possible and confirm your findings with the client.

Ask the right questions

When you are doing usability sessions don’t ask how it looks. Don’t ask if they like how the menu looks or does it work in combination with bullet points and so on. Instead, ask about their experience, do they like using it, can they find services page. Everyone will have an opinion, but what matters is that functions how it was intended to be.

Don’t hide “call to action”

Last but not least important is “call to action” and it’s implementation. It happens to be that one of the most popular web design mistakes are CTA related. Make sure your users don’t need to try and seek a crucial button either to buy or get in touch in unexpected places and then discover that they were always there and that they just were expected mouse over that strange-looking icon.

If you have any questions with your current project or need help delivering it, get in touch with me.

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