Without realising it, we've all reached a place where website design has become a critical element in forming our opinion of brands. Subconsciously, we are highly judgmental of our web experiences, because our expectations are set by the very few websites that get it all right.
Our judgments are also pretty sophisticated. An example: we get irrationally frustrated if a page takes more than 2 seconds to load. Things that disappear off the side of the screen on mobile are annoying. Menus that don't instantly deliver what we're looking for are also a source of irritation. If a website commits compound offences, you might as well forget about generating decent revenue or enquiries from it.
Website design then, is not about just one thing. A great UI helps but if the visuals are poor, customers won't warm to your brand. Same thing if the visuals are great but load times are too slow. And then there's the requirement to appease Google, which if not done correctly can lead to zero discovery.
Let's split just a few key elements of website design down so as to understand how to create an optimal solution.
The user interface (UI) is there to guide visitors through the website as seamlessly as possible. UI elements include things like the main menu, in-page links and calls to action. The UI can guide visitors to a predefined conclusion such as a purchase or enquiry. Importantly, especially on websites with large menus, it's crucial that the UI helps visitors to recover quickly if they find themselves in an area that's not of interest.
Good UI design is very often overlooked, even by large companies. Look how quirky Meta's interfaces are, and Google's for that matter.
Good UI design needs to make navigation feel simple, even when it's anything but.
High speed page loads are a must. There's so much technology available to help this along, there's almost no excuse for a page that takes an age. The key issue here is that nobody has the time or patience to wait for you, no matter how big or clever your brand. Even if visitors endure the delay first time around, they're highly unlikely to return, knowing that serious lag is waiting for them.
Double all of the above for mobile browsing. With fluctuations in mobile coverage, a site that's slow on a wi-fi connection is a 'give it up and go elsewhere' on mobile.
Paying attention to speed during development makes it much more likely that users will have a positive brand experience and happily return again and again.
Today's templated internet is largely a result of decisions make by commercial template creators who, by definition, have created a one size fits all solution. The vast majority of sites look almost identical, which is really, really bad for brands.
Looking the same and failing to differentiate is handing business directly to your competitors, because what will happen is this:
The first website they visited was bland, templated and indistinguishable, so without the ad, they fail to remember and rediscover it, so the business goes to a competitor.
Making your website highly distinctive through excellent, on-brand visual design is absolutely crucial in cutting across the other 1.1 billion sites on the internet.
The above are a few of the key considerations for website design. Get those right and you're on the way, but bear in mind there are plenty of other determinants too… Getting the balancing act just right is never easy, but the ones that do are remembered and enjoyed by loyal customers time and time and time again.
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