7 Guidelines on User Interface Design on Websites

If you are a web designer, most likely you are also a user interface designer. This is applicable whether you are a graphic designer, freelance web designer or full time web designer. Web pages these days are very easy to navigate but with new technology, web designers need to create a more dynamic and customized web experience.

User Interface Design focuses on the user or customer’s experience with the product. It’s goal should be making the user’s interaction as easy, simple and efficient as possible.

There are 7 things that you need to remember about designing a user interface website.

1.       Everything should be clear – Every user will avoid or gear away from elements or icons they don’t know. It is human nature that people will ignore things they are not familiar with. When designing a website, stay away from things that will make people ask what that thing does or people will most likely ignore because no one will bother finding out.

2.       Preferred action – Each user would feelcomfortable if they know and understand what to do next in a certain website. Everything should be clear and the next step that the user is supposed to do next should be obvious. The website will be a flop or will receive assistance requests if the users are not familiar with how to navigate the page.

3.       Context – Users expect to see elements or icons that they use close to each other. If not close, then, they should be somewhere visible on the page.

4.       Default settings – Default settings can be and will be very powerful.  All default values of the website you are designing should be as useful and practical as possible. Most people don’t change the default settings of their phone, TV even their fridge.

5.       Guide for the action – Users don’t usually do something unless they are asked to. If you designed a pop-up question every now and then, then that’s the only time the user will follow your instruction or answer your question. If you want the users to do something, then ask them to do it.

6.       Feedback – Users want to be in control of the page they are navigating. Create elements that will make users in control and in return they will use the product or program again.

7.       Ease – Make your website less complicated and more engaging. Show the users the step by step process of whatever it is that you would want them to do in your website. Remember that users hate boring, hard and overwhelming things in a website.

Slow Responsive Web Design Sites Are Bad for Business

Responsive web design not about making sites for mobile devices, it’s about adapting layouts to viewport sizes. Responsive web design means that you don’t have separate mobile, tablet, and PC versions of your site. Slow responsive web design sites are bad for business. Your customers have web performance expectations no matter what device or network they are using.

Website Design Image Trends To Look Out For

As a web designer, choosing pictures for your website can be difficult, since there’s a lot to choose from. You can’t just pick what you fancy, right? Therefore you have to be strategic because everything that you decide to put on your website will determine its value. Having said that, here are some trends that may help you decide.

Monochromatic Visuals

If you don’t want your website to look over the top, then as a web designer, the clean and smooth look of monochromatic visuals may fly for you. It’s also a good way to lead your site visitors to your website’s content hierarchy since the photos are inviting yet not too flashy to the point that it distracts them altogether. This trend, contrary to other’s beliefs, isn’t restricted in black and white combination alone. This simply focus on a specific colors instead of rich combinations, so other shades and colors are fine.

Clever Infographics

They say that a single photo speaks a thousand words. Therefore what better way to please the eyes of visitor and convey a message to them than clever infographics?  Besides, people are more likely to be hooked with infographics than a block of texts. Plus, it’s strategic because it combines the power of both visual and textual information.

Hero Images

Though the reason for the term can’t be explained yet. You may look at it as large image the stands alone to represent the website and strive for its victory. Sounds like a hero right? So, instead of trying to jam sliders and text in one page that may or may not point to the sites objective, why not use hero image that do that with much less noise.

Real Images

Stock images may look good, but not when you’re trying to relate to your target market. If you want to gain trust from users and create sense of familiarity with them, you’re better off with real images. Why? Because they’re more believable than those pretty stock models.

Photo Manipulation

Now, don’t be worried about real images look a little too dull. Because you can tweak them a little bit to achieve your desired effect. Dream-like, blurry, vintage-style versions of real photos can now be done using filters andeffects. 

Vector Graphics

The difference of vector graphics to regular images is that the first are based on strokes while the latter are based on pixels. Now you’re wondering the advantage of vector graphics? Well, as a graphic designer who wants distinct visuals, better image quality and faster loading website, then vector graphics is your new best friend. Aside from that, it also works especially well for background images, header and footer.

Web designing is definitely no joke. You have to pay attention to the most intricate detail while trying to ace the bigger picture. But for a web designer who is passionate about what he does, it’ll help to try to see them as little bumps on the road to success. Besides, there are always some tips like these that will help you along the way. 

The Anatomy of a Web Designer

Based on a survey of 500 web designers, this presentation shows the attitudes towards the web design industry on a wonderful medical journal themed design. Find out about web designers attitudes towards money, the future of web design and competition speculative work with our "anatomy of a web designer"

10 Inspiring Ecommerce Website Designs

The most dominant sense that people rely to and value would be their sense of sight. We are 90% visual beings wherein what we see affects what we do, what we feel, and what we are.

This is the reason why an ecommerce website designer takes designing seriously. Because they know that if the website don’t appeal to visitors within seconds of seeing it then the chances of those visitors buying or availing anything from the site would be very slim.

Though first impression are often wrong, still, it last. Hence, as a general rule, the design has to be visually appealing.

Aspiring ecommerce website designers just have to fully understand and appreciate the wonders of typography, creative navigation options and other aspect, and learn how to combine all of those. When they do, they’ll be able to creative a website that will attract clients and make them stay through the sites personality.

Here are some of the website that may inspire all the designer-minds out there:

1.    Tierra POD

2.    Redmart

3.    Skinny Ties

4.    Satchel Page

5.    Everlane

6.    Bold and Noble

7.    Stacy Adams

8.    Qrowdr

9.    Freepeople

10. Faucet Face

Since the purpose of an ecommerce website is to lure people into buying whatever the site is offering, it is but reasonable to make sure that the site alone is attractive enough. If a designer can’t do that, there’s no telling that the site will prosper.

Why Good Website Design is So Important

So, what are the right choices? We gathered the data to answer that question in this easy-to-follow Presentation. Learn which parts of your website design impact users the most so you can properly plan, prioritize, and optimize your site.

~ http://yugenelee.com/

Ways To Apply Minimalism Into The Web Design Effectively

The concept of minimalism managed to stick around until now despite the coming and going of trends in web designing. It is probably because of its classic appeal which they say never goes out of style. Which proves to be true considering its popularity in other form of art, no wonder some web designers have embraced its beauty as well.

In the web designing world, minimalism clicked because it is easy on the eyes and it enhances user experience. Busy consumers are impatient with short attention spans, that’s why they can’t tolerate overly complex designs that are confusing to navigate.

When it comes to designs in our daily living today, less is definitely more. See the beauty in simplicity and learn how to incorporate it into your design and still seduce more site visitors.

Embrace Flat Design

Apple and Microsoft are one of the brands who put skeuomorphism to shame by embracing flat design. You'll notice the bold and vibrant colors on their design but no drop shadows, 3D effects and gradients. That’s flat design for you, it catches the attention of the user but doesn't overwhelm him.

The design welcomes you with clean and clutter-free page layout, vibrant and flat icons and buttons, typography of different fonts is used for the headlines without texture for the body copy, and images are bright.

Incorporate White Space

What comes into your mind when you hear minimalism in a web design? I say more white space! Not only does it exudes sophistication and neatness, but it also allow you to lead the view’s attention to where you want more easily.

Before you scream boring into my face, take a moment to internalize how beneficial white space is for web designs.

Just take Google Search as an example, or did you not notice that Google Search is a study white space?

Google Search used this design to allow users to focus on searching information instead of distract them from it with loud colors or irrelevant 3D effects.

See how clever it is? It instantly draws you on the search bar without a lot of fuss. 

Limit Choices

No matter what you say, you cannot deny that your priority in establishing that e-commerce website is to convert. Sounds simple but definitely not easy. But if you limit the choices that you present to the user or visitors it’ll be easier for you to turn them into buying customers.

Take it from the company called Gengo that has almost nothing on their landing page except a bar where you type in the text or upload a file for translation. For a professional caption translation company, it’s easier for their potential clients to understand the purpose of the website and how to proceed with the service that the site is offering. 

Focus On Bold Typography

Another basic aspect of minimalism that you may find a little too plain but no doubt effective are bold typography and single-column layout. Here’s how it works:

ü  Using a single-column layout lets you go straight to the point which is, inform who you are, what you do and how you can be of service to people. Plus you won’t hear hard-to-navigate complains for sure.

ü  Using contrasting font color with varying size and style and background color is a great way to keep things simple yet interesting.

Simplify Your Navigation

In order for your minimalistic web design to come around well, every part of your site has to blend with each other. Especially your navigation menu which can be crucial, because you want it to be simple for your visitors to understand but not too bland that it may be completely overlooked.

Make the color blend with the rest of your design but in a way that it still stand on its own. Put it in the upper right corner of the page where most people look at when their searching for it. Forget whatever sliding effect or tricks that you’re trying to incorporate, not adding any different layers of navigation on it keeps it functional and simple.

Use Color In Patches

If you’re not so crazy about a lot of white space, then using patches of color maintain your minimalism concept and still makes site visitors pay attention to information or action that you want them to see. This is taking emphasis to a simple yet effective level.

Like the 960 Grid System website, they used splashes of yellow to highlight internal links such as “download” and “view demo”, and blue for the Twitter logo. Doing this subtly but efficiently lead the visitors to your goal, which is to convert and build traffic.

Minimalism Works If You Know How To Use It

Some designers assumes that minimalism is way too plain and boring that’s why they keep on doing those complicated designs. Contrary to their belief, the examples above just proved them wrong. You just have to know how to work its beauty and your site will shine more than all the colors in the rainbow. Moreover, if this concept increases conversion, and makes things easier for users what more excuse do you have not to embrace this approach?

Besides a true artists can seduce people into his art no matter what the concept is, right?