 |
||
 |
||
|
|
Intuitive Visual Design
Possibly without realizing it, you - along with millions
of people who use the internet - have developed ‘expectations’
regarding doing business online... Your personal expectations will of course be different from anyone elses based
on your own individual tastes, and variables such as: time; environment;
mood; past experiences; etc., none of which can be reliably anticipated
by any website -- yet. ;) However - experience does show that everyone shares
similar basic functional expectations when it comes to doing business
on the internet. It is the knowing, understanding and applying of
this knowledge that makes the difference
First and foremost -- “Don’t waste the viewers time”.
To do business online with any success, your website must not make it difficult for the viewer to do what s/he came for, find what s/he is looking for, or get the information s/he needs.
Now is the time get your great content in front of the viewer quickly - so you’ll want to make sure yours is up to par. You might write out what you want to say by yourself first, then find forums or blogs specializing in writing for the internet, and read what they have to say, and ask questions if permitted. You'll get some useful tips, and you might find that hiring a professional writer is a cost-effective solution for your project.
Now is NOT the time to put up road blocks such as poor navigation, confusing layouts or superfluous special effects such as animation or flash.
What? Superfluous Flash?
Can there be too much Flash? Absolutely!. Should your website use Flash effects? Maybe...
Are you selling Flash? Then by all means - you’ll probably want to build the entire site in flash to showcase your talents - but offer a non-flash version too. But what if your website is NOT selling Flash? - then
offer a flash snippet if you must - but never, never, never force
your viewers to choose between waiting for your website effects to
load to get what they want, or getting it NOW somewhere else - you
WILL LOSE THE CUSTOMER.
I’ll not get into the debate over how long a
website has to get a viewers attention.... In that miniscule span of time your website must be able to tell the viewer what they need to know to enable them to make that ‘split-second’ decision to stay and look further. You do this with content - not flashing images, bouncing text and fancy effects.
If Content is King, is Design the Queen?
Maybe....who’s the ruler at your ‘domain’ ? ;)
But seriously -- I think it’s really more of a ‘Partnership’ than a Monarchy. And like any partnership, sometimes things go wrong, and the right hand doesn’t know what the left hand is doing.
We’ve all seen them...websites that give the impression that design and content are not ‘on the same page’. Maybe the design is good, maybe the content is good -- if they don’t work together - the results are chaotic.
Harmony, Sweet Harmony
When Content and Design work together on your website - the results are harmonious.
Your website design is pleasing to the eye and effectively displays and complements the content; the layout enhances readability and is consistent sitewide; and navigating the site is accomplished 'intuitively'.
But does it work?
Sort of...however consistent layout, attractive design, and ease of navigation are only a portion of what your website needs.
|
|