Article summary web design: Use and utility, No visual design, determină succesul sau eșecul unui site web. Because the page visitor is the only person who clicks on the mouse and so decides everything, designul centrat pe utilizator s-a stabilit ca o abordare standard pentru proiectarea web de succes și orientată spre profit. After all, If users cannot use a feature, ar putea să nu existe.

We will not discuss the design of design implementation (e.g, where the search box should be placed), as I have already done in several articles; instead, we focus on the main principles, heuristics and approaches for effective web design – approaches that, used correctly, pot duce la decizii de proiectare mai sofisticate și simplifica procesul de percepere a informațiilor prezentate.

Principles of good website design and effective web page design guidelines

To use the principles properly, we must first understand how users interact with websites, cum gândesc și care sunt tiparele de bază ale comportamentului utilizatorilor.

How users think?

Practical, the habits of users on the web are not so different from the habits of customers in a store. Visitors look at each new page, they scan some text and click on the first link that piques their interest or is vaguely similar to what they're looking for. Actually, există părți mari ale paginii pe care nici măcar nu le privesc.

Most users are looking for something interesting (or useful) and clickable; as soon as a few promising candidates are found, users click. If the new page does not meet users' expectations, se face clic pe butonul Înapoi și se continuă procesul de căutare.

1. 1. Users value quality and credibility. If a page provides users with high quality content, they are willing to compromise ad content and site design. This is why websites are not so well designed, with high quality content, gain a lot of traffic over the years. Conținutul este mai important decât designul care îl susține.
   2. Users are not reading, scans. Analyzing a web page, utilizatorii caută câteva puncte fixe sau ancore care să-i ghideze prin conținutul paginii.
   3. Users follow their intuition. In most cases, users are meddling instead of reading information provided by a designer. According to Steve Krug, the underlying reason for this is that users don't care. “If we find something that works, we stick to it. It doesn't matter to us if we understand how things work, as long as we can use them. If your audience. it will act as if you were designing the billboard, then design great billboards. ”
   4. Users want to be in control. Users want to be able to control their browser and rely on consistent presentation of data across the site. For example. they don't want new windows popping up unexpectedly and they want to be able to return with a "Back" button to the site they were on before: therefore, este o practică bună să nu deschideți niciodată linkuri în ferestrele noi ale browserului.

• It doesn't make users think

According to Krug's first law of use, the web page should be obvious and self-explanatory. When you create a site, your pregnancy. is to get rid of the question marks – decisions that users must make consciously, considering the pro arguments, contra și alternativele.

If the site navigation and architecture is not intuitive, the number of question marks increases and makes it harder for users to understand how the system works and how to get from point A to point B. A clear structure, indicii vizuale moderate și ușor de recunoscut linkurile pot ajuta utilizatorii să-și găsească drumul către scopul lor.

Let's take a look at an example. Some analysts claim it is “beyond the channels, beyond products, beyond distribution". What does this mean? As users tend to explore websites according to the “F” pattern, aceste trei afirmații ar fi primele elemente pe care utilizatorii le vor vedea pe pagină odată încărcată.

Although the design itself is simple and intuitive, to understand what the page is about, the user must search for the answer. That's what a useless question mark is. Sarcina proiectantului este de a vă asigura că numărul semnelor de întrebare este aproape de 0.

ExpressionEngine uses the same structure as Beyondis, but avoid unnecessary question marks. In addition, sloganul devine funcțional pe măsură ce utilizatorilor li se oferă opțiuni pentru a încerca serviciul și a descărca versiunea gratuită.

Reducing cognitive load, make it easier for visitors to understand the idea behind the system. After you have achieved this, you can communicate why the system is useful and how users can benefit from it. People won't use your site. web dacă nu își găsesc utilitatea în jurul acestuia.

• It does not test the user's patience

In every project where you will provide visitors with a service or tool, try to keep user requirements to a minimum. The less user action required to test a service, the more likely a random visitor will actually try it. First-time visitors are willing to play around with the service, don't fill out long web forms for an account they might not use in the future. Allow users to explore your site and discover your services without forcing them to share private data. Nu este rezonabil să forțezi utilizatorii să introducă o adresă de e-mail pentru a testa funcția.

As Ryan Singer states – developer of the 37Signals team -, users would likely be willing to provide an email address if prompted after seeing it work, așa incat sa aiba idee despre ce aveau să obțină în schimb.

Stikkit is a perfect example of an easy to use service, which requires almost nothing from the visitor, which is discreet and comforting. And that's what you want your users to feel. on your website. web.

Apparent, Bribes require more. However, registration can be done in less than 30 of seconds – because the form has horizontal orientation, utilizatorul nici măcar nu trebuie să deruleze pagina.

Ideally, remove all barriers, don't ask for subscriptions or registrations first. Numai o înregistrare a utilizatorului este un impediment suficient pentru navigarea utilizatorului si pentru a reduce traficul de intrare.

• Intelligently manage user focus

Because websites provide both static content, as well as dynamic, some aspects of the user interface attract more attention than others. Evident, images are more attractive than text – la fel cum propozițiile marcate cu caractere aldine sunt mai atractive decât textul simplu.

The human eye is a highly non-linear device, and web users can instantly recognize the edges, patterns and movements. This is why video ads are extremely annoying and distracting, dar din perspectiva marketingului fac perfect treaba de a atrage atenția utilizatorilor.

Humanized perfectly uses the principle of focus. The only element that is directly visible to users is the word "free" which works attractively and attractively, but still calm and purely informative. Indiciile subtile oferă utilizatorilor suficiente informații despre cum să afle mai multe despre produsul „gratuit”.

Focusing users' attention on certain areas of the site with a moderate use of visual elements can help your visitors get from point A to point B without thinking about how it should be done. The fewer questions visitors have, the better sense of direction they have and the more trust they can develop in the company the site represents. In other words: the less behind-the-scenes thinking has to happen, the better the user experience, care este în primul rând scopul utilizării.

• Strive for feature exposure

Modern web designs are usually criticized for their approach of guiding users through visually appealing steps 1-2-3, large buttons with visual effects etc. But, from a design perspective, these elements are actually not a bad thing. On the contrary, such guidelines are extremely effective, deoarece conduc vizitatorii prin conținutul site-ului într-un mod foarte simplu și ușor de utilizat.

Dibusoft combines visual appeal with clear website structure. Site-ul are 9 main navigation options, which are visible at first glance. Alegerea culorilor ar putea fi însă prea deschisă.

Let the user clearly see what features are available is a fundamental principle of successful user interface design. It doesn't really matter how this is accomplished. Ceea ce contează este că conținutul este bine înțeles și vizitatorii se simt confortabil cu modul în care interacționează cu sistemul.

• Use effective writing

Because the Web is different from print, it is necessary to adjust the writing style to the preferences and browsing habits of the users. Promotional writing will not be read. Long blocks of text without images and keywords marked in bold or italics will be skipped. Limbajul exagerat va fi ignorat.

Talk about business. Avoid cute or clever names, marketing induced names, company specific names and unknown technical names. For example, if you describe a service and want users to create an account, “sign up” is better than “start now!” ceea ce este din nou mai bun decât „explorați serviciile noastre”.

Eleven2.com gets straight to the point. No nice words, no exaggerated claims. Instead, a price: exact ceea ce caută vizitatorii.

An optimal solution for effective writing is to

• use short and concise sentences (get to the point as quickly as possible),
• use scannable layout (categorize the content, use multiple heading levels, use visuals and bulleted lists that break the flow of uniform blocks of text),
• use simple and objective language (a promotion doesn't have to sound like an ad; give users a reasonable and objective reason why they should use your service or stay on your site.)

• Try as much as you can to keep things simple

The "keep it simple" principle (SMALL) should be the primary focus of website design. Users are rarely on a site to enjoy the design; in addition, in most cases, they seek information despite the design. Luptați pentru simplitate în loc de complexitate.

From the visitors' point of view, the best website design is pure text, no ads or other content blocks that exactly match the query used by visitors or the content they searched for. Acesta este unul dintre motivele pentru care o versiune tipărită ușor de utilizat a paginilor web este esențială pentru o bună experiență a utilizatorului.

Finch prezintă în mod clar informațiile despre site și oferă vizitatorilor o gamă de opțiuni fără a le aglomera cu conținut inutil.

• Don't be afraid of white space

Actually, it's very hard to overstate the importance of white space. Not only does it help reduce cognitive load for visitors, but it makes it possible to perceive the information presented on the screen. When a new visitor approaches a design aspect, primul lucru pe care încearcă să-l facă este să scaneze pagina și să împartă zona de conținut în informații digestibile.

Complex structures are harder to read, scan, analyzed and worked on. If you have a choice between separating two design segments with a visible line or white space, it's usually better to use the white space solution. Hierarchical structures reduce complexity (Simon's Law): the more you manage to give users a sense of visual hierarchy, the more your content. va fi mai ușor de perceput.

White space is good. Cameron.io uses white space as its main design element. The result is a well scannable layout, care oferă conținutului o poziție dominantă pe care o merită.

• Communicate effectively with "visible language"

In his works on effective visual communication, Aaron Marcus states three fundamental principles involved in using so-called "visible language" – conținutul pe care îl văd utilizatorii pe un ecran.

organize: provide the user with a clear and consistent conceptual structure. Coherence, screen layout, relationships and navigability are important organizing concepts. Aceleași convenții și reguli ar trebui aplicate tuturor elementelor.
Save up: do the most with the least amount of cues and visuals. Four major points to consider: simplicity, clarity, distinctiveness and emphasis. Simplicity includes only the elements that are most important for communication. Clarity: all components should be designed so that their meaning is not ambiguous. Distinctive character: the important properties of the required elements should be distinguished. Accent: the most important elements must be perceived easily.Communication: match the presentation to the user's capabilities. The user interface must maintain the balance of readability, readability, PRINTING, symbolism, multiple views and color or texture to communicate successfully. Use max. 3 character types at most 3 point sizes – maximum 18 words or 50-80 de caractere pe fiecare rând de text.

• Conventions are our friends

Conventional design of website elements does not result in a boring website. Actually, conventions are very useful because they reduce the learning curve, the need to learn how things work. For example, it would be a nightmare to use if all websites had a different visual presentation of RSS feeds. This is not so different from our ordinary life, where we tend to get used to the basic principles of how we organize data (folders) or how we shop (product placement).

With conventions you can earn trust, trust, user reliability and you can prove your credibility. Follow user expectations – understand what to expect from site navigation, the structure of the text, plasarea în căutare etc.

A typical example from usage sessions is to translate the page into Japanese (assuming your users. web i don't know japanese, e.g, with Babelfish) and provide your testers with. of using a task to find something in the page of another language. If the conventions are well applied, users will be able to achieve a not too specific goal, chiar dacă nu pot înțelege niciun cuvânt.

Steve Krug suggests that it's best to innovate only when you know you really have a better idea, dar profitați de convenții atunci când nu aveți.

• Test early, test often

Acest așa-numit principiu TETO ar trebui să fie aplicat fiecărui proiect de design web deoarece testele de utilizare oferă adesea informații esențiale asupra problemelor și problemelor semnificative legate de un aspect dat.

Test not too late, not too little and not for the wrong reasons. In the latter case, it is necessary to understand that most design decisions are local; that means you can't universally answer whether one aspect is better than the other, because you have to look at it from a very specific point of view (taking into account the requirements, interested parties, the budget etc.).

• A few important points to remember:

according to Steve Krug, testing a user is with 100% better than testing one and testing one user early in the project is better than testing a 50 at the end. According to Boehm's first law, errors are most common during requirements and design activities and are more expensive the later they are removed. testing is an iterative process. That means you are designing something, you test it, you fix it and then test it again.

There may be issues that were not found during the first run, because users were basically blocked by other issues. usability tests always produce useful results. Either you will be directed to the problems you have, either you will be directed to the absence of major design flaws, which is in both cases a useful perspective for your project. according to Weinberg's law, a developer is not suited to test their code.

This is also true for designers. After working on a site for a few weeks, you can no longer observe it from a new perspective. You know how it is built and, therefore, you know exactly how it works – you have independent experts, and your site visitors. wouldn't have. Instead of conclusion: if you want a great site, trebuie să testați.