3 Key Lessons for Websites That Work

Almost every web design story has 3 main actors. Each of them occupy a particular place in the story and each have different motivations and expectations. These characters are the client, the designer and the user.

There is a particular hierarchy that is supposed to exist between the 3 but due to the nature of the process, this hierarchy frequently gets mixed up. The result is a plethora of poorly designed websites that are cluttered with unnecessary extras, which exist because of a power struggle between the client and the designer.

What we need in order to avert this disaster is design frugality. It sounds fancy, but it’s actually very simple. Just the way websites ought to be.

1. Being important isn’t important

In the hierarchy mentioned earlier, the user always believes themselves to be the most important actor in the cast because it is ultimately their money that the client is trying to earn.

The client often believes themselves to be the most important because they are putting up the money to make the website.

And, sadly enough, the designers often believe that they are the most important because without them the website will not be the masterpiece that the client needs.

The truth is, that it’s really the design itself that is most important. This is what connects your client’s business with the users.

But clients often make ridiculous feature requests and the designer often tries to impress the customer with how many cool features they can build into the website.

Did you notice who gets forgotten in all this?  That’s right – the user!

2. What the clients want isn’t always what they need

When you put the needs of the client ahead of the needs of users, or your own needs ahead of both, the result is often a website that fails to achieve its task – connecting users with your client’s business.

Many clients’ problem is that they suffer from copycat syndrome. If everyone else is doing something, they figures they should be doing it too. Sure, you could just give them what they want, but you’ll be doing them a greater service by educating them about what their users will want.

Users visit websites to find information or to be entertained. When you visit a supermarket for the first time, do you spend your time admiring the interior of the store or wishing it was easier to find where they keep the liquid soap?

Focus on making it easy for the users to find what they are looking for and make that your priority.

3. Make the website just as awesome as it needs to be

Don’t just add things because they are awesome, add them because they are needed. If you don’t need something, don’t add it! Avoid flashy technologies and stick to standards-compliant HTML5. Add JavaScript sparingly. If you only need to show two images, then using a slideshow looks silly. Avoid putting too much content on CDNs  and limit the number of assets you’re loading.

Finally, optimise everything. There is literally nothing on a website that cannot be compressed, sped up or improved in some way. Don’t go crazy with images.

Web design has inherited a lot from other design disciplines, but if there’s one thing that’s more true in web design than any other field, it’s that less is more.

SOURCE: Webdesigner Depot