10 Principles of Effective Web Design

As Ryan Singer, the developer of the 37Signals team, states, users would be eager to provide an email address if they had seen the feature work and had an idea of what they were going to get in return. Registration can be done in less than 30 seconds, since the form has landscape orientation and the user does not even need to scroll the page. Modern web designs are often criticized for their approach of guiding users with visually appealing 1-2-3 step steps, large buttons with visual effects, etc. But from a design perspective, these elements are not bad at all. On the contrary, these guidelines are extremely effective as they guide visitors through the content of the site in a very simple and user-friendly way.

Just like the phrase “beauty is in the eye of the beholder”, effective web design is judged by website users and not by website owners. There are many factors that affect the usability of a website, and it's not just about the form (how good it looks), but also about the function (how easy it is to use). Websites that aren't well-designed tend to perform poorly and have Google Analytics metrics that aren't optimal (e.g.).So what makes good web design? Below, we explore the top 10 principles of web design that will make your website aesthetically pleasing, easy to use, attractive and effective. A good web design always adapts to the user's needs.

Are visitors to your website looking for information, entertainment, some kind of interaction, or transacting with your business? Each page of your website must have a clear purpose and meet a specific need of your website users in the most effective way possible. In general, Sans Serif fonts like Arial and Verdana are easier to read online (Sans Serif fonts are contemporary looking fonts with no decorative finishes). The ideal font size for easy reading online is 16px and stick to a maximum of 3 fonts at a maximum of 3 points to keep your design optimized. The use of clear labels, intuitive categories and the uniform placement of elements can help visitors easily access information on your site. Keeping navigation simple, intuitive and consistent is key to a seamless browsing experience. Responsive web design is fluidly adjusted to fit the visitor's device or browser, taking into account factors such as screen width, resolution and screen orientation.

Responsive design allows visitors to experience your site as intended on any type of device or screen size. A successful website is one that works equally well in all viewports, regardless of size or aspect ratio, from mobile to desktop and anything in between. Responsive design achieves this result by resizing images and rearranging content to fit various screen sizes and browsers. It can give your site an immensely organized and systematic look. Consider dividing your site into categories.

Every website should be built in a way that it is able to provide feedback to its customers; they should expect that. Here floating animations come into play. Animations can be created with JavaScript, which provides information about the actions performed. Here, continuous interactions with the website keep customers on the edge of their seats. In addition, Hover animations reveal extravagant use-case photographs that reinforce the most magnificent brand stories.

Call us or leave a message; we strive to respond to all inquiries within 24 hours on business days. Here are 10 principles to help guide the design of your next website: Paths to sections and content on your site should be clear and easy to use. Imagine an intersection with 3 street options instead of 10: simplicity makes travel better. Users don't need too much time to decide if they like your website or not; therefore you have to impress them from the first seconds. And the visual hierarchy is what will help you. Color is another powerful tool to capture the attention of users.

Of course, there are some common psychological tricks such as red means negative and green means positive. However, in the principles and elements of web design, the visual hierarchy uses colors in combinations (complementary colors, monochromatic, analogous, triadic, tetradic). You can choose the colors and shades with the help of the Color Wheel. We've already mentioned the power of typography for visual hierarchy; it's still important for responsive design. In our work we always follow the principles and elements of web design since they help us systematize our work and deliver the best results to our clients. From visual hierarchy to communication and user interface you can always count on us.

All of us here support the idea that a combination of both factors (an attractive appearance and great ease of use) make a website effective. Let's take a look at the top 10 principles of effective web design that any developer should keep in mind when creating a website: This so-called Teto principle should be applied to all web design projects since usability tests often provide crucial information about important issues related to a given design. Ecommerce websites today focus on the effect that fades background on standard quick view functionality for their products; therefore you should consider important principles of web design above before deciding on your web design. Rather than trying to force viewer's visual flow effectively designed websites will work with reader's natural behavior and display information in order of importance (from left to right and top to bottom). According Apple design principles are “the key to understanding how design responds human needs for safety meaning achievement beauty”.Even an attractive website becomes ineffective when it doesn't have clear vision or purpose in sight; therefore your designer must make that purpose clear by implementing clear perspective of web design principles. By doing so you can use principles Hick's law aid user's decision-making process when browsing your website.

Gloria Foulke
Gloria Foulke

Wannabe twitter lover. Freelance social media maven. Friendly twitter nerd. Hipster-friendly zombie advocate. Avid zombie practitioner. Amateur baconaholic.