Make it so simple it is almost invisible! We should always work to remove friction on the platform, creating an experience that allows users real freedom to the content. If our platrorm is easy to understand, people can and will use it more
Future Learn’s Principle from “Design Systems” by Alla Kholmatova p 51.
A good website is one that meets the needs of the individual or organisation that owns it. For a business that would often mean a good return on investment (RoI) by bringing more customers to the business and encourage them to spend more money. If the website is very expensive to set up or maintain and is not producing more profits it may not be a good investment but it is not always easy to gauge the RoI of your site.
Purpose
The purpose of the site may be for branding; setting a good image for your company. If this is the case, your site needs to be attractive and a good representation of your business. It is important that your site has good content. Think of the reasons why people will be visiting your site. Often they want information about your products or your business. The sort of information they will be looking for include prices of your goods or services, opening hours, your physical address or just general information about your products.
Content
Good content also produces better search engine results. Your website should be easy to use with clear navigation. The text needs to be easy to read and the site should be easy to maintain. A cluttered front page will make it harder for your visitors to find the information they need.
Read more about web content.
Accessible
Some people who visit your site may be blind and access the site with a screen reader. Images are not accessible to these readers so it is important that information in an image is also available in text form. Make sure that all your images have alt text. Design your site so it functions in all the popular browsers. For various reasons some people use older browsers so ensure that your site is readable in these browsers.
Read more about Website Accessibility.
Responsive
People access the web on a great range of devices from large computer screens to tiny mobile phones. The number of people using mobile phones to browse the web is growing, so ensure that your website is responsive and can be read on these tiny devices as well as large TV screens. Make sure that people can change the size of the text in all devices. Your visitors will leave in frustration if they are unable to read the page.
Read more about Responsive web design.
Fast
Your site needs to be fast to load. You will lose customers if your site is too slow. Optimise your pictures to give good quality but fast download.
Read more about how to improve your website speed
Forms
If you include forms on your site, they should function correctly. Don’t ask for too much information. Check the links on your site regularly to make sure they are working and take people to the place you want them to go.
Attractive
Your website should look attractive and modern, not something from the last century. Your pages should be uncluttered. Include plenty of white space in your web design.
Choose appropriate colours that represent the mood you wish to create on your site. Bright colours are great for sites aimed at children but can look unprofessional on a serious business site. A good website is one that looks attractive, has interesting content and loads quickly in a range of devices. Using principles of good web design will produce better search engine rankings and bring more visitors to your site.
Read more about attractive web design.
User Friendly
Test your site with your users. If you don’t have money to do proper user testing ask your family and friends to have a look at the site. Set tasks for them and watch how they accomplish these tasks. Ask colleagues to look at the site and give some feedback. Review their comments with an open mind and don’t be defensive. Thank them for their feedback and make changes if appropriate. Regularly review your site and make changes to improve it. If you are not sure if a change is going to add value to the site, check out your analytics and note if you are getting more visitors, fewer visitors or about the same.
Last updated 3rd April 2018.