Remember the picture riddles in those I Spy books from the 1990s? If your website is starting to resemble one of those, then it’s probably time for a redesign.
The best websites are beautiful, engaging, and memorable while also being clean and easy to navigate. However, a flawed website design can frustrate your users, making it hard for them to find information. That can ultimately cost your company time and money.
The design of a website is central to promoting and improving a user’s experience across your website. Here at Webspec, our expert design team works with businesses, nonprofits, government agencies and a wide range of other groups to make their websites attractive and easy to navigate.
Here are some of the major ways to improve your website’s user experience through design.
Pay Attention to Web Accessibility
Just like a physical building needs to be handicap accessible, your website should also be friendly to users who have visual impairments, cognitive disabilities, or other limitations. Your website’s visual design is a crucial factor in creating this kind of accessible user experience.
The Web Accessibility Initiative’s Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) are the industry standard for creating a website that’s friendly for all users and adheres to the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). These guidelines apply to several aspects of web design.
Some of the common accessibility rules that websites should follow include:
- Having a high enough color contrast between text and images or backgrounds: Low contrast makes text difficult to read for users who are colorblind or have visual impairments.
- Adding alt text to images. Alt text describes what is taking place in an image so that non-sighted users who are using a screen reader can still understand the information.
- Eliminating unnecessary motion on your site. This helps users with motion-sensitivity issues.
- Having a website that’s ordered logically. Users who need to navigate down your page using the “tab” key rather than a mouse should still be able to follow the page structure.
- Using hover interactions that are clear. It should be obvious when items are in the focus state.
Working with a web accessibility expert can help ensure that you’re following best practices. For more information, check out our Beginner’s Guide to Web Accessibility.
Avoiding Large Image & Video Files
The proper use of images and videos makes your website more rich and engaging. However, using large image and video files can bring your website’s load times down to a snail’s pace.
Your site speed is a key factor in keeping users on your site and optimizing your website for Google search results, so it’s important to ensure you’re optimizing your use of images and video in your design.
There are ways to decrease the effects that images have on load times, such as compressing them and using a format like “WebP,” which is smaller than a format like “JPG” but remains high in quality.
For videos, it’s important to export them at the smallest possible size, keep them as short as possible, or consider embedding them on your webpage using a third-party platform, like YouTube, instead of hosting them on your site.
Writing Clear, Organized Content
Another key factor is to focus on writing clear headings for each section of your website. Good website designs make it easy for users to find what they need, using headings and concise web copy that is logically organized on the page. Headings should use your keywords that describe your business, your business name and your industry.
Good organization also requires determining what the most important action you want your user to take is. Make that call to action prominent in the design.
At Webspec, we take a content-first approach to website design, which means our team works out the website’s content before designers begin constructing wireframes or mock-ups. This helps us use the website’s design to make it easy for users to find the content that meets their needs.
Design With Mobile in Mind
A majority of website traffic today comes from mobile devices. But neglecting user experience for mobile users remains a common web design mistake. Websites should display on a mobile screen just as well as they do on a desktop and be easy to navigate on smaller devices. Some ways to keep mobile user experience at the forefront of your design includes:
Ensuring your site loads quickly.
Removing extra “fluff” that would crowd the screen for mobile use.
Making your website responsive to the screen size it’s being used on.
Using large enough buttons on mobile so people can click them easily.
Incorporating enough padding between buttons to help users avoid clicking the wrong one.
Design for Your Audience
A central theme through all of these tips is that your website’s design should best serve your audience. It’s important to clearly define who you’re building the website for at the start of the project and keep them at the forefront through each phase.
Designing for the intended audience may mean doing less instead of more to keep your site easy to navigate, which can be difficult. But the end result will be a website that’s easier for your users — and more effective for you.
Work With a Team of Designers Who Understand Website UX
Some of the most head-turning sites are those that use impactful content combined with fun micro-interactions, like scrolling or hover effects and other animations. By implementing best practices for accessibility and user experience, this will multiply their effect.
Do you want to see how you can make your website’s user experience smoother? At Webspec, we emphasize UX through each phase of the process, from content to design to development. Work with a team who understands best practices and keeps users at the forefront, contact Webspec today.