News & Views

Major web design mistakes (and how to avoid them)

Over the last ten years, user experience and web design in general have grown and improved exponentially. We’ve come a long way since the “flame GIF footer” and Flash-based sites. But although technology has changed, some things haven’t: A well-designed site is still as functional as it is beautiful, built to strategically advance the client’s business goals.

That’s important to keep in mind because as designers, we can very easily get hung up on nit-picky design decisions, both internally and with clients. And then we forget to keep our focus on the ultimate end-goal — functionality.

The most helpful question you can ask yourself during a web-design project is simply: “Does it still work?” Yes, the awesome parallax scrolling feature you just implemented looks great, but more importantly: Is it helping or hindering the desired goal — whether it’s to convince a shopper to buy a product, communicate pertinent information, or engage the users so that they perceive an intangible brand value?

Fortunately, there are steps you can take to ensure you build a strong, functional website. Let’s take a look at five major web-design mistakes and how you can avoid them.

1. Prioritizing the macro at the expense of the micro

Of course setting up your initial major design decisions is crucial (e.g., choosing your site dimensions, setting up a solid grid, type styles, etc.), but it’s the little (micro) decisions that can make or break a site.

Small things — like having an image gallery that does not require the page to refresh with each advancement — can render the site a lot more intuitive to use.

2. Spending too much time designing your homepage

Many people spend way too much time designing their homepages. First impressions are everything, but burning 75% of your time and budget on designing the homepage is not a wise business decision.

Why? Because it’s important to not shortchange how the site works as a whole and how the internal pages function and interact with each other.

Say you’re a highly regarded nonprofit known for your in-depth research. Is your homepage really the apex of your site experience? Or is the most important function having a stellar research section where finding useful materials is a breeze?

Consider a site like Amazon: How many times do you actually read or look at the homepage?

Not sure what to focus on? Use analytics to see what people are really using on your site — and then develop that.

3. Not recognizing — and reacting to — generational differences

As we progress into a more digital lifestyle, paying attention to generational differences and preferences is becoming more and more crucial. Think of three separate generations: Baby Boomers (55+), Generation X (30 – 55) and Millennials (under 30). They all have varying degrees of connectedness with the web as well as highly different interaction preferences.

Baby Boomers tend to use the technology to simply and quickly accomplish a task. They don’t need a multimedia or social aspect to their task at hand. The web is a tool — not a toy. And if something is clumsy, difficult, or slow, expect members of this generation to just call it a day and move on.

As for Gen Xers, they expect a little more of a robust experience when using technology. Sure, they’re trying to accomplish a task just as quickly as the older folks, but they don’t mind a degree of entertainment or customization when it comes to online experiences. Having a site that remembers all of your purchase information and shipping and billing information is key — and if I’m going to get an online coupon for customer loyalty, all the better.

Lastly, Millenials don’t even consider technology technology. It’s just a part of their daily experience. They don’t think in terms of “let me log on and check this out.” Instead, it’s already brought up on Wikipedia on their smartphone.

So when working through an online experience, you need to assume that what works for a college student won’t work for a 60-year-old. That’s why user testing is so important.

4. Not user testing

Skipping user testing is a big mistake: User testing helps designers glean insight from target audiences, and is a necessary part of building a successful site.

User testing can be as simple as having a user point on a printed mock-up of the site where he or she would go to perform a certain dictated task (e.g., “Where would you log in?”) and observing/recording those results. Or it can be more involved, asking users to interact with near-live versions of the site on-screen and using testing software to record their actions and determine whether they can use the site intuitively.

By testing how a user interacts with the site, you can ensure that it’s performing functionally. If it’s performing well, great! If it’s not, tweak it or rework certain design elements to make sure it better serves audience needs.

5. Designing for just one screen

Everyone is aware that we don’t live in a “one screen, one computer” world anymore. People are accessing sites from their phones, on their tablets, and through apps — all while riding the train, walking, or waiting in line for coffee. We need to consider, as designers and developers, designing and testing for a multi-screen experience. This doesn’t necessarily mean that you need to prototype for every device or even develop a responsive site. For some, simply having your site optimized for devices may suffice. That means: no Flash, auto-adjusting to the viewport, and no confusing animations or interactions.

For other sites, especially commerce sites, where the main task is driving to purchase, a responsive or mobile version of the site is necessary. A site like Land’s End (m.landsend.com) cuts out all the filler and gets right down to business with little to no imagery/graphics and super clear, app-like navigation.

Final thoughts

Hopefully you’ve been able to avoid these pitfalls. Some are easier to avoid then others, while some take a great deal of work and consideration. Ultimately, though, they lead us to an easier, more user-friendly web — and websites that work.