Mistakes come by the dozen when you are designing a website. There are many web design agencies that offer to build the best in class, fully functional and easy to access website tailored to your company. Sadly, when it comes to web design there are more myths than facts. Here we present a few myths about website design. Being aware of these myths saves you from investing in a poor quality design.
Web design myths debunked
- The rule of 3 clicks: Two tap rule or three click rule has been accepted as a standard in web design by novices. The practice is inefficient and causes more harm than easing accessibility. Customers do not leave the website or app when they fail to find the product with three clicks. There is no rule which equates lesser clicks to higher user satisfaction. A study conducted by Jakob Nielsen’s on usability of website found that four clicks were more efficient in finding the product of choice as compared to three (myth debunked). Results of the study are published in Prioritizing Usability. The ideal number of clicks is the one which gets the user closest to the desired product.
- Visitors don’t prefer to scroll: While it was uncommon for early internet users to scroll the sites back in the late 90’s, now every visitor explores a site before taking the next step. Scrolling is a smart inclusion when the content on the page is lengthy or a tutorial. Accessibility is enhanced and is visually better as compared to splicing text to numerous screens. Supporting the ‘people like to scroll’ theory, Chartbeat, a data analytics provider, concluded from 2 billion visits that media pages below the fold receive the maximum attention, not the top fold. Mobile users begin to scroll down within the first 14 seconds, regardless of the length of the page.
- A minimal design adds simplicity: Every great product ever created rose to the summit on the wings of simplicity. Simplicity is most often misinterpreted as minimalistic. Simplicity is the process of erasing complexity while minimalism is achieved through removal of elements. Not so similar concepts, are they? When a website design is based on removing element to ‘clean up’ the page, it is not the process of simplification. Minimal web based pages are often difficult to navigate given the lack of common elements. An icon without a text label is minimal but confusing to interpret. Difference between minimalism and simplicity is best explained by Tim Brown who describes that while minimalism is skin deep, simplicity arises when a complex situation/problem is dissected.
- White space is not space wasted: Most web designers in the beginning of their career shy away from incorporating white spaces in their designs fearing that by doing so space is wasted. Negative space, as is it commonly referred to, is the area around and in between elements of a page layout or design which is mostly over looked. In the words of Jan Tschichold, white space is an active element and not merely a passive background. Brand positioning and readability is enhanced through the strategic placement of white space. Apart from accentuating the spatial placement of content and branding, white space prioritizes elements of user interface according to Luke Wroblewski. Another designer Carla Rose argues that white spaces are integral in guiding the eye from one point to another. Elements of white space include space between columns, region around the images and graphics, letter spacing and line-spacing within the content, gutters, margins and paddings.
- Testing of usability is a luxury which is unaffordable: A common view held by most organizations is that testing is expensive and often demands the use of expensive equipment and labs. The fact of the matter is that usability is relatively cost effective and quick. An expensive prototype is not required: in fact, a low–tech paper prototype will yield similar results. Groups of five or more volunteers are a credible test group for a specific task. Recruiting can be performed gorilla style and for many projects, unmoderated and remote tests can also be performed. Numerous reports and books are available on sources for cheap usability testing of websites.
- The psych of the user and the creator must be in sync: An elementary mistake while designing a website is assuming that everyone is like you! An assumption such as this result in an ineffective design, highly accented with bias. While you as a designer are passionate about the values and the products offered by the company, the user’s attitude is abrasive.
Highlighted in the present post are only a few myths on web design. There are countless more out there. In order to ‘step up’ the website design game, new designers should acknowledge these myths and make a conscious attempt to overcome these baseless assumptions!
