The site is the face of the brand. Its design in a split second forms an opinion about the company in the user's mind, which will not be easy to change later. But in the pursuit of an attractive image, many forget that the site must also be user-friendly and functional. In order not to make mistakes and not miss out on customers, you need to figure out what the development of a website design includes, and how to combine beauty and practicality in the final product.
Why website design is so important
Getting to the site, the user often takes 30 seconds to decide whether he wants to stay on it or continue searching. Therefore, the design of the site should not be underestimated and hope that "the product will sell itself."
In simple terms, then this is a set of actions,
aimed at competent content design. By "competent design" I mean such an arrangement of elements on the page, which will allow the user to quickly find the necessary information and at the same time get aesthetic pleasure from the site design. Website design creates a special style of the company, helping to build a brand.
Even 10 years ago, the goal of website design was only a visual component, but it turned out that convenience means no less. So the term "usability" entered the dictionary of a web designer - from the English. usability - "usability and ease of use." Today, a designer must be able not only to create beautiful visuals, but also to be a good analyst and even a psychologist who knows behavioral habits and can get the desired response from the user.
Often, small and medium-sized business owners do not want to invest in design, using ready-made templates or trying to verbally explain to the layout designer how they see their site. But when interacting with such a service, user loyalty immediately decreases - it becomes clear that the company does not care about the convenience of the client and its image, which means that it is not worth dealing with them.
In order not to lose the trust of customers, it is necessary to take seriously the process of developing a website design and remember such rules of good web design as:
thoughtful visual - correctly selected color scheme, compatibility of site elements, consistency, availability of necessary and absence of unnecessary information;
uniqueness - sites designed for the needs of the business and the tastes of the target audience (target audience) give a higher conversion than those created on the basis of ready-made solutions;
compliance with modern requirements - when creating a site, you need to take into account the real conditions in which the target audience lives, as well as introduce modern solutions and technologies.
This last point is especially important because an old-fashioned website design scares users off even more than a poorly thought-out or carbon-copy design.
Speaking of modern websites, the issue of adaptability cannot be ignored. In the era of smartphones, people mainly browse the web and shop from their phone. And if the site doesn't adapt to different devices, its owner loses a significant part of potential customers.
Responsive design allows you to display the page correctly both on a phone or tablet screen and on a large monitor or TV. But responsive design also has a number of downsides:
slow page loading;
inability to view the full version of the site;
difficulties with changing the location of blocks of information;
the inability to take into account the features of the screens of absolutely all devices.
The mobile version of the site is an alternative to responsive design, which is free from the disadvantages mentioned above. This is a separate site that is being developed specifically for mobile devices. In the mobile version, it is possible to remove unnecessary things, add additional functions, think over a better page structure for viewing on a small screen, replace fonts and pictures, achieve fast loading, return to the full version of the site. The disadvantage of the mobile version is the complexity, since another version of the site is being created.
Before starting development, you need to understand for whom and why the site is being created. Therefore, the best foundation for a designer's work is communication with the client and reaching mutual understanding.
From the customer, the designer must receive information about the company, the tasks of the site, the features of the product or service, the target audience, as well as how the customer sees the final result. Based on this data, a unique website design is created that will attract customers and ensure the achievement of business goals.
But despite the fact that all sites are different and there are no universal solutions, site design consists of certain elements that are always present on a web page. Among such elements, the following are distinguished:
header ("cap") and footer ("basement"), where basic information is located: logo, company name, contacts, etc.
menu and site navigation;
types, colors and sizes of fonts;
design of buttons, icons, forms;
filling the site.
Particular attention is paid to the site interface. It should be simple and user-friendly. Each of these elements should look good on their own and as part of the big picture. And at this moment it becomes clear that the work of a web designer is a complex complex work, without which no high-quality website can do.
After discussing ideas with the customer, the design development process begins. Website development is usually carried out in several stages:
Drawing up technical specifications (TOR) for design. At this stage of development, everything that was agreed with the client is fixed in writing. The TK specifies the future structure of the site, as well as the requirements and wishes of the site owner.
Working out the structure of the site. A rough version of the structure is created - how the pages of the site will look, how they will be connected, what interface elements and content to place on them. After approval of the outline, you can proceed to the next stage.
Visual design. After preliminary preparation, drawing up technical specifications and drawing sketches, the designer proceeds directly to creating a site layout. When all the pages are ready, the design is approved by the customer, and changes are made.
The approved layout is sent to the web developers. At this stage, the designer's participation is limited to making edits under the guidance of layout designers and programmers.
As a result, the client receives a ready-made website, which can only be filled with content.
Who to entrust the creation of site design
For the development of web design, you can contact a specialist, or try to make the design yourself. There are several options for the development of events:
Option number 1. The client knows what he needs. In this case, the owner of the future site collects design examples that he likes, or schematically depicts the site's vision on paper. Based on the references and diagrams, the designer creates a layout.
Option number 2. The client does not know what he needs. If the client has no idea how the final result should look like, he contacts the web studio for advice. At the meeting, the customer provides information about the company and the product, voices requirements and wishes. Further, the client is offered design options from which he chooses the appropriate one.
Option number 3. The site owner installs the template on his own, or assembles the design in an online constructor. There is also such an option, but it should be understood that in order to build a site on your own, you need to have at least minimal knowledge in the field of design. Using bright colors, inappropriate images, and bad fonts can scare the user away. And the person will not even understand what the problem is, because, in his opinion, he did it beautifully.
As for the templates, it is difficult to find one that would meet the requirements 100% - it also needs to be completed and redone. In addition, most quality off-the-shelf solutions cost money. Considering this, it is better to immediately make a unique site for the needs of the company than to waste time, resources and customers, having received a Frankenstein site at the exit.
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