Designing a website is a tricky task, many things have to be taken into consideration to come up with a functional, appealing, and good performing website. From visual appearance to the functional design to leading speed, you need to look at various things to build a masterful website. The way a website looks says something about your brand. The way it functions helps determine whether audiences or readers will continue navigating pages or they will abandon it immediately they land on the site. Also, the way the website works determines the user experience of your customers. In this guide, we look at the main principles, the heuristics, and the approaches needed to help in creating a website with great user experience. We look at the user journey or how to define your website’s skeleton down to the audiences, and how to work on the individual page during a web design project. We also cover important elements such as responsiveness of the site and mobile-friendliness and testing. A reputable web development company should be able to deliver quality, functional, responsive websites depending on the needs of the customer and by critically looking at the design principles and best practices.

1. Designing the Skeleton of the Website

The skeleton of a website defines the user journey. There are many elements to check when designing the skeleton and they include information architecture, global navigation, links and navigation options, the back button in the browser, breadcrumbs, and search.

a) Information Architecture (IA)

While many people use this term information architecture to refer to the website menu, that’s not the case. Menus are a section of the IA meaning there are many other things involved in information architecture for your website. IA refers to the organization of information on a website in a logical, clear way. Organizing the information on site serves to help the users to easily navigate the pages or the complex set of information. Great information architecture brings in a hierarchy aligning with the expectations of the user. You will find that having a good hierarchy and navigation requires a lot of work. You need to do proper research and a lot of testing on the site.

Researching the user needs allows you to deliver what they want in web design. Often, IA takes an active role in card sorting or user interviews where the architect of the site hears the expectations of the users directly or sees how the users are likely to categorize different kinds of information groups. Besides, information architects should access the usability test results so that they see if the users can navigate the site efficiently. When it comes to card sorting, it offers a simple way to find out the best possible way to organize and group content based on the input of the user.

Information architects love card sorting because it offers clarity of patterns emerging in web design. Based on the user interview results, a menu structure is devised and card sorting is tested to see if it can satisfy the mental model of the user. User experience researchers utilized tree testing techniques to help prove whether it will work. Tree testing happens before the design of the actual interface.

Tree testing provides a method for finding whether users are able to work with the menu structure that has been proposed in web design.

b) The Navigation

The cornerstone of website usability is navigation. You may have a nicely-looking website, but if the users are able to navigate it or find their way around, it may not perform as desired. To ensure easy navigation of your site, you need to ensure simplicity, clarity, consistency – these are the main principles. Navigation needs to allow visitors to get where they want with as fewest clicks as possible. Visitors should not guest the navigation options they see on the site, they should be clear and self-evident to your visitors. Your navigation system needs to maintain the same theme on all pages.

When designing navigation ensures you select a pattern based on the needs of the user. Depending on your target audience, you should look for a suitable menu navigation pattern that is familiar to the users. Another thing to do is prioritize navigation options by assigning priority levels such as – low, medium, high- to user tasks while also giving prominence within the layout. Ensure the navigation is visible – don’t let your audiences struggle to find the navigation buttons, ensure that they are permanently and highly visible to the visitors.

Any reputable web development company knows how navigation should be done in web design to ease the interaction of the site and the audiences.

c) Links – internal and external

Links are an integral part of the navigation process because they directly affect the user journey. When designing navigation, you should differentiate between external and internal links. Your users expect different things from external and internal links. Ensure all internal links are opening in the same tab so that you allow the users to be able to use the “Back” button to switch back to their previous pages. You may have text that asks, “Open in a New Window.” Also, ensure that visited links change their color to prevent visitors from visiting the same page they did a short while. Unintentionally revisiting pages by users can send a bad message to the users about your website navigability.

Also, double the links so see that they are working and leading to the expected page. It is frustrating for the users to click on a link, only to get the 404 error page.

d) Back Button within the Browser

In any user interface, the “Back” button plays an important role. The user interface control within the browser or after inputting URL should be looked at. The back button should work to the expectations of the user. If a user clicks a link and uses the back button, they want to go back to the original page, clicking the back button should take them to the same spot they left on the original page. You may want to avoid situations whereby when a visitor clicks the “back” button, they are taken to the top of the first page they started rather than the specific spot where they left. When a user loses their previous spot, they are forced to scroll through the page – they are scrolling on parts they had already seen and they don’t need those parts or that content. Having back-to-position functionality that is designed to allow great user experience helps in hooking website visitors to your site.

e) Breadcrumbs

Breadcrumbs form a series of contextual links that help in the navigation of a site. They are a secondary website navigation scheme used to show the location of the user on a website. When designing breadcrumbs, make sure that they don’t act as primary navigation or they don’t take the role of primary navigation. Use arrowhead instead of slashes to separate the levels of navigation.

f) Search

When designing your search box, put it in a location where users can find it. When you have users visiting your page to look for a particular item, they may want to use the search box to type their search query to see if there are any results for the search. The search box needs to be displayed prominently on content-rich sites. Also, the size of the search box should be appropriate – sometimes, you find that it’s not easy to locate where the search box is on a page. The box may also be too short making the users see only a portion of the query they are typing. Again the search box should appear on every page.

Professional website development teams understand the customer journey or the user journey and they know how audiences behave when on a site. So they will develop a website that brings in all the interactivity features to allow a smooth, easy, and enhanced user experience (UX).

2. Individual Page Design

When designing individual pages, there many things to work on including content strategy, page structure, visual hierarchy, scrolling behavior, and others.

a) Content Strategy

Understand the objective of the page and create content that meets the goal of that page. Don’t overload a page with information because it hinders the users from making their decision or taking actions. Minimize the use of long content sections also referred to long blocks of text. Don’t capitalize all letters on form labels, notification, or paragraphs.

b) Page Structure

When you have a well-structured page, it allows the users to easily find every element they are looking for within the layout. Try to use the layout grid to divide pages into regions.

c) Visual Hierarchy

Many people only scan web pages rather than reading everything contained there. Visitors on a website will scan until they find what they want or where they need to move. As a designer, you can help visitors with visual hierarchy. When we talk of visual hierarchy, it refers to the organization, presentation, or arrangement of elements in such a way that there is an indication of their importance. The visual hierarchy should where the visitors' eyes need to focus on first, second, and in that order. It allows easy scanning of a page by a visitor. You can use natural scanning patterns – z0shaped pattern and the F-shaped pattern. Designers can set the path for visitors’ eyes using these eye scanning patterns. With F pattern, it proves to be useful in pages that are text-heavy like articles, blogs, or research results while Z patterns are idea for pages which are not text-oriented.

You also want to use the visual element to make the focal points of your login forms, screen titles, navigation options, and other elements so that your visitors can see them straight away. You may even want to create mockups to help in clarifying the visual hierarchy element.

d) Visitor Scrolling Behavior

Web designed doesn’t think that visitors scroll, however, the reality is that visitors scroll through pages. When designing your website, encourage scrolling. The content appearing on the fold or at the top should set the pace for scrolling. If visitors don’t find that content impressive, they may not want to scroll down the page anymore.

Good content at the top of the page with a good introduction captivates the visitors to continue scrolling. Using engaging imagery at the top also helps create more attention from the visitors. The navigation options should be persistent depending on the location of the page where a visitor is. For example, the sticky menu showing the current location within a web page helps a visitor to get back or scroll up whenever they want. Sometimes, you have long pages to scroll down that make you lose visibility of the navigation bar meaning that you have to scroll back up while deep in a page.

Another element about visuals is to provide visual feedback when visitors are loading new content. Using something like looped animation shows that the system is working and the website page is trying to load. Of course, you want to make sure that a site loads very fast – 2 to 10 seconds.

e) Content Loading

Your website content shouldn’t take long to load. There may be bad incidents when things are slow, otherwise, in typical situations, you should have the website deliver the content fast to visitors by having speedy content loading. The attention span of users and their patience tends to be very low. Visitors want things to happen fast and they expect your website pages to load fast. Visitors may leave a site that has slow loading speeds. When loading content, you can use skeleton screens or progress indicators. However, progress indicators show how the page is loading and may create a sense of anticipation thus translating to impatience among the visitors. So using skeleton screens proves to be a better choice because the visitors cannot guest at what point of loading a page is at a particular – all they know is that they have to wait for the page to load. The skeleton screen takes away the anticipation sense among the visitors.

f) The Buttons

The use of buttons allows smooth conversation flow on a website. When designing the buttons, pay attention to the best practices like having clickable elements look clickable. The way an element in a website looks tells how visitors can use it. You don’t want to have an element that doesn’t look like a button because the visitors will have to think – is this a button to click or not. You don’t want to have the mental load or memory load on your visitors. Let them get everything simple, clear, and easy.

g) Imagery

A picture is worth a thousand words, so images play a great role in website usage. People have high visual appeal and they process visual information instantly/ images are powerful in that they draw the attention of the visitors and help differentiate a product. You may have a single image, however, it communicates a lot to the user than you would with a black of text. Also, images go beyond the language barrier that is witnessed in text content. Using relevant images is important because when you use the wrong images, they give the wrong message. Use images that support the products you sell or that are relevant to the web page context.

Using human faces rather than generic photos allow people to develop that sense of connection. Visitors can emotionally connect with human faces.

h) Video

Today, we are at 5G internet connections meaning flashing speed connectivity which has a lot of implications on the website. Videos are able to lead fast with fast internet speed. A video is a great tool for engaging audiences and when used properly, it can drive more visitors and help convert them. Videos convey more emotion than still pictures or text -they give people that feel for a service or product. When using video in your website design, set audio off and have an option where the audiences can turn it on if they so wish. Users don’t expect to have the sound playing just as they arrive on a page – so if they are met by an audio sound of the video, they may feel uncomfortable or maybe stressed out as they look at how the sound can be turned off.

When you use promotions videos, they should be very short. Also, you don’t want to use videos only, also have alternative ways visitors can access the content, for example, a full transcription of your video may help offer alternative access to the video content.

i) all-to-Action (CTA) Buttons

CTAs are buttons used to guide users to head to a conversion goal. Call-to-action buttons are created with the purpose of aiding or directing visitors to take a course of action. For example, you can have CTAs like “download the book”, “start a trial”, “book with us” , “buy now”, “25 percent discount” or “sign up here”

When creating CTA buttons consider the size and visual prominence so that visitors can easily find them and take action. Other elements to work on in individual web page designing are animations and web forms. These interactive elements of a website create a user experience. You need to structure the web forms appropriately and only ask what’s required. Don’t ask too much information from the visitors, they will be defensive or inquisitive as to why you should have specific information.

The animation enhances the user experience within a website. It helps with website interactability. For example, you can use animation to show feedback of an operation. For example, you can use a shake animation when a visitor enters the wrong password.

J) Mobile Designs

With the number of users accessing the internet via mobile devices surpassing those using other devices like personal computers or laptops, it makes to have a website that is mobile-friendly. You need to have a mobile design strategy for your site. You need to practice responsive web designing by optimizing the site for mobile browsers and desktop browsers which have different screen resolution, different user bases, and different sets of support technologies. For the mobile screen, the single-column layout works best. You can also use the Priority+ element where the more important element on a page is highlighted whereas the less important is hidden away.

3. Accessibility

When designing your site, you need to ensure that it caters to all types of people. Accessibility of a site is crucial in these times when you want to sell to every person. For users with poor eyesight, having low contrast web pages can create problems with vision. The visitors with low eyesight may have to struggle with that contrast sensitivity. Also, on desktops, low contrast text becomes hard to reach. Using a mobile device in bright sunlight can make low contrast text very difficult to read.

Again, color-blind users may form part of your visitors and you may want to think about them when designing the pages. About 4.5 percent of the world’s population experience color blindness with 4 percent suffering from low vision. It is easy to assume that at some point, you could be catering or targeting these audiences. In designing a web page, W3C states that color should not be used as the sole method of conveying information or indication and action. For example, in fill-in forms, alerts are conveyed with color and no other method. This has an impact on how color blind users process the information.

4. Testing

An important element in web design is testing. It is part of the user experience design process, it’s an iterative process. You should ensure you gather feedback early during the design process and throughout the iterative process. Some of the things you should test include the page loading time. Visitors hate slow-loading pages and if you have pages loading slowly, it is likely your visitors will leave. A page loading instantly or say 0.1 second makes the visitor feel they had an instant response. A/B testing may be applied when you want to decide between different web design versions. When seeking website development services, make sure that the company offering the services embraces website testing before deployment of the site. This is because when you have a website deployed there is little room for improvement. Testing helps provide feedback about the user experience and it helps identify bugs and errors in the website coding that need to be fixed before it is deployed.

5. The handoff

The user experience design process serves to offer two objectives IN – prototype the design and to develop a working solution. Connecting the two – prototyping and working solution – is done through a step known as a handoff. Once a design has been finalized and is ready to get to the development stage, the designers how to prepare specifications or a document describing how the website design needs to be coded. The coding has to be done in line with the design features established. Using tools such as Design Specs in Adobe XD allows the designers to have a URL published for the developers to copy styles, grab measurements, and inspect the design flow. A designer doesn’t have to spend much time passing across specifications about a website like positioning, character styles, fonts, colors, and other elements to the developer.

Conclusion

As you can see, designing a website is a demanding process and needs a lot of attention, understanding of the audiences or users, and knowing how to connect the users with the website elements to keep them hooked in. When you observe these elements in designing a site, you are able to come up with a site that is functional, intuitive, SEO friendly, mobile-friendly, and attractive to the users. You have a website that creates a better UX.