“What is Good Web Design?”

We’ve all heard the statement “Less is more”?  Have you ever heard the statement in reference to web design?  Many consider good web design to be colorful vibrant images, animation, cool fonts, and other.  What exactly is a good web design?

Good web design is not design is not determined by the look, or how cool it is.  Good web design can answer with clarity the following questions: (1) What are you offering? (2) Why should the user pick you?  (3) What do you want the user to do next?

Quality web designs is about creating and optimizing websites for conversion.  “A good, high-performing website should be designed for usability so the average user (even the below-average user) can find what they’re looking for or accomplish what they want without too much thought or work, and without making too many wrong clicks” (Larson & Draper, 2018).

In the March 26, 2019 monthly issue of Customer Think, an online business community newsletter, marketing guru Helen Armour in her article “How Minimalist Web Design Can Improve the Customer Experience” conveys to us that “less is more” when it comes to web design.  However, not ‘less’ in the sense that a web design is stripped down to nothing and looks incomplete.  “When we talk about minimalism in web design, we’re referring to a design approach that seeks to simplify the user interface and website navigation. This is done by using only the elements, whether aesthetic or functional.  The primary goal of minimalist web design is to improve usability and make navigation effortless.” (Armour, 2019).

A minimalist web design can greatly enhance the user experience.  In a HubSpot survey, 76% of consumers stated that the most important factor in a website’s design is easy navigation and clarity; how easy it was for them to find what they want.

Key elements in achieving the concept of the minimalist web design, according to Armour (2019), involves:

1. Clarity:   The most important thing a webpage can do is be crystal clear about exactly what you can do on that webpage (McGovern, 2010).  Clarity, above all, is one of the crucial factors for an effortless user experience. That’s mean getting rid of visual clutter and avoiding things excess details, distractions, and excess buttons.  The goal is to guide the visitor’s focus to help them find what they need within a matter of seconds.  
   
   
2. Making a good impression:  The online presence and content marketing strategy of a business begins with its site, the digital face of the brand.  Conveying a sense of professionalism using the minimalist web design, as well as focusing on quality rather than quantity, can help convey a sense of trust.  Carefully chosen color palettes, can help build an audience’s trust. 
   
3. Fast, responsive websites:  Minimalism is not about the look of clean, organized websites.  It entails design choices that are optimal for improving site speed and accessibility; the practicality and functionality.

I agree that “less can be more” when there is clarity and not clutter.  It doesn’t mean that the web design should have bare nothing, or to the point where the designer is “getting rid of elements for the sake of clean-cut aesthetics and a sleek-looking website” (Armour, 2019).  Web design should be carefully and strategically planned.  The whole ideal of minimalist web design is allowing each element to have its distinct and justified purpose.  Basic elements can be powerful.  Although functionality is the priority, design choices are also directed at how certain elements impact the consumer and influence their perspective.

People are impatient, especially when visiting a website for the first time.  Finding what you’re looking for with ease and clarity is very important.  That does involve minimalist web design where each element of the site, from the layout to the font choices and color scheme, is carefully contemplated.  Designers must convey the brand’s voice by focusing on the fundamentals and eliminating the excess.  You must discover the essence and uncover it in order to convey the message of the brand loud and clear.

Your website is the digital face of your brand.  Customers need to feel the buying decisions they are making are informed decisions.  “Understanding, relating to and developing empathy for your customer is one of the greatest drivers of clarity in communication and design. A lack of understanding of customers and a focus on the internal needs of the organization is at the root of most confusing, complex and verbose websites” (McGovern, 2010).

References

Armour, H. (2019, March 26). How Minimalist Web Design Can Improve the Customer Experience. In Customer Think. Retrieved from http://customerthink.com/how-minimalist-web-design-can-improve-the-customer-experience/

Larson, J., & Draper, S. (2018). Digital Marketing Essentials (Fall ed.). Idaho Falls, ID: Edify Publishing.

McGovern, G. (2010, March 29). Web Design: Clarity is More Important than Persuasion. In CMS Wire. Retrieved from https://www.cmswire.com/cms/web-engagement/web-design-clarity-is-more-important-than-persuasion-007101.php