Key Principles of Web Design

Many skills are required to make web design effective. Often individuals work in groups to create graphics, text, interface, and code as well as to study user experience and optimize the website for search engines.

A modern website is both a visual art object and a communication tool. At the same time, it is a piece of technology, and we expect it to operate smoothly and be accessible. An efficient website attracts clients and has high usability.

The visual aspect of web design principles covers:

• Contrast

Text and image, size of different objects, buttons, pictures, and text pieces are placed in contrast to each other.

The contrast makes different elements distinct and drives people's attention. The contrast can be too strong and aggressive or, on the contrary, insufficient, when the page looks monotonous and evokes boredom. The right contrast is such a relationship between different design elements that enhance each of them without upsetting the harmony.

• Repetition

It is used a lot in web design when an entire website is created based on a linear pattern, with all the pages having a similar structure. Its repetitive pattern, consistency, and predictability comfort and relax a user.

• Alignment

Pictures, fragments of text, and logos are placed in blocks. There is a certain logic behind a composition on a page. All the elements are opposed to negative space with nothing on it. The web page looks clean and uncluttered. The visual hierarchy is not upset.

• Proximity

Design elements placed next to each other form a group and are seen as a single whole. Buttons often stick together on a page. The juxtaposition of several small pictures looks like a big collage. The principle helps organize information with visual means and delivers its logic to website visitors.

However, web design is not about graphics only - it aims to facilitate communication between a user and an organization or a brand.

Successful communication is:

• Clear. A site conveys the goal of communication.

• Concise. It gives a user all necessary information and doesn't distract with unnecessary details, too much noise or choices.

• Concrete. The website is straightforward and focused.

• Correct. There are no mistakes or discrepancies, and all functions work without failure.

• Coherent. The website has some logic, which is immediately understood by all users, while its layout and language are consistent.

• Complete. The content includes all important information, contacts, FAQs, and a clearly stated call to action.

• Courteous. A user is treated friendly and openly.

Communication is a two-way process, and visitors who get to the landing page of a website have their own goals. They are not rational; they are impatient; they don't follow your story unless it talks to them.

What Are the 8 Basic Web Design Principles?

The visual art and communication skills with the use of modern technology are at the core of a good website design. Even without admitting it, a user expects a website to be:

• Intuitive. A user wants to have control and to be the one in charge of their decisions and actions on a page. A user doesn't want to feel uptight when using your platform.

• Mobile-friendly. The web-resource has to be easy to use on any device, and the site design should adjust to a smaller screen with no discomfort for a user. All action buttons are to be in sight, with no additional scrolling required.

• Fast. Having a high loading speed is a must!

• Consistent. You don't want a user to make any extra effort to adjust to various color schemes or another logic of the information presentation across different pages or sections.

• Easy to navigate. Make sure everything a user might want is accessible within three clicks.

• Clear. Communicate with your users and give them the freedom to take an action.

• Attractive. Aesthetically pleasing websites are said to be more user-friendly. Users want to be impressed and entertained.

• Well-tried. Enhance user experience through testing. You are designing a website with good intention, but if you don't check how others use it, you will never make your website perfect.

If any of the design principles are not implemented, users leave the website without interacting with it.

Trends and styles change, and minimalistic sites compete with exuberant ones. But an effective web design still relies on the above-listed factors and communication rules. The team of professionals from the Alice Wonder studio will help you implement these good design principles and reach your audience effectively and with style!