web design – ten simple rules to follow – part 3

7.  Follow The F-Pattern  

People don’t read websites, they scan them. Web users will arrive at a website and quickly scan the site in pattern that is almost identical to the letter F. A good web designer will design the site around this behaviour and place focus on the user’s initial left-to-right horizontal movement. The user’s second horizontal movement is often shorter than the first, followed by a third and final downward movement.  If your website hasn’t captured the user’s attention in the F-pattern’s three key movements, it’s likely the user will click away to something more interesting.

8.  Beware of Frames

The user of frame in web design is out-dated. Frames are hard to bookmark, make navigation difficult and make it impossible for search engines to accurately index each page and properly spider a framed website. Frames often confuse the user by not closing properly; this makes navigation a nightmare and reflects poorly on the entire website. Not all browsers support frames, so if you want maximum accessibility and usability, it’s safer to just avoid the use of frames altogether.

9.  Typography Is Overlooked

Text is the basis for any website, yet it is often overlooked by web designers who are too busy focusing on over design elements like the colour scheme, background, flash animations, etc. Font choices can make or break a website. Some fonts can make your website look retro, while others will make it look childish. The correct font size must be picked and it must match the overall design. A while ago it was considered cool to have small text with low-contrast, but now it’s been proven that text is there to be read, not to be looked at quickly. Choose the right font size so your headings stand out appropriately. Suitable spacing between lines and away from objects, such as images and navigation menus, should also be considered. Remember the F pattern and keep your text lines short and succinct. Users do not read websites like books, so avoid long lines and paragraphs.

10.  Use of White Space

White space should be used strategically to create an environment that ‘just feels right’ to the user. White space or “negative space” is basically the space between elements in a website. The space between major web design elements is referred to as “macro white space”, where as “micro white space refers to the space between smaller elements, like list items. Using white space allows users to easily transition from one piece of content to another. Great web designers are experts in the use of white space and know the difference between “passive white space” and “negative white space”.