Fundamental Web Design Principles

Fundamental Web Design Principles
Published
Aug 21, 2022

Principles are those sets of rules that keep us on track when carrying out tasks in a certain profession or industry. But what do we gain by remaining on course and adhering to the fundamentals?

What are the Web Design principles

Being able to blend the aesthetics and functionality of designed products is one of the most important end results we strive for, in our instance, the web design products.

Having said that, in order to produce this well-balanced and ideal product, it is vital and important to adhere to the standards that have been established over time by design experts and business trends.

We should keep in mind that the web design process involves multidisciplinary engagement, which means that explicitly designing shapes and forms will not be the only determined success factor for a great web design by itself.

The following guidelines are the essential web design principles that must be followed. Along with them, you have the chance to "Wow" the audience with exceptional web designs that are combined with excellent functionality.

Defining the website's purpose

First and foremost, the idea of launching a website is because you have something to offer to the audience. 

Be it a product that you want to be founded by the online community and expand its usage. Or be it a service through which you expect to fulfill some needs that you think exist in the market.

Always web pages should be designed having in mind sharing your business intent on all pages which will help users interact with what you are offering.

A few purposes that websites are built for include but are not limited to;

  • Building brand awareness and strengthening their online reputation
  • Selling products or services
  • Generating leads
  • Recruitment 
  • Portfolio websites
  • Entertainment and broadcasting, etc.

If the web design stays within its intent for what is being designed and created, provides a clear message, and users easily find what they are looking for, this is the right approach that should last until “the last touch” end product.

Simplicity

Simplicity is the best approach when thinking about improving your website's usability and user experience.

Web design fundamentals like colors and typography are crucial but sometimes disregarded. They ought to blend in with your brand's aesthetic as a whole. Try to establish simplicity while choosing your font and color scheme. 

Try to limit your font selection, to three variations at max.  Use can use one for the body of the text, one for the headings, and a third for accents.

Modern online design sometimes uses a single color, or monochromatic, for its color scheme. Choose one main color and two to four accent colors if you plan to use numerous colors.

When it comes to the images and illustrations, try to stick to one design pattern throughout the whole web design.

A website seems disorganized and unprofessional when it uses a lot of different color schemes, fonts, and images/illustrations.

Content

A great website contains both quality content and design. The first thing that draws visitors to a website is typically the excellent content, and then a great design helps in keeping them longer on the site. 

Clear and practical shared value is what quality content entails. Typically, this kind of writing encourages readers to buy something, fill out a form, etc.

Try answering the following when designing content;

  1. What do you want a visitor to take away from this page?
  2. What do you want them to do on the page? 
  3. Design and content should always be centered on the main takeaway or action

In addition, enrich your content design by making it more readable by adding;

  • Headings
  • Small digestible paragraphs
  • Bullet points
  • Relevant images/illustrations 
  • Quotes in a distinctive format
  • Noticeable hyperlinks

Easy navigation

Technical website performance undoubtedly has a significant impact on how well users perceive the site. 

The next important component, which is directly tied to design and has an impact on how long visitors stay on the website, is easy navigation.

Consider the audience at all times; will they feel at ease surfing the website and discovering everything that might be off interest to them?

Your visual hierarchy should be designed in a way that would reduce the number of clicks necessary to find particular information or to take the necessary actions.

Otherwise, visitors will give up trying to use a website if the navigation is difficult and look elsewhere for what they need. 

The goal is to keep navigation clear, easy to use, and constant throughout each page. The creation of a point of focus, which directs viewers to the location of the most crucial information, is one of the visual hierarchy's most crucial roles.

This is accomplished through the balanced use of size, color, imagery, contrast, typography, whitespace, texture, and style. 

F-Shaped pattern reading

According to many studies conducted on the behavior of web readers, users typically start reading horizontally across the top of the text area. This initial component creates the top bar of the F. 

The most popular scanning flow that visitors go on a website is the F-based pattern. According to eye-tracking studies, people tend to focus mostly on the top and left portions of the screen. 

The F-shaped layout corresponds to and mimics the way we naturally read. A website that is well-designed will follow the reader's natural tendency to skim the page.

Grid-based layout

In addition to promoting clarity and harmony throughout the project, working in a well-organized environment typically results in more productive output.

By arranging space, text, graphics, photos, and any other element utilized throughout the web, grids are the finest tool for organizing web design.

In general, grids make it easier to organize information, whether you're working alone or with multiple designers. They also help any design that employs the same grid system achieve coherence, balance, rhythm, and harmony.

Color balance

Choosing colors for a website involves more considerations than just looks because it has the power to subconsciously arouse meaning and emotion. 

Color determines how consumers feel about a website, promotes brand recognition, and highlights crucial website aspects. 

It's crucial to pick the proper colors because they influence people's emotions in different ways. The key components of effective web design are white space, contrast, and attractive color schemes.

Strategically utilizing color can effectively convey a brand's message and build brand identification. 

Images and information shine out more thanks to white space, buttons, and other visual design components, which also prevent a layout from becoming overloaded. 

Any practical design should have white space, commonly referred to as negative space. Without it, messaging may become confusing.

Mobile friendly

Making sure your website is accessible to everyone in the best appearance is what helps a website stand out. Therefore, you should always design for various types of screens, including desktop, tablet, and especially mobile. 

Because of their convenience and ease of use, mobile devices account for the majority of e-commerce purchases; therefore, having a mobile-friendly design is critical to creating a successful website design.

In conclusion 

Definitely, there are other important web design principles that you should consider, but first, make sure not to neglect the above-mentioned by diving into more details per each principle. 

Along the way, intensify your efforts in other crucial elements of successful web design, such as taking into account the cultural context and other psychological elements that might affect your target audience.

These elements make up only a small part of the strategy that we at Wedoflow use to build stunning, and lasting web designs.

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