Building a site for your users: When making a site for your users, it is best to
think about what they will be wanting to look for on your site, then implement that into it.
Focusing on one person's persona is also a good way to get a site that benefits everyone,
because it is surprising how many people might have similar interests.
Understanding how people browse the web: People use the internet for information and
not really for entertainment.
It's all about information: When making your site, try to make all the informationin
your site as easy to find and clear as possible so that users' don't get lost trying to find
what they need.
What causes people to leave sites: Things that can make people leave are: anything
that prevents the user from finding what they need, using jargon, using complex words over
normal
Don't Get in the Way of the Information
Simple design: All of the elements on the page should make sense and help tell the
story on your page, if not then they should probably not be there.
Consistent design: Having the same thing happen on all of your sites will make it
easier for users to navigate your site and will keep them longer. If the site has
differences in the way things behave, then people will leave and find another site.
Standard design: When making a standard design site, it doesn't mean make it look
boring or the exact same as other sites, just make so that users can access it easily
because they will have seen the same structure before.
Navigation
Elements of navigation: Navigation elements are used to move around the site, help
users understand where they are in the site. Here is a list of what users will look at to
figure out if they are on the right site or not:
* Name
* Information
* Images
* Text
* Navigation
Content has a structure: There are three main navigation structures and words that
can help figure out which is which: Category-nouns, Audience-users, Task-verbs.
Understanding menus: There are two main areas where the navigation is placed: top
bar, or side box.
Reviewing some menu myths: All content should be no more than 3 clicks away from
homepage (not exactly relevant anymore). Menus should be no longer than 7 +/- 2 items.
Always signpost where your content is.
Working with site maps: A site map is an area where the designer places links to
basically all the pages, or other websites into their own categories and presented on their
own page or at the bottom of the main page.
Adding search to your site: If your site has a lot of content, then it would be
beneficial to your users to add a search bar.
Understanding links: Linksare useful in all sites because they allow people to go
back and forth between pages, move to another site, and sections of a page
Exploring clickable elements: Clickable elements like buttons, and even images coded
right, could be useful in your site but you would need to make sure that the user would be
able to understand that it is clickable and you would need to make sure that it does what
the user would expect it to do.
Understanding Fitts' law: Fitt's Law say that it is easier to hit larger objects than
it is to hit smaller ones. If you make your buttons big enough to click on and see then
users will have a much easier time navigating, but if they are too small then it will be
harder to navigate or complete something.
Site Layout
People can begin from any page on your site: People access your site differently, and
because of that, people could pop up in a random page in your site, so you should make it
easy to see what is going on in all of your pages.
Elements every webpage should have: Here is a couple of things that every page on
your
site should have: once you figure out what it is your site is about, implement it in all of
your pages. A page title is also needed to help the user and browser understand what the
site is.
Creating progressive navigation: To assist in navigation, make a category page which
is a little like a search results page but with the links in your navigation bar instead of
different sites.
Arranging your content: If you have a lot of content, there are a few options to
arrange it: leave it all on one page with scrolling, split up the content to multiple pages
if need to, or sequential order.
Writing for the Web
How people read on the web: People scan not read, and they mostly scan from the top
left of the page to the bottom. Their eyes are also drawn to links, headings and highlighted
stuff. Higher literacy people tend to skip the big words just enough to get the main idea,
while lower literacy people have to read every single word in order to understand it.
Writing for information exchange: People who read online usually are for information
not entertainment, so you should make the text easy to read and simple, as in not many long
sentences or big words.
Formatting pages for information exchange: Headlines are the best form of formatting
because they can be used to draw the users to them and get them to read them. It also is a
good idea to not use more than three levels of headings. Since people scan rather than read
the text, make the first paragraph a summary of the information that you are presenting.
Homepage
Using your homepage as a site summary: Your homepage is like your introduction page
to your site so you should keep it as up to date as the rest of your site. It can also help
orient users to where they need to go, and it can provide links to top tasks on your site.
Creating fresh content: You should keep your site as updated as possible but if there
isn't really anything that needs tobe updated, then you can add new things to your site that
you could use.
Displaying navigation and search: Your homepage should 100% include the navigation
bar as much as any other page, and there should also be a search bar that people could use.
A good place to put the search bar is in the top-right corner of the page.
The five-second test: The five-second test is a test where you look at a site and
after five seconds you can decipher what the site is about and wether you want to continue
or leave. You can also use these sites to help you out: Five Second Test, ZURB - Clue.
Category and Landing Pages
Showing people what you've got: Category pages can hold the most recent, liked, or
even viewed items in their own page, with a short description of each.
Making comparisons easy: Allow the users to be able to compare items on your site,
and possibly on others sites too. Whenever you are writing your category pages, write with
comparison in mind
Creating landing pages from ad campaigns: Landing pages are for search results and
can be made from ad campaigns.
Detail and Product Pages
The real purpose of detail and product pages: Detail pages are the pages that give
the readers the details about a particular event, while the product page shows details about
a particular item. Detail pages should describe the topic factually. Product pages should
have a price, and a call to action, such as Buy Now.
Writing descriptive text: When writing on the web, people will be looking for
information, and when they find your site the text should be able to give them exactly what
they are looking for, which means put facts and examples down and not opinions
Using images to set context: If you are describing a product like a car, then include
a lot of high-quality photos to get users as close as they can be without them being able to
touch it, in case they don't live close enough to view it themselves..
Showing the price for products: If you have any ecommerce sites than make sure that
you show the price that goes with the product otherwise people will not go back to your site
for the fact that they can't buy whatever it is you're selling because they can't see the
price.
Have a call to action: If you want your users to do something on a certain page, make
it clear to them.
About Us: A special detail page: The About Us page is a page that shows the user
about what the company does or talks about how they originated or whatever else they put on
it. It also can be the key to trusting a certian site or not trusting it.
Forms
Ask for information in context: When making forms make sure that the experience is as
painless as possible because not many people like doing forms. To have the user give you
their information, you need to get them to understand why they are giving you information.
Make sure to ask the right questions at the right time.
Making forms as painless as possible: If you make a big giant form, then people will
most likely not want to fill it out, and if they aren't ready to share, then they will
probably fill it out with false information. The best way is to make the forms as short as
possible and to ask certain questions when it is time.
Creating form fields: When creating a form field make sure that to signify what is
required has an asterisk (*) or something to help identify it. Also limit the number of
options when adding a dropdown or radio buttons/check boxes. And NEVER put a reset
button on any of your forms. And instead of using submit for the submit button, use a
different word or two or three words to describe what will happen.
Handling errors gracefully: To catch errors in your forms, have code that can help
with identifying what kinds of text should be typed and what will cause an error. When
identifying which boxes have an error, use the color red and have a message that says what
is missing or incorrect.
Using Media to Help Tell Your Story
Using different types of media: There are different types of media and they can help
tell the story of your site, but if they can't help then you should remove them so that they
don't create a cluster of unused items. Using a bunch of different types of media on your
site will make your site slow down a bunch and we don't need too many thing taking up all of
our page load time.
Simple question: Does it enhance the experience?: If the image or video you put down
on your site doesn't seem to add up to what you are selling on your site, then you should
not add it, because it would slow your sites loading time.
Using graphics for explanation, not decoration: Adding graphics that can help with
promoting your site is great but don't add too many, or ones that don't promote your site,
because otherwise you will get a untrustworthy site.
What is interactive content?: Interactive content is content that users can interact
with by clicking, scrolling, and many other things that users interact with the computer.
Lets say you click on a image that changes to another image. You can also drag objects to
another area
Laying out your page for media: If you have media that you feel your users will
listen to, then you can add that, and/or you can add a download option for that media. If
you do a download option then you should have a seperate page specifically for the
downloadinng that shows all the different formats it can come in.
Balancing Adverts and Content
Making money without selling out: A low-end site's income mostly comes from ads,
while a high-end site's income comes from sales. Another way to to make money without
possibly selling out of whatever it is you are selling, is to have valuable content that is
targeted, concise, timely, and up to date.
Adding graphical ads: Graphical ads on most sites end up getting ignored because
people's brains don't end up seeing them as ads. And because of that, the people who make
the ads have to work harder in order to get users to notice the ads by having them flash
through multiple colors and anything else they can think of, but the major thing that
affects the overall ad is, does it go to where it says it is going to go..
Creating text ads: A text ad is different from a graphical ad by the fact that it is
text-based. It should be a different color and possibly size too. When making a text ad,
make
sure that it doesn't look anything like, and is seperate from normal text.
Summary: Good Design Practice
Simple, consistent, and standard design: Keeping things simple, consistent, and
standard will help users understand where your site is going and if it is relevant for them.
Considering your users: When creating any site make sure to ask the question "Does
this help my users?