Everybody makes mistakes, but there are some mistakes that are considered cardinal sins. Smart web designers need to distance themselves from these mistakes as much as possible. This is because; these are the mistakes that lead to the failure of the website to create the right impression in the minds of the website visitors.
So, let’s take a look at these mistakes.
1. Imbalance
If the design doesn’t appear to be perfectly balanced, it’s going to fail. Every design element should be able to balance the other, which in turn ensures the perfect design flow. You could either go for, symmetrical or asymmetrical balance, but the balance needs to be maintained. A website that doesn’t appear balanced look disorganized and in ruins.
2. Misusing Bevels and Emboss
A number of designers misuse the bevel and emboss effect, as they tend to use it everywhere on their sites. This means the Bevel effect doesn’t look good and loses its charm. This is why, both Bevel and Emboss, should be used with care, and sparingly. Otherwise the effort will go waste.
3. Busy Background
A background should help website visitors focus their attention on the content of the website and not distract them. If the background looks very busy, there is a good chance that the website won’t be able to deliver the necessary information with impact. The background will interfere with the visitor’s attempts at getting a sense of the website and what it wants to say.
4. Minimal Detailing
The devil is in the details and one of the biggest mistakes that website designers make is that they do not give attention to detail. Every single element on the website, however minor, is important and goes a long way in projecting a unified design. Detailing is always appreciated by website visitors and conversely they also notice when it appears that the designers haven’t focused on this aspect.
5. Improper use of negative space
Negative space is all the white space that you use on the site. If you want to separate two design elements on a site then the use of a negative space is a must. The improper use of this negative space leads to a problem with respect to readability, design and focus. The lack of white space in the website also makes the website look unprofessional and unclear as to its purpose. So, as a designer, you need to make the best use of white space.
6. Flash is No Longer the Knight in Shining Armor
Once up a time in a land far away, there was a Knight called Flash. Even if the website design was ordinary, the use of Flash could rescue it from embarrassment. But, that no longer holds true. Flash only needs to be used if its needed and Flash intros need to be avoided. Website visitors don’t want to take time out to look at Flash animation and get really irritated if the website takes its own sweet time to load.
7. Wrong Choice of Colors
Many websites have been ruined because designers were unable to choose the right color combination. Wrong choice of colors is an outcome of not considering the various essential factors determining proper selection. In such cases, web designers tend to use a plethora of bright colors, or colors with similar hues that do nothing for the overall website design.
8. Too much animation
This is a direct result of boring design. If and when the designers realize that the animation that has been used on the website is boring, they make the second big mistake – They fill the design with animations. But, the problem is that such animation is not attractive but a distraction. It takes the attention of the website visitors from the main purpose of the website, forcing them to look at an animation that tries too hard to impress.
9. Navigation Failure
This is the biggest mistake of them all and although very basic in nature, quite a number of designers are prone to making it. Navigation should be straightforward enough to ensure that users are able to go through the website with relative ease. If that doesn’t happen, the website fails at all levels. This is why an intuitive navigation that is extremely easy to understand is highly appreciated by users.
Let it be known that these are not the only mistakes that web designers’ needs to avoid, but not making these will ensure a successful website design. At its heart, website designing is more of logical endeavor and if you apply your mind, there is no way in the world that you are going to fail at it.
Author Bio
Hazel Raoult writes on Website Design, Software Development, Internet Marketing, Project Management and a host of other services in which she has proven expertise. Currently, she works for PLAVEB, a Los Angeles, California based Web Design and Development Company that offers custom software development, web and mobile solutions for clients across diverse business domains.