UX Design: Website Design For the Masses

Basics of UX Design

There are a few ordinary UX design principles that could help build a foundation for your site. Some of these include; navigation menus at the top of the webpage, the logo at the top of the webpage which links back to the homepage, search boxes at the top of the webpage which includes the word “Search” or a magnifying glass icon, and be careful to make all the website elements such as the menus, logos, colors, and layout match the brand image and are consistent throughout the site.

Make sure to stay clear of poor older website design flaws such as; entry or splash pages (any page that a visitor must interact with before the homepage), automatic sound (unless it’s a special music site), flashing objects or lights, lots and lots of text, text that is very technical, hard to read text, auto-scrolling text and other eyesores. A good and simple design will have some empty space for the user to understand where everything is located. Fewer options will make decision making on your site much easier.

Easy Does it

Probably one of the most important areas of your business that should be easy to find on your website is the address and phone number. Contact information is the most annoying thing to not be able to locate quickly on a website. Having a dedicated contact page will help with this issue but there are many homepage methods such as integrating a small Google map and contact info in the sidebar. Genuine testimonials, if available, should also be on the homepage and easy to see and understand. Like the testimonials, links to credible third party sites or other endorsements will help establish credibility to your users. These should be obvious and in plain sight.