Despite the fact that the topic of UX has been getting hotter and hotter for several years now, and the needs of users visiting websites on different platforms are at the forefront, we still encounter common and easy to eliminate errors in website design.
Ignorance, lack of appropriate tools or insufficiently tested functionality of the website – all of this makes the UX underdeveloped websites are not user-friendly or even prevent the use of the portal.
Let’s check which errors are most common when designing websites and how to avoid them!
Website not adapted to mobile devices
In 2016, almost 60% of websites were opened on mobile devices. We are witnessing a huge revolution – and unfortunately not all web designers can keep up with it.
Optimizing your website is key to success – because the layout of websites, posts, articles or galleries that work on large screens can be completely unreadable on your mobile phone or tablet.
Responsive Web Design
The previous point is closely related to responsive web design… or rather lack of it. With little effort it is possible to make the page and its layout automatically adjust to the size of the browser window on which it will be opened.
Unfortunately, you can still find many pages that are fine-tuned only for a specific screen size – and thus become useless on mobile devices. Learn about effective Responsive Web Design techniques
Omission of usability tests
Even if you think that your website is clear and logically planned, you cannot miss the stage when you put it to the real users for testing.
Only this step will allow you to see if the site is useful and find out what else is worth improving. Remember that it is for users that you create a website – and it’s worth making compromises to meet their needs.
Too much perfectionism
Unfortunately, perfectionism is a nightmare for even the best web designers. A well-developed portfolio, years devoted to improving skills, extensive capabilities of programs and programming languages.
All this makes the creation of a website drag on endlessly and it becomes too illegible and overloaded with content. And this leads to the next point, which is…
Overgrowth of form over content
It’s no wonder that you want to show your skills in your project – until the website doesn’t suffer from it because it’s too complex, complicated and illegible.
A web designer must be determined and know when it’s worth giving up another drop-down menu, animation or impressive interface in favour of a simple, readable website that will be a pleasure for the user, without the need to search for a search bar or specific content.
Navigation primarily
Visual aspect of the website is very important, but even the most refined graphics or headlines will not compensate the user for the lack of convenient navigation.
Clear button markings, clear menus, easy access to content, usability and, above all, valuable materials – this is what will make you stay on the site longer. It is worth checking how often your users navigate the trial version of the site to make it easier for them to navigate the site.
Advertisements
Probably anyone who watches TV or listens to radio from time to time knows how irritating advertising can be.
While properly prepared and targeted advertisements are an irreplaceable aid in promoting a website and raising funds for it, pushy pop-up windows can discourage even the most determined user from getting acquainted with your website.
Try to make him/her really interested in the services or products offered and present their advantages, rather than overwhelming him/her with the excess of unsuccessful marketing.
Prepare for mistakes
Even the best prepared website has its bad moments – and a good web designer will prepare for the possibility of errors.
Preparing a well-designed page informing about a 404 error, for example, is not time-consuming and immediately improves the reception of the page.
You can use the error to your advantage and provide contact information or a funny message, in which you will apologize on behalf of the brand for the problems. It’s a great image treatment!
Unclear font and headings
Beautiful, complex typography and thin, elegant font – sounds like a recipe for a modern website… Or failure on mobile devices.
Huge headlines, a logo that occupies half a page or an illegible font will make navigating and using the website tiresome, so you’ll probably lose interest in it after a short while. A similar problem occurs with low contrast on the website.
Ubiquitous slides
It is known that the number of clicks on the website works to its advantage, but users become very sensitive to galleries and articles in which they are forced to click several or more times in order to know the entire content.
While so-called “clickbaits” can be effective on a gossip portal, in the case of a professional website they will make an exceptionally bad impression. A common problem is that using this type of gallery… Arrows to navigate are inconvenient and too small to allow practical use of this feature.