Why choosing form over function kills your siteGet Web Design Tips and Tricks on mps-web-design.com. Why choosing form over function kills your site topic will increase your understanding on Web Design Tips and Tricks. We at mps-web-design.com only provide news, articles, information in Web Design Tips and Tricks. Web Design Tips and Tricks at mps-web-design.com provides the most up to date news and articles. If you have questions please do not hesitate to contact us.
If you put form before function, you sacrifice your visitor's best interest for your own preferences. By definition, putting form over function means you sacrifice function--you make it harder to perform whatever task is supposed to be performed. You give up ease of use or simplicity in order to make it look nicer. Basically, you wind up with a lot of icing and no cake. Don't get me wrong--form often accentuates function, just like icing accentuates a cake. Something that is visually pleasing often increases the usability by making it more attractive or by using visual elements to increase understanding. Creative design can often be used to make a task easier to perform. It can entice the visitor to take whatever action you want them to take. However, on the web, there are frequently contests between form and function. Designers make choices between whether to make something look nicer or make it simpler and easier to use. For example, these are common ways of sacrificing function: - Using an uncommon style of links that makes it hard to recognize the links. - Putting a textured background behind the copy, even though it will make the text harder to read. - Choosing a font color that doesn't have enough contrast with the background color. - Using a font face that is difficult to read. - Using an uncommon name for a common link. For example, 'Talk' instead of 'Contact us'. - Placing elements in unexpected places. Like putting the logo on the right side of the page or placing the main navigation along the bottom of the design. - Using a splash page on the site because it looks neat, even though it keeps visitors from getting to the real information in the site. - Using a lot of fancy images that make the page load more slowly. - Opting for a totally graphical design with no copy on the main page. Regardless of the fact that visitors won't have a clue what the business is all about until they get further into the site. These are all examples of choosing form over function. Unfortunately, if your design looks great but is hard to figure out, your visitors will be gone. They don't come to your site to admire the looks; they come to use the site--to find information or to accomplish a task. Anything you do to stand in their way is a no-no. Most of the time, a visitor's attention span is about as long as snake fur. They have no patience. If you complicate their lives, they're outta here. Other sites are ready and waiting to meet their needs, so there is no reason they should struggle through your site. If you opt for form over function, you're likely to opt yourself right out of sales. Not good. When you're designing your website, don't think about looks first. Always make function a priority. Think about what's going to be easiest for your visitors to use and understand. Then create an attractive presentation to accentuate it.
As web professionals we have a culture of long hours. This has to change. Article Index: | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 | 29 | 30 | 31 | 32 | 33 | 34 | 35 | 36 | 37 | 38 | 39 | 40 | 41 | 42 | 43 | 44 | 45 | 46 | 47 | 48 | 49 | 50 | 51 | 52 | 53 | 54 | 55 | 56 | 57 | 58 | 59 | 60 | 61 | 62 | 63 | 64 | 65 | 66 | 67 | 68 | 69 | 70 | 71 | 72 | 73 | 74 | 75 | 76 | 77 | 78 | 79 |
More Articles:1. Reasons For Not Using Flash In Your Website <p align='justify'> The Scene Behind Recently web have become more multimedia oriented than in its early days. While in some domains the new technologies work and prove successful. On the other hand, flash just makes browsing more time consuming. Here I point out the drawbacks of using Flash as well as give some pointers on how to better use it. Flash is trendiest technology currently used in web design. Nearly everyone ranging from beginners to experienced web designers learn how to cre… 2. Tried and Tested Tips to Improve Your Website - Part 1 By Sushanth B 1. DO NOT use excessive graphics or banner images on a single web page. They tend to slow the loading of your Web page. Impatient surfers might close their browser and move on. If you have many images on a single page, consider deleting few of them or moving them to a new page.2. You should include these elements on your website: About Us [Brief description of your company and its products. You can include a few personal details about yourself and your employees], Contact Us [Provide the posta… 3. Four (4) Web Design Software You Cannot Afford Not To Have After more than five years of hit and miss and wasting a lot of money on useless webmaster tools, I finally narrowed down my list to four (4) inexpensive but reliable and powerful webmaster tools! They are worth every penny I paid and saved me many, many hours of frustration and time. I am giving you my secrets! I hope you will listen. Why am I telling you this? I want to help you, especially work-at-home Moms, get started right! I wish someone had told me these things five years ago! If you are… 4. Designing Professional Web Pages By Joanne Glasspoole If your Web site doesn't project a professional and polished image to your visitors, your credibility and that of your products and services will suffer. Image is everything -- especially online where your competitor is only one mouse click away!Before your first HTML code is written, you will need to consider your Web site's navigational structure, color scheme and page layout. Is your content developed? If not, who is going to write it?Once you have done the necessary pre-planning, then the … |
||||
