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It sounds obvious but, particularly in this day and age website design is extremely important. If you want to know anything, you take to the internet, search for what you need on your phone, iPad or laptop. People are less likely to find a website interesting or informative if the design is bad. Take Facebook.com or a company site like www.o2.co.uk as an example. Neither site would have the popularity they do if the layout and design was difficult to grasp. Both are benefited by great designs. Things you need to realise when designing are: - When a site is less pleasing to the eye, it will not attract their attention in the same way that a site with a good design would. - A site might be difficult to navigate if the structure is all over the place. People have a low attention span when they surf the web. If they get lost they'll just leave. It normally takes between 5 and 30 seconds for them to decide. - If the image to text ratio isn't right, they are less likely to engage with the content. Too many pictures, make the site seem un-informative, whereas too much text feels like an overload. The balance needs to be right. In other words, a good web design needs to engage the user. So what do we do to make sure this occurs? - Taking into account that dependent on what the user is viewing the site on, the layout will be slightly different. For example, on your PC/laptop, some users use Firefox, while others use Internet Explorer. Layout also differs from phone to phone. - Spending time on the usability of the site is important. Things we have to consider are: how efficient is the site when in use? Is it easy for the user to learn what they need? How often will errors occur? Will the user feel satisfied with the design as a whole package? - Making sure it is accessible. This means it can be used by anyone, regardless of any physical disability. In summary, when designing a website, you have to put yourself in the visitor's shoes. Think of every eventuality of their visit.
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