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What To Aim For With Web Design

Written on September 6, 2011 by Paul in News, Social Media Marketing, WordPress

The visual design part of a website, is probably the part which has the greatest risk of unravelling a good marketing strategy.
Google are a great company to learn from, about what works on the web. There is a page on which their User Experience Team share their good website design aspirations. Let’s look at what they say..

1. Focus on people – their lives, their work, their dreams.
2. Every millisecond counts.
3. Simplicity is powerful.
4. Engage beginners and attract experts.
5. Dare to innovate.
6. Design for the world.
7. Plan for today’s and tomorrow’s business.
8. Delight the eye without distracting the mind.
9. Be worthy of people’s trust.
10. Add a human touch.

If we apply those in a way which is about us building our online identity, establishing those three core elements of Authenticity, Credibility and Trust, we can expand in a way which guides us as to what to focus on.

1. Focus on people – their lives, their work, their dreams.

Understand what really matters to your audience, what is truly important to them. Find a way to express your own natural talents and passions, in a way which helps them realise their dreams and aspirations. Ultimately, it is an experience which users want. The experience of feeling a level of certainty about life, themselves, and their ability to fulfil a purpose. The experience of significance in their work and relationships, their roles and through they way they contribute. And ultimately the experience of connection with those they are closest to, connection to and being part of, something bigger than they are. Help people create and live their own life of meaning and purpose.

2. Every millisecond counts.

Google say that speed is a boon to users, and it is also a competitive advantage. Time is one thing we have no control over. We can’t manage time, only our attention and our priorities. Don’t waste what is most valuable to your users: their time. Get clear about the purpose of your website, and make it lean, fast and responsive. Make it intuitive, easy and therefore fast for them to find what they want. Get straight to the point, stay focussed. Constantly improve your effectiveness.
In technical terms, keep it light on graphics and scripts. Test your site over on http://tools.pingdom.com – see what is slowing your site down and optimise it. Use caching, and a fast hosting company.

3. Simplicity is powerful.

Simple is good, fast, focussed, clear and effective. You should have very clear goals for each page on your site. Keep in mind what matters to the client, and provide that in the way you do best. Confucius says “man who chases two rabbits catches neither..” Aspire to clean, lean and focussed. The less distraction, the more effective the message.

4. Engage beginners and attract experts.

Build a site that is an experience and not just a destination. Don’t end the conversation by providing information or opinion. Start the conversation by creating questions that engage your customer’s passion and creativity. Help them grow. Help them achieve what they want to achieve,but more subtly, provide the opportunity for them to become who they aspire to be.
Understand the range and diversity of your visitors, and speak their language, at their level. Keep it simple, and keep it open. Have links to more information where people can go deeper if they choose. Make it very easy to interact – and if you’re clear about the powerful role of social media in marketing – make sure you participate in the conversations.

5. Dare to innovate.

Innovation is one of the most valuable assets within an organisation or an individual. Closely related to creativity. Caveat: make a distinction between the ‘what’ and the ‘how’. Hold the ‘what’ (the goal and purpose) firmly in your mind, and innovate with the ‘how’ (the ways to achieve the goal or purpose). If innovation and creativity creep over the fence and affect the ‘what’, you will lose focus and become less effective.

6. Design for the world.

Again, when you really connect with your users, you have an understanding of what is going n in their lives, where they hang out, their habits, dreams and typical technology tools. Design so that wherever they are, they can get what they want. Are they mobile and using their phone, iPad, tablet? Are they away from their own desktop computer, on a public cybercafe. Are they looking at your website or are they reading your RSS feed? Are they following other’s shared links.

7. Plan for today’s and tomorrow’s business.

Today’s business is often about immediacy and the transaction, whereas tomorrows business will rely mostly on relationship. The big picture for your website is about creating a connection, and building a relationship. At the same time, your visitors are usually here for a specific reason, based on a need or a want – and it’s important to meet that up front.

8. Delight the eye without distracting the mind.

Tricky one this.. Delight the eye, yes, simplicity and form, the look and feel, are often a very large part of the first impression. And again, simplicity is key. We also want to attract and focus the mind – with a glaringly obvious headline that cause the following thought in the user’s mind: “Ahh I’m in the right place – this person understands what I want.” So the general approach is to not distract the user with the design, not to attract their attention to the design. Instead, provide a supportive and yet directive framework to channel the users attention onto what matters most to them – the content, and what the content will bring them in terms of an experience. It warrants a separate post of it’s own, but the key in education based marketing. No sales.

9. Be worthy of people’s trust.

The three elements are Authority, Credibility and Trust. Important ways to establish these are through clarity and focus of your own values. Transparency. Demonstrate and give examples of what you offer. Also, be prepared to give before you expect to receive. As part of the education based marketing approach mentioned in the previous point – be willing to give away the ‘what’ – i.e. provide the answer in it’s entirety. Treat your visitors as if they are already your customers. For the ones who you are in a position to work with as clients, they will ask you to help them achieve the ‘what’. We can establish authority with our knowledge, experience and past achievements. We can establish credibility with genuine testimonials, case studies, social ratings, likes and recommendations. But we have to earn trust. The quickest way is to ‘give’, to connect personally and build a relationship fast.

10. Add the human touch.

Ultimately it’s always about putting people first. There’s a wonderful science called axiology, the science of value. In essence, it establishes that the very fabric of reality is hard-wired with a hierarchy of value: people are more important than things. Things are more important than ideas of things. People are the most valuable of all, their feelings, their dreams, their passions – all stuff of the heart, not the head.
Thanks to Google.
~ to your awesomely effective website design..