Must Design

Cloud computing is one of the latest technologies that have come to change the way people interact with the web. Cloud computing accords you the chance to

The purpose of this post is not just to present the state of today's web design - it’s more pragmatic. Seven basic principles of a good web design are presented here.

Marty Note
This is a great post about what web design IS and IS NOT. I'm going to include my notes here so they follow the post since the writing, though brilliant, is not as direct as I like. Here are my much more direct interpretations of the 7 Basics of Great Website Design:

1. Website Design Can’t Win, But You Can Sure LOSE Due to It.
We've past the period when shinny websites work. Every website has seconds before a visitor clicks off to find what they are looking for on some other website.

2. Create Website Surfaces For Scanners and Skimmers since Readers will work for what they want.
Key to know not all information is great for "scanning" and "skimming". Tease the click don't drown it is another way to think of this idea. Also, content such as news, Q&A and testimonials have more attention hooks than sharing complex or highly detailed material. If your website depends on sharing complex and highly detailed content tease it with snippets and with graphics firs.

Stay with simple, clean and useable as your guide.

3. Avoid NEW until it is UNDERSTOOD.
You don't have to wait until some new thing is old hat, but avoid using The New simply because it is new. New hurts conversion because it requires explanation and is hard to tease since visitors don't have "made to stick" context. If you must present "new" present with an "old" analogy.

Read Made To Stick by Heath brothers for more.

4. Confused customers do many things, BUYING and CONVERTING and never among them.

5. Hierarchy of information and navigation is LIFE online.
People know there is a YOU or a team behind your design. They want to know what YOU want them to DO and why they should do it with YOU. Sites that make the curator's hand visible via navigation, images and copy win. Those who challenge visitors to figure everything out for them selves lose.

This is NOT to say some mystery can't work in a web designer's favor, but make sure the mystery is immediately solved before posing another one. Daisy chain one mystery on another and visitors get frustrated and leave since benefit doesn't equal the work to realize it.

6. Colors can ruin a website.
Colors have so many overt and covert signals they should be used sparingly and consistently with the brand. If you use RED for a Zen website do so in accents and carefully since red is an ALERT color and so may be inconsistent with the brand.

7. Devil is in the web design details.
In my almost 15 years of experience NOTHING on this list is more true. Once you make a website simple and clean any small dissonance becomes LARGE because it sticks out like the proverbial "sore thumb". Make sure your site is a smooth surface with a clear message.

Story of Cancer Website First Look
Thought it would be interesting to share a very early design for Story of Cancer. I am NOT a graphic designer, but I…

In spite of the tremendous expansion of the Internet, the power of the printed word remains strong and popular. Print media is where it all began and today w

Just like every other element of web design, color palettes follow fads that are constantly evolving. This year’s color trends are as diverse as they are

Beats By Dre Web Design Lessons
A friend shared the impressive NEWSJACK Dr. Dre and his Internet markeing team pulled off last week. Beats By Dre (http://www.beatsbydre.com ) has some cool web design tricks to steal too such as:

* Consistent images across channels (the Richard Sherman image rode the crest of the wave created by his "controversial" statements after last Sunday's game).
* HUGE RED BUY NOW Call To Action on the home page.
* Hero moves but does so SLOWLY so it isn't jarring.
* They've programmed their Richard Sherman page so his picture matches to every style, something I bet the site does for all celebrity endorsements (cool and NEW).
* Their social buttons are a little low for my taste, but they are well labeled as the "Beats Army" and every major social net is there and they are robust and fresh on all social nets.
* I like how they handle the colors too via the small swatches.

All in all a great ecommerce site in support of one of the best NEWSJACKS I've seen (see my notes on Dr. Dre's multi-channel attack of the web here:   http://sco.lt/8bJiDJ

HOW Design Live 2014 speaker Seth Godin writes in "The Icarus Deception" that creativity, seeing connections between disconnected things and recognizing novelty are keys to success in the new economy.

Apple's clear navigation, romantic heroes (largest images on the page) and easy to understand information heirarchy (based on a grid) are design tactics any website should steal as this excellent post about websites who've stolen direclty from Apple's design shares.

5 Cool Jazz Website Designs


Hero Roll Static Text

http://www.jetztzeitclub.de/

Love this idea of rolling the hero image while keeping a single textural idea. The impact is to EPHASIZE the text while allowing the visual field to create interest and calm. The problem with heroes that roll and bring new messages is the website can become ADD. You never know where or what to look at. Here the roll reinforces a single message. Cool. 

 
 
Color & Texture Shock 

http://www.austynweiner.com/

Same image shift with single text here but an explosion of color and texture. This is an example of going to an extreme to create a sense of visual shock. The only liability with this technique is showing your visitors where to go next FAST since the shock needs to work FOR not AGAINST you. 

 

Hero with Insert

http://thecarcrush.com/blog/2013/8/y3uaah5ojl6zi4iia95h10iircb8o0

Love the lush images with inserts here. The cars are seductive and romantic, but the insert allows the text and descriptions to add instead of distract from the hero images. 

 Magazine Like

http://boompa.ca/

This waterfall, the infinite scroll, magazine shows how you can build a visual and copy story with large hero images water falling on top of one another. There is real visual organization here. Very cool. 

 
Radically Simple Ecom 

http://www.lushtype.com/

Love tis ide of radical simplicity in ecommerce. Big icons sell icons. By selling one thing the page is easy to understand, easy to buy yet very cool and engaging too. 

Future Of Web Design In 3 Parts
What does the future of web design look like? So much is up in the air this Haiku Deck is my third and the topic is far from exhausted:

Future of Web Design 1: Web design in a SoLoMo world.

http://sco.lt/61eqNF 

Future of Web Design 2: Web  design when THEY and US &  OUT THERE and IN HERE are the same. 
http://sco.lt/7r6zkf 

Future of Web Design 3: How does a semantic and mobile web change design, marketing and sales. 

What happens when TIME becomes a perpetual now, sales happens in real time and marketing is about curation? Web design as we've known it is about to change as much as something can change. 

Why? I scratched the surface of why in How Entropy Is Creating Web 3.0 Right Under Our Noses:
http://scenttrail.blogspot.com/2012/11/how-entropy-is-creating-web-30-right.html  

Bottom line is everything is changing FAST so rewards go to the quick and flexible. If you have the courage to throw out almost everything you believe about everything once again you may just WIN BIG.  

Could redesigned Web sites be the starchitecture for museums? We pick our favorite museum Web site designs, including the Whitney's kids-only digital playground.

UI & UX are key factors that influence on user behavior. UI & UX solutions can lead to a successful tandem between software development and end-usage experience.