Last updated on January 7th, 2020
Web design has vast expanding avenues with so many design elements constantly being added to the design frame. While this offers designers a platform to experiment with their design space, sometimes too much of innovation backfires, seriously affecting their web design architecture.
Here, you’ll find a little smattering on 7 deadly web design mistakes that both pro and novice web designers must know about.
1. Using Very Small Fonts– This is the most common of all mistakes and acquires reference from yester year’s web standards. Initially a 12px font size worked well, but gradually with the increasing screen size, designers started mapping their designs on 14px and even bigger font sizes. While most of the designers used these sizes to increase the readability of their web content, others just blindly followed them.
The experts say that the font size must remain compatible with the content type and its display area! In addition, the size of the footer text shall not be the same as the header text or the text body. Moreover, the theme of the fonts must be carefully considered when making a selection of font size because 16px Calibri can appear smaller or bigger than 16px of other fonts.
[Source: blogs-images.forbes.com]
2. Opting For Low Contrast Fonts– This essentially means, darker fonts appearing on darker backgrounds and the lighter ones on the lighter backgrounds. While many may not find it such a serious issue, it is a grave mistake that may affect the clarity and visibility of the text. This mistake annoys visitors, turning them off. However, it is simple to fix this mistake by going just the reverse way.
By using high contrast fonts, (darker fonts on light backgrounds and the vice versa) the whole look and visibility of the web page can be greatly enhanced.
[Source: smashingmagazine.com]
3. Wrong Selection Of Line Height– Text line height is often the most ignored aspect of web design. In fact, most designers take it very casually without realizing its repercussions on the overall appearance of the site. Though there is no set rule guiding designers on how to arrive at a nearly accurate line height, it makes sense to acquire an understanding of the significance of line height in a web design.
[Source: smashingmagazine.com]
4. Lack Of Color Prominence On Call To Action Areas– This is yet another web design mistake that badly impacts the entire purpose of internet marketing. With a view to maintain uniformity of colors across website design, the designers either opt for a color that is already existent on the website or designate a completely different color for a call to action areas. Though in some cases it might work well, expert designers believe it to be a bad idea. Think this: why would visitors click on your call to action button, if they don’t find it interesting?
[Source: media.mediatemple.netdna-cdn.com]
5. Employing The Use Of Moving Sliders– Once quite popular, sliders are now considered out-dated and therefore, are avoided by most designers. It is important to understand that sliders are not required as there are umpteen other ways to provide information to the visitors in an interesting fashion. This holds true for both types of sliders: sidebar and rotating.
[Source: designbump.com]
6. Very Long Line Lengths– According to Baymard Institute, a text line should contain a maximum of 75 characters. A visitor may lose interest beyond this limit. However, most designers do not pay heed to this valuable rule and create excessively long lines, eventually turning off their visitors.
7. Violating Prevalent Web Design Norms– Researches and studies have revealed that a user’s eye is accustomed to viewing specific formats of web elements. For example, people usually scan websites from the very top and look for company logo & the tagline on the top left side and the menu bar. It helps them easily locate site’s About Us and Contact Us page. However, with designers’ imaginations going wild and the drastic trend changes in web design, visitors now find it difficult to locate the Search box and Contact pages easily.
Ok, some points must not have come as a surprise and you may already know them; but it’s always better to have all these at one place. So that next time when you are all set to design a fantastic website, you do not commit such mistakes! For more information on website design, please read our blog on 5 web design basics every designer must follow.
Lastly, Instagram has redefined web design, and staying in tune with the social media trends is the only way to ensure that your website remains attractive to the users.
thanks for sharing this.