Imagine if  freelancers have x-ray vision or suppose Apple approves a gadget that makes x-ray vision possible, (iVision). If this is possible then freelancers will not have any problem in discerning a potentially great client from a deadbeat one. Sadly freelancers don’t have x-ray vision but, learning how to identify a deadbeat client the old-fashioned way is an invaluable tool. So first things, first.

What is a deadbeat client?

A deadbeat client is any client who gives the freelancer extra problems during the span of the project, outside the normal specifications of the project.

In this article we will see different types of deadbeat clients and how to spot them.

1. The Walking Billboard or Profit Share

On the Surface:

Calm, cool, and collected. The Walking Billboard sometimes known as “The Profit Share”, will seem very charismatic. Opportunity is this client’s middle name. After meeting with this client for the first time, one feels refreshed. One may even feel vaguely inspired. Everyone knows this client and the Walking Billboard knows this. This client may even have the reputation of a mover-and-shaker or hustler.

Common Phrases:

• “By letting you help with our site, you should see some big money.”
• “I really think this site is a million dollar idea.”
• “I know and /or partied with (insert random celebrity)”

What’s the Pay?

Name dropping, and a byline. The Walking Billboard will assure you that the referrals will happen. The Profit Share will guarantee you a part of the business. Which of course is a million-dollar-can’t-lose idea, remember?

The Ugly Truth:

This client doesn’t value your time. They believe that their brains hold the keys to the next Facebook, Myspace, or Youtube. They think that by “letting you” design their site they are doing you a favor. Why do you need to get paid? They are going to tell all of their friends about you and allow you to put your link at the bottom of their footer. With all of their networking connections and web traffic, that’s better than money in the bank!

The Strategy.

With this client, try not to get caught up in any double talk or lip service they throw your way. By sticking to your pricing guide, and knowing when to say no; will sort out the deadbeats from the premium clients. Stay professional and don’t make exceptions.

2. The Too Busy to Breathe

On the Surface:

Frantic and high paced, The Too Busy to Breathe is a go-getter. This client is over worked and looking for someone to complete a project for them within a fairly quick time frame. This client may even be another designer looking to outsource a project that they don’t want to pass up the paycheck on.

Common Phrases:

• “I’d finish this but my other client has a rush and it’s a higher priority.”
• “Do you think this project can be completed next week?”

What’s the Pay?

They will pay you but, only after dragging you through design hell and back.

The Ugly Truth:

This client doesn’t value your time. They are up to their eyeballs in work and haven’t had a day off since before Apple released the iPhone. Most of the time with this client, they are disorganized. This means that emails may get overlooked and work may have to be reworked. This client may even be another designer, which will only add to the headache. Not only will you have to work twice as hard to complete this within their time frame, you may have to give up your personal work flow and design style.

The Strategy:

Avoid this client if at all possible. If you are already in this situation; power through it, remain positive, and focused. Until this project is completed try to devote as much time as possible to finishing this project.

3. The Picky Pickerson.

On the Surface:

Attention to detail is at the top of The Picky Pickerson’s GTD list. This client may not have a specific time frame in mind with the project you are doing for them but they sure have a vision. The Picky Pickerson will come off as being creative, inspiring, and very attentive to the project. Like the deadbeat client before, this client may be a designer too.

Common Phrases:

• “Could you do this again but in green?”
• “Did you get my email?”
• “I really would like for this project to turn out like I have it envisioned.”
  

What’s the Pay?

Like the client before, they will pay you.They may haggle about the price and count the money several times before paying you.

The Ugly Truth:

Two words with this client: daily emails. This client believes that their project is of the utmost priority. They believe that their two page website for their champion pedigree chihuahua “Turbo”, should take precedent over that new e-commerce site that’s paying you twice what they are.

They will want you to work extra hours without any extra compensation.This client’s best friend is scope creep. Do not give this client your home phone number!

The Strategy:

Contract. Contract. Contract. Make sure this client signs and understands your contract. Clearly detail out your working hours, turnaround time for emails, and any other details of your standard process. Since this client will pick apart every part of the design you complete for them, advise the client on how many revisions they get to make.

Make sure they feel important because besides an awesome website, your attention is all they are really after.

4. The Thrift or Late Payer

On the Surface:

The perfect client. This client is everything that the other are not. This client gives you feedback, you educate them about different aspects of design. Only one part of the process they question, money. This client just wants to make sure that you are not taking them for their money. It’s better to be weary right?

Common Phrases:

• “Why does a content management system cost so much?”
• “I am on a really tight budget.”
• “The check is in the mail.”
  

What’s the Pay?

You’ll get paid. Expect to haggle through the entire project about price, better yet expect payment about three to four months after you send a final notice.

The Ugly Truth:

This client hears prices but doesn’t see the value in those prices. The designer they were working with before only charged 1/3 of your going rate; never mind the fact they were related to the client’s girlfriend.

This client will fight tooth and nail over the price the entire length of the project. Expect to spend twice the time chasing this client for payment than what you spent actually working on the project.

The Strategy:

Make sure this client signs and understands your contract. Clearly define your payment schedule, and require a deposit. The client needs to understand the value of your services. Take the time to educate them on the time and intricacies of what design takes. Take care to not go into too much detail because that will only confuse the client. They value their barber, and their mechanic, they should value you too.

Final Thoughts

This article is by no means exhaustive, any of these clients can be combined for extra headache. Each one of these situations, can be detected and avoided or turned into a more favorable experience. Each client is different, what looks like a deadbeat client may just be a confused client who needs some guidance.

Our role as a designer is more like that of a problem-solver. By keeping cool and sticking to your contracts and principles; you’ll be able to educate the confused clients and weed out the deadbeats like a pro. So maybe one day x-ray vision will be available but until then, trust your gut and listen to the experiences of others regarding deadbeat clients.

This is experimental article, where you will see whole redesigning process behind the scenes and read different way of thinking. In this review you will be leaded through necessary steps needed to get successful redesign.

If responses and feedback will be positive, we will make this monthly or even weekly event analyzing also well known blog redesigns – showing pros and cons. I think real examples are the best way to show the point and teach something! Let’s start – we will be happy to hear your feedback! It will be exciting!

ReadyPhotoSite is a flash photo CMS created especially for photographers, painters, artists and people of art. The CMS is presented in 3 different packages that vary in functionality and a number of skins, so you can choose the design you like and then choose the website features.

We started working on this ReadyPhotoSite project on May 2009 together with Karen Myers who is presently the CEO of readyphotosite. But Karen is not only a partner, but also a good friend of mine so we were both into it.  By the time we started working on website design, the product (the CMS and the skins) was ready and our task was to launch a simple website as soon as possible, apply the changes and make the updates as we go. And so we did.

Starting with a simple website and the problems we faced

The website we have uploaded online consisted of the following main pages:

• home page
• products page
• why buy
• link to blog
• contact page
• links in the footer to Tutorials, TOS, Privacy, Tutorials and Hosting.

The home page had around 10 lines of text and a cool stylish intro in retro style in the middle – home page didn’t share almost no information about the product and thus was pretty useless. Besides it took around 30 seconds for the intro to load and we were loosing most of the people already in beginning process when they were visiting our home page.

Still the owners of the project insisted we should keep the intro as they spent a good amount of money on it and wanted to see it online no matter what.

As I have mentioned at the very beginning of the post, the ReadyPhotoSite websites are available in 3 packages:

• basic,
• advanced
• ecommerce

Look above, there is the screenshot showing how this concept was presented on the website.

While the products page itself had the basic text info, the buttons in the header lead to almost identical pages of basic, advanced and ecommerce packages that had:

• screenshots of design themes listed on them
• the link to the preview
• the buy button

All the pages had the list of the same theme’s screenshots which was obviously somewhat confusing for the website visitors as without visiting the features page they had no idea of the difference and they just saw that same designs.

The initial purchase process was even more complicated. The buy button next to the skin lead to a static html page with 2 options to choose from- “Host with ReadyPhotoSite” or “I already have hosting” and 2 separate links that took you further to the shopping cart page( the WHMCS shopping system allows creating only static product links). It was only later that we realized that the purchase process was a real nightmare with too many steps and no convenient option to choose other design or other package.

The other thing that we initially paid no special attention to was the skin preview page, that was simply opening the website in the new window and where we were loosing customers as well since there was no calls to action or some kind of info how to move forward.

The website required a serious work. In about 3 month after launch we were getting nice targeted traffic from search engines, photo forums and blogs, photo communities, template and CMS reviews websites, paid ads, social networks and our partners, but the website was not converting the traffic into sales. We had a tremendous bounce rate of about 50% and people were staying on the website for less than 30 seconds, getting lost and not sure what to order and how to order. So we have started on conversion rate optimization, creating a user friendly website step by step.

1) Moving the intro to the inside page.

The first step we made was the optimization of the website home page that was the main landing page and where we were loosing most of our clients because of the intro. We have replaced it with the large graphical collage explaining how to launch the website with ReadyPhotoSite CMS and huge buttons next to it: free trial, link to the admin area demo and the link to the page with the intro (requested by owners). Below we had a new keywords-rich text explaining the advantages of RPS and listing some of the main features.

2) Reworking the product pages.

The products pages and the ordering process was a real pain in the ass. We had 4 tasks to solve:

- reduce the number of steps before the purchase;
- give an easy option to get back to other products and packages;
- make the product structure understandable( the relation of skins and packages);
- inform the potential buyer about package features on the fly (so that they don’t go away from the purchase pages to the features page).

And here’s what we did:

1. Removed the buttons (and the pages) to advanced/creative/ecommerce packages from the menu.
2. Replaced the text on the products page with the list of skins screenshots and added buy and preview buttons.

Now the problem was how and where do we actually link the buy and preview buttons (as there are 3 different previews for every skin (for basic, creative and ecommerce packages) and 6 buy links (as every package can be purchased with hosting or without it)).

The new buy page have solved all the tasks. Before reading this articles further I suggest to open this page online so that you check in real how it works. Click on any buy or preview button on this page http://www.readyphotosite.com/products.php and you’ll be taken to the buy page.

• we combined the preview page with the purchase page and now we keep the visitor focused on the purchase;
• the buy or preview button from the products page automatically loads the preview of the ecommerce package of the chosen theme (since it’s most expensive and we’re interested in more people buying it);

- on the first step you can browse between different themes and the preview will load below (to ensure better theme browsing we have added “hide panel” option at the very top of the page);
- having chosen the theme you can now choose the package on the step 2. Next to every package there’s the price and the list of features included;

- finally on the step 3 you can choose whether to host with ReadyPhotoSite or not. You will also be shown the pricing and the hosting details.

With the options for the 3 steps loaded you can still change the settings on that same page. You can choose the other theme or the other package or change your mind about hosting. Finally the buy button will take you to the purchase page with all the options you have taken.

3) The need in new pages.

Making the analysis of the keywords people were using to find our websites in search engines from Google Analytics we have decided that it makes sense to create the keyword oriented pages giving the same time valuable information about the product. Some of the keywords included:

* Photography Website Design
* Family Website Design
* Personal Website Design
* Wedding Website Design
* Maternity Photo Website Design
* ReadyPhotoSite review

While creating the pages we have faced another problem. The main website navigation allowed 5 buttons only and the footer was already crowded with the sub pages and we simply had no place to add the pages. In the next 2 points below I’ll be explaining how we addressed this problem.

4) Creating new home page.

Having tested the new home page for several months time we were still not satisfied with the results. We needed to push more people to the products pages and use the place on the home page in more efficient manner. Though the picture was good for people, the home page itself could not be called a good landing page.

1) First of all we decided to decrease the size of the header area, as it was nice but not functional so we reduced it by 40% or so.

2) We then decided to decrease the height of the collage on the home by 50% to give more place to content and other stuff.

3) To catch the user attention with the products right on the home page we added the big screen of the featured theme linked to the buy page.
4) We added pretty huge buttons linking to the products page, admin area demo, free trial and the buy button for the featured theme. Having all this main options in the center of the page the website visitor don’t even have to click on the menu to go to the main pages, it’s very intuitive and user-friendly.
5) Following point 3 (the need of the new pages) we added the links to the new pages and the section for
testimonials thus giving the website visitors the information they were looking for directly from the home page.

5) Reworking the blog pages

Writing lots of articles about photography, photo website design and promotion as well as just some fun posts, we were getting really good traffic both from social networks and search engines to our blog. For the first 2 months we were just attracting people by interesting and useful tips trying to get the reputation. In the new few months we have taken the following steps to make this traffic result into the product purchase

1) Added the banner to the left column offering to exchange old photography website to the new one with 20% discount.
2) Added the big buttons linking to the features page and free trial.
3) Finally we have replaced all that we have with the banner rotating the screenshots of our products, big button with the “free 7 day” website trial on it and the full list of product features. It was only this last update that has helped us to drive traffic from blog to the website features and product pages.

6) Reworking the menu structure and adding new pages

Viewing the entrance and the exit points of the website pages we were noticing that our visitors were not finding answers to the questions they were looking for. It was then when we decided to create the product guide section of the website that would contain all the info needed to make a decision.

We have replaced the Why Buy page in the main menu with the product-guide and created the sub pages that now contain most of the website/product info in the structured manner. We have also created the new samples page showing how of our clients customized the default themes and illustrating the changes that can be made from the admin area.

In conclusion

We’ve made a long way studying visitors behavior before the website started looking like this http://www.readyphotosite.com. I have learned that there is always place for improvement and that we are just on the start, not on the finish. We have tried different font sizes, buttons, graphical presentations, motos and texts. We still want to try Google Website Optimizer, add Google Translate, feedback form and some other cool features to make the website even more user-friendly and intuitive. You have to act to be on board. Below are some figures from the stats showing how successful the changes we performed has been so far:
- After second home page update and restructuring of the purchase process the views of the products and buy pages has increased by 50%;
- Thanks to rotating product screens about 10% of the blog visitors now visit the product pages;
- Adding new information and keyword-rich pages increase traffic from the search engines by 30%;
- Adding product guide increased the number of free trials by 30% and the number of general product inquiries by 25%.
Unfortunately I can’t share all the details with you, but overall it was worth the efforts and we’ll keep on working!

Being a freelancer means a lot of freedom to plan your own days at work, but it also does require discipline and planning. Being your own boss, you need to be good at making the right rules to succeed. Most of these tips sound just like common sense, but actually remembering everything when it’s needed isn’t necessarily as easy as you would think.

Different rules work for different people. Having worked as a freelancer on and off for over ten years, I’ve created this list of my best tips on how to succeed. Maybe you already use several of these or versions of them, great! Hopefully you will also find a tip or three that can help you to succeed in what you do! :)

1. Make a marketing/business plan

This should be the first thing you do. Even though you have all the info needed in your head, putting it on paper will give many advances and definitely be worth the extra work. Not only will you that way be «forced» to think through important issues and possible challenges before they occur, but it can also be a lot easier for you to get the needed help from potential business partners or investors when you have a good business plan to show them.

2. Plan your days ahead

Allow yourself an hour or so at the beginning of each work week, or the last hour of the previous week to plan the upcoming week. Then it’ll be easier for you to plan how to spend your hours to reach the deadlines you have upcoming. The more ongoing projects you have, the more important this is.

Picture by Hilde Vanstraelen

3. Use free software

Starting up as a freelancer can be challenging economically, and by choosing from all available and good free software you can save a lot of costs without necessarily having to give up a lot of functionality. Free doesn’t have to mean it’s not good software, there are more and more options available every day so make sure you check out what can be used related to your business. When you buy a computer, camera, tablet or printer make sure to check out the software that comes with it as well. You may be in for a positive surprise.

4. Create an eye-catching logo

To look professional and catch those potential clients in a tight market, requires hard work when it comes to branding yourself. Creating an eye-catching logo (or getting someone to do that for you if you lack the skills yourself) can make you seem more professional and easier to see. The power of a good logo and actually using it on business cards, websites and such will give you that professional look which could be the extra inch needed to catch the attention of a new client.

5. Learn to say NO!

If you don’t have the time for another client at the moment, it’s important to be able to realize it and say no. It is the most fair thing to yourself, your existing client and the new ones that knock on your door. Worst case scenario is saying yes to too many and it having consequences for existing clients. You always want to make sure you have enough time to give your current clients the best service you can. A client too many could be the thing that lowers the quality of  all your work.

6. Make a blog/website

In this Internet age that we are, having a website of your own can mean a whole lot. Not only does it make you look more professional but it is also a gateway to new clients. Many do surf the net to find people for their next projects and if they can’t find you online they won’t know you’re there.

Picture by Claudio Sepulveda Geoffroy

7. Update your website regularly

Do you already have a website or blog? – great! But to maximize its value to you it’s very important to update it regularly. If new clients visit your site and see that you haven’t updated the content for a very long time, that might just be the reason for them to choose someone else instead. Updating regularly will require an hour of your time every now and then but can pay back multiple times rewarding you with new clients.

Picture by Ben Lancaster

8. Give your online visitors something free

Giving something extra to the visitors on your website always is a good thing. If you work as a designer you can for example consider putting up some free textures or buttons. This will give your site more visitors and potentially more clients for you. Or how about offering every visitor a percentage off on their first order with you? Again, this could be the extra thing needed to stand out to new clients.

Picture by Mario Alberto

9. Use social media

Social media is where many relationships are made these days. No matter which country you live in, using social media can connect you to potential clients and partners all over the world. Twitter is a must, and you should consider Facebook and also forums related to your business. If you are a designer consider having a look at deviantArt and YouTube aswell. In several of these media you can advertise for your own business as long as you make sure to not spam it too much.

Picture by Davide Guglielmo

10. Get allies

Having allies can mean everything. Connecting with people through social media or even spreading the word of your business through friends and family can get you just that word out there that you need. Also making relations with people who can do things for the clients that you can’t can help, you give the clients a more complete package of what they need. One day you are the one sending a client to an ally that can offer a more suitable service in that case, the next day you could be the one having clients sent your way.

Picture by Glenn Pebley

11. Save for rainy days

Even though your business may go really well, there can and probably will come a bad month or two every now and then. Being a freelancer is being vulnerable to changes in the market. My advice would be to save up a little bit of your income each month, save it in an own savings account so that you have it as a safety buffer for when times get rough. You sure wont regret doing that. It would be a shame if a couple of small bills would ruin everything for you in a bad month.

Picture by Marcelo Moura

12. Be creative

There are many ways to be creative, to get new clients or to make better use of equipment and office space. Some examples can be to upgrade an existing computer if you can’t afford a new one, redecorate a spare room if you can’t afford the rent for an office outside of your home. Add a new product or service to your current list or ask friends or family if they know anyone that may be in need of your services. The options are many, all you need is to try think a bit out of the box.

Picture by Ayhan Yildiz

13. Reward loyal customers

If the market is tight you need to do what you can to have your customers back a second and third time. Being friendly and service minded is always a must, but what about giving them a discount the second time? Or sending them special offers of various kinds. Use your fantasy and implement these things into your business plan. Make customers want to come back and you will have the best possible chance to survive.

Picture by Deb Walker

14. Treat every client as if he is the only one

Giving existing customers good offers as mentioned in the previous tip is important. But remember to be service minded. If a customer feels important that will make him more loyal as well. Use positive language when you talk or write to him. Don’t be afraid to say that you will go out of your way to make sure he is satisfied with the product/service he is getting. And remember to let him know that feedback is appreciated. That way you can keep making your services more and more attractive and get happier clients. Don’t forget that existing clients can be the best advertising you ever get!

Picture by Shlomit Wolf

15. Work when you are at work

If you have decided to work from lets say 8am to 4pm every day, then do so. If you have errands to run, private mail accounts to check, private phone calls to make and so on, these will quickly eat of your much-needed work time. Make a promise to yourself to only do this when you are not supposed to work, as in before or after work or during your lunch break. It may not seem that much to you, but I’ve seen several great freelancers getting their days completely messed up because they were not good enough at managing their time properly.

Picture by Zsuzsanna Kilian

16. Know when to start and stop

Just as important as actually working when you are at work, is starting when you should and stopping when you should. You may have to prepare yourself for working extra hours every now and then to keep your business alive, but it is very important that you have free time too. You need to recover and get your mind filled with other things or you will get burned out and ruin things for yourself. The more hours you work at once, the less productive you get. So remember to follow your own rules on when to start and stop the day at work.

Picture by Nick Colomb

17. Keep your finances tidy

Keeping your finances tidy probably sounds easy, and it can be – as long as you keep an eye on them regularly. No matter how small a business you are running you will run into trouble if you only spend time on billing and accounting once or twice a year. Set up dates for when you pay your bills, when you send out invoices to clients and to make monthly budgets. Not only will this make it easier for you throughout the whole year but you will be able to fix errors quicker, do adjustments if needed and so on.

Picture by Michal Ufniak

18. Remember to breathe

Breathe you say? Yes ;) And by breathing I mean that you need to take care of yourself. You may be freelancing using a computer or two, a camera or other tools, – but the most important tool will always be yourself. And just like any other tool you will be in need of some defragging and polishing yourself. Remember to continue to spend time on your hobbies, friends and family even if you have a busy work schedule.

Picture by Alex Bramwell

19. Get out of the house occasionally (especially if you work from home)

If you have a home based office it’s important to get some fresh air. Book some of your meetings somewhere else, meet business partners for lunch, or spend an hour or two working from a library or coffee shop with your laptop if you can. The change of scenery may boost your energy level/creativity and give you a lot back.

Picture by Jesse Therrien

20. Make an inspirational string

Rough days come and rough days go. Simple as it may sound, having something around you to remind you of why you are working this hard can be what you need to get some extra energy on that one difficult day. Make your own inspirational string! Take a piece of string or use a cork board/whiteboard, whichever you have available. Add a picture of your kids, of the vacation spot you are saving to go to, or maybe a car you hope to be able to buy. Add some of your favorite inspirational quotes or pictures, whatever inspires you really. And there you go, your own inspirational string! Taking a look at it when you are close to giving up or when a day is extra stressful can work wonders for you. You should give it a try :)

Picture by Cristopher Bruno

21. Be humble

No one is born an expert or world champion. If things go well or you feel on top of things it can be easy to get a little bit too confident, which can be bad for your reputation and bad for the quality of your work. You should always aim to be humble, listen to your clients on what they want. Give them your professional opinion when needed but in the end it is the client that generates your paycheck. Also remember to willingly take advice from colleagues or others who have been in the market for a while.

22. Look professional, in every way possible

You have the logo, the website and so on and things are starting to look pretty good. Remember to also meet clients with respect, look presentable and be polite. Being your own boss doesn’t mean you can talk or act in any way and still keep your clients. Remember that.

23. Ask for feedback

Not only should you have comments enabled on your website but you should also ask your friends/family/allies for feedback on your work. And most important of all, after you have finished your project – ask the client what he thinks. Not only do you get a great chance to improve but the client also feels important. Getting someone else’s opinion is always good and this will help you to become even more successful.

Picture by Dominik Gwarek

24. Always carry a notebook around with you

It being a normal notebook, your iPhone or any other digital form of “notebook” you should carry it with you and remember to take notes. This is for many reasons. Not only can you unexpectedly run into a potential client or an existing one, but you may come up with valuable ideas when you are on the bus, on the plane or basically anywhere else. Several times have I had amazing ideas, not had a notebook, forgotten the ideas and seen them used somewhere else a year later.

Picture by Typofi

and last but not least

25. Take the time you need!

This is so important, it can’t be mentioned enough. Same as with the tip about learning to say no. Once you have said yes to a project you need to make sure that you take the time needed to do the best you can do. Handing over a project that is half done will not only give you a client who won’t come back, but it can give you a bad reputation. Your clients are your best references to show in the future and no one want a freelancer who leaves the work half-finished.

Picture by Kriss Szkurlatowski

That was my first article here on 1stwebdesigner, and I hope you enjoyed it and found the tips useful.
Feel free to leave your own tips or feedback using the comments, and good luck in the world of freelancers! :)

Twitter background design is one of the most important things, you can change in your account to attract new followers.  We only can change little things in Twitter so why we don’t put there the best we can? Let’s change our background right now, but before we do that – time for you to get inspired!

I hand picked those 50 Twitter backgrounds, while I was browsing through like 200-300 twitter pages – these all were the ones which caught my attention. Interesting to notice, not all of favorites are really colorful, but even subtle, clean and elegant but still stood out. In my opinion the best case is to create what suits you in the meantime thinking about usability and readability – but light designs with few colors included to make design shine seems to be the best case! What’s your case?

1. @nicholaspatten

2. @chrisspooner

3. @bongobrian

4. @bartelme

5. @abduzeedo

6. @boagworld

7. @cameronolivier

8.

9. @DesignerDepot

10. @digitalmash

11. @graphicidentity

12. @mmpow

13. @ArteWebdesign

14. @cheth

15. @KrisColvin

16. @marcelsantilli

17. @Ubikwitusrex

18. @rodneireiz

19. @just4theALofit

20. @Chryseiss

21. @oxygenna

22. @luciana_luz

23. @tonypeterson

24. @showcasemark

25. @XquiziteLizard

26. @HungryGirl

27. @elianarod

28. @davewilhelm

29. @nbawiileague

30. @LisaWorsham

31. @Go_Media

32. @Doubleolee

33. @theleggett

34. @Farrhad

35. @chadmcmillan

36. @myklroventine

37. @nullvariable

38. @Genuine

39. @imagedesigns

40. @marekuk

41. @Krftd

42. @ramesstudios

43. @rafalmeidaf

44. Pudny

45. @Alyssa_Milano

46. @andysowards

47. @binojxavier

48. @sharebrain

49. @Scarletbits

50. @nymphont

If your exclusive and unique background is not in this list, then feel free to share it with us in comments section!

I believe all of you has so many experiences of seeing so many web design when surfing in internet. I could guarantee that you often see bad web design layout more than good one. I feel the same way too, there are a lot of websites which has bad web design & layout, so i won’t comeback & bookmark them. I will share some of my experiences of seeing basic visual web design mistakes which makes me leave those websites forever.

1. Bad Font Usage

Do you even remember when you visit a website with fancy script font that is very hard to read? Fancy script font must not be used in body text, otherwise your reader won’t be able to read anything. Use fonts that are easy to read.

Other mistake is some people use non standard font in their websites. If their reader is only a common person who don’t have so many additional fonts, they will be confused and say, “Why is the font size in this website is very small?” I experienced this when i use non standard font for my website to enhance readability. But unfortunately, it makes people complain about my website. Just use common font like Arial, Helvetica, Verdana, Georgia, or Times New Roman, which every people has in their computer.

2. No Images, Text Only

Believe me, people will be bored if they see text only & they will leave your website once they are tired of reading your ocean of words article. This is internet, not a personal development book. If you don’t have idea about what image you should add, just use any image related with your post title. Don’t leave your body text alone without any images.

3. No Paragraph On Long Articles

Even though you have inserted images on your article, you should remember to separate some sentences with a paragraph. Imagine that you are reading more than 500 words article without any paragraph on it. It’s confusing right? With some sentences separated with paragraph, people will find it easier to read your article.

4. Very Tiny Font Size

Have you ever visit a website and you have to zoom in to read the content? This is bad, make your body text at least 12pt to make sure that your body text are readable enough. If not, people will have to provide large magnifier to read your article.

5. Heavy Flash Usage

Almost any Flash usage will bring added value to your visual perception. But unfortunately, Flash usage will only make your website slower to open & it gives more chance for new visitors to leave you quickly. Reduce usage of Flash, unless it’s needed to explain something. I personally don’t really like websites which has Flash intro. They are really annoying & wasting my time.

6. Body Text Above Colorful Background

Most of good websites use plain color background to enhance its readability. If you use colorful background to make it nicer, you are absolutely wrong. It only makes people tired of reading your articles, because the body text color are blended with background image. Make your background plain & put image somewhere else where there are no text.

7. Too Many Advertisement

Have you seen a website full of banner advertisement & google adsense inside? I’m sure that you will leave that website once you have done with it, Or worse case, you will instantly hit close and move to another website. Never prioritize advertisement over content. Good websites always place advertisement in a proper places which aren’t bothering the main content of websites.

8. Unwanted Pop Ups

I always hate websites which has unstoppable pop ups. It really annoys me. I want to look for information, but the pop up interferes & wastes my time. I don’t know why, but i really hate pop ups.

9. Too Long Articles

I don’t know about you, but i don’t like too long articles. It takes you more time to write it and also make people bored to read it. Make it at most 1000 words with some image addition to make it more attractive than just a plain text. Make your words simple & understandable. Believe me, most people doesn’t like too long articles.

10. Links Color Aren’t Visible

Make sure that link color has different color with body text color. It helps your reader to identify which links they have visited and also help them not to visit the same links unintentionally.

Don’t forget to share your thoughts about the article in comment section.

It’s always been of a great interest for me to study how the web design develops in different countries of the world. There are lots of different approaches and techniques and though there are overall network tendencies like web 2.0, big fonts, clean layouts etc there’s always a great opportunity to see something unique. I’m not really sure what it depends on, the country economy, the average age of people, the number of creative people and way of communication. There has been many articles and showcases on the web devoted to Russian designers and design studios and as a rule, we can see a very special styles and approaches. One strange thing just came to my mind: though I live in Ukraine, I don’t know any design studio in here! In the post today I decided to make things right and to make a small research.

Frankly speaking I was embarrassed. I’ve actually made 2 researches, the first one – overall on the web to find out whether there are some recognized designers and design studios from Ukraine and the second one was the local. I went to Google and typed “web design studio” to see what studios will show up in the first 3 pages of search results. My assumption was, and which is quite obvious, that to be on those first pages you both have to put some efforts into search engines optimization and at the same time stand out from the crowd. While the personal portfolios from the first experimental group was a pleasure to the eye, the second one was a total disaster. Almost all of the websites I was opening were ugly, outdated, crowded with information and gave me the feeling like I’m in the early 2000s.

I’d like to hear your thoughts on this and what’s the situation in your country. My guess is that all talented designers have work either for USA or Europe as the internet business here in Ukraine can not give enough money for living yet and the heads of the companies still do not understand in full the opportunities and the revenue the online business can give to their companies. You will notice that 99% of portfolios from group one are created in English and that’s the only language on the website. Below I’m presenting the showcase of “Ukrainian style design” of both groups that I named accordingly.

What we create in Ukraine

Website: http://www.uadesign.com/

Website: http://www.bragindesign.com/

Website: http://www.softsoul.com.ua/

Website: http://www.invision.com.ua/

Website: http://www.mavik.com.ua/

Website: http://www.seotm.com/

Website: http://www.azureait.com.ua/

Website: http://www.aranea.com.ua/

Website: http://www.bizua.net/

Website: http://www.idea.net.ua/

Website: http://www.zeema.com/

Website: http://www.webcreation.com.ua/

Website: http://www.alyoshin.net/

Website: http://deluxe.dp.ua/

Designs we create for the world

Website: http://theoleg.com

Website: http://lanitta.com/

Website: http://3z.com.ua/

Website: http://internalcarotid.com/

Website: http://psyho.ua/

Website: http://www.kavoon.com/

Website: http://every1knows.com/

Website: http://www.timofey.net/

Website: http://www.maxshaman.com/#/projects/1/

Website: http://piezodesign.com/

Website: http://p-e.kiev.ua/

Website: http://www.polkdesign.net/

Website: http://73dpi.ru/

Website: http://pula.com.ua/

Website: http://neodesign.com.ua/

Website: http://whiteweb.com.ua/

As designers we have our skills honed; a gorgeous portfolio, well designed business cards, and a vicious social media presence.

So what’s missing? Here we will be discussing the preparation for impressing a client. Impressing a client is crucial not only for initial business, but also for repeat business. Impressed clients will brag about their new projects and recommend you to their like minded colleagues.  One happily impressed client could easily spread your talents around to ten or more people.

In the words of American advertising executive William Bernbach, “Word of mouth is the best medium of all.”. So by the client recommending you, they are putting their stamp of approval on your work. That’s something your portfolio or business card just can’t do.

Everyone has a Portfolio, You Must Be Remarkable.

Every designer who is serious has a portfolio and business card. What makes you different than “Joe Designer” down the block? In our business, two things set you apart: being remarkable at design and being remarkable at marketing yourself. To understand if you are remarkable simply ask the question, “Am I memorable?” . Being remarkable is what gives you the ability to stand out in a crowd of your peers.

There is a good chance that you are not the only one submitting a bid on this project, especially if this is a job listing on one of the many job forums out there. So standing out is a must! The simplest things can make you stand out. It’s all about the small things, they add up in big ways with the client. It could be the extra creativity in your business card, portfolio, or even being the only guy to show up in a tie.

Define Your Goals.

What do you want out of this project? Do you just need the money? Are you looking to increase your exposure? Looking to get into a new market? Ask yourself these questions and write them down.  So what does writing down goals have to do with impressing a client? Organization. When one is organized it shows in all aspects of one’s work. This will allow you to put your priorities in order and unclutter your mind; allowing you to be calm, collected, and in control. You will present an image of streamlined efficiency and confidence. Also, if your intentions are written down you are more likely to follow them.

Choose Your Words Carefully, They Will Define You.

No matter how good your portfolio is, if you have the personality of freshly baked bread; you will not land the client. When meeting your client for the first time, quickly assess your surroundings. Finding common ground is the best way to start the conversation. In some cases the client may be half way around the world. In situations such as these, email and phone conversations are the only form of contact. Tone is everything when relying on a means of communication other than face-to-face. Watch spelling, grammar, and punctuation in emails as they can make or break you.

Do Your Homework.

Before starting any new project, I google the potential client. I cannot count how many times this has prepared me for a crazy client. By checking on google and the various social networks, you’ll be able to grasp the gist of the client. Do they have several stores? Do they pay their vendors on time? Are there odd pictures of their last Christmas party on Facebook? The answers await on the internet.

Be Weary of What You Wear.

Image Source

Does the man make the suit or does the suit make the man? Never mind that now! When meeting a client for the first time it’s very important to dress accordingly. If you’re meeting at a bowling alley, a suit may not be a good choice. On the other hand don’t wear board shorts and a Nine Inch Nails t-shirt to a meeting. Well maybe if it’s a skate board company. I usually dress in dark colored business casual. It holds up nice and if I need to be a bit edgy, I loosen my tie a bit. Oh and when in doubt, wear a tie.

I have tattoos. I have been in situations on both sides of the fence. I have lost potential clients because of them and I have gained client because of them. It’s a fifty-fifty chance with tattoos. As a rule now, I keep them covered up unless they come up in conversation. I have tattoos in my illustration portfolio so the subject usually comes up.

Be yourself.

In the end, it all comes down to common sense. Do you wear a suit or not? Do you relate that funny story about your design background? Use your judgment and your design spidey-sense to navigate the clients waters. Relax, you’ll do fine. Be yourself. They’ll love you, unless you have the personality of fresh baked bread. I want to leave you with another William Bernbach quote, “Nobody counts the number of ads you run; they just remember the impression you make.”

In the next Client Tactics, we will look at sure-fire ways to spot a deadbeat client. Until then, want more ideas on being remarkable?

There are some usability principles which change very rarely. The reason for this is because they are deeply ingrained into our human nature. Even if they change, they change very slightly, the fundamentals remain the same.

We will try to cover some most important usability principles in the following article.

1. You are designing with a target in mind

You probably spend most of your time designing websites for clients. All of those clients want to accomplish something with the website you’re building. If they are a company selling a specific product, then the target is for the customers to get to the shopping cart and buy the product.

Your clients may have multiple targets as well. The important thing is to have a ‘core’ (one or more targets) which you’ll later use to build your site upon. That ‘core target’ may be, clicking on the ‘buy now button and buying the product’.

The most obvious examples are opt-in sites, which have 1 objective…you either buy/sign up or do nothing. Just take a look at Double Your Dating…

This can be more subtle, like Intelius does it…you first search for the person and then after you click ‘View more details” then you’re sent to a payment page.

2. Design the site so it answers the 3 most basic questions

• Where am I?

There should be enough space for the website name. The main idea is to help the user orient and gain clarity on where is he now. It’s your job as a designer to help the user answer this question. Also, you can help the visitor answer this question with the navigation by highlighting the page on which he is at the moment.

• What can I do here?

The answer for this question depends on the website target. If the main website objective is for the visitor to buy something, then you need to make it clear that the website is selling products. If the objective is to inform the visitor about the company, then make that clear also by designing a website which gives that impression.

• Why should I do it?

This is primarily not your job. It’s the job of the writer to persuade the user why should he buy the product or why should he should click learn more about the company. It’s your job, however, to make this job as easy as possible for the writer by leaving enough visible space so the user can clearly see the benefits of doing the thing i.e. the website objective. You can find more about your visitors and their motivations by getting some feedback from them.

3. Users scan way more than they read. They don’t want to think

There are many studies which confirm that users scan more than they read. So it’s your job to make the design so it’s easy to scan the entire page in order to get the most important information.

Also, there’s one good lesson I learned from one great book on usability by Steve Krug  “Don’t make me think.” He said that you must make things intuitive and user friendly so you’ll minimize the thinking part from the visitor’s side.

Try to put yourself into the visitor’s shoes and ask yourself which part of the design makes you think.

To illustrate, see this website by Steve Krug. Does it make you think?

You see how he named the navigation menu? Instead of ‘about’ he wrote: “Who we are”. He tried to eliminate the thinking process which goes like this: “What does “About” mean? Does it mean they will tell me what the site is about?”

I see a lot of people who own personal websites make this mistake. Here’s an example I got from one random personal blog I found:

4. Who is the ideal prospect/customer?

There’s a great concept in marketing called the “customer avatar.” To make a customer avatar, you need to know many of the prospects, who visit the website, then get the common traits they have and make an imaginative person who owns only those common traits. For the ‘dating for men’ market, that is usually a single man who wants to get a date with a single woman. He tried to approach and meet women before, but without particular success.

Your customer avatar doesn’t have to apply for all of the prospects but for the majority (80%+).

Knowing your average visitor will help look from his point of view and appropriately design a great website.

Let’s try to find the customer avatar for 1stWebDesigner…

According to Quantcast, this is the 1stwebdesigner demographic in the US (I will suppose most of 1stwebdesigner traffic comes from US, so US demographic shouldn’t be very different from the worldwide demographic):

So the customer avatar would be something like:

Erica is a 20 years old Hispanic girl who’s in college and still financially dependent upon her parents. She loves cool designs and pictures. She wants to be a web designer and is still a beginner, but loves creativity and tends to be very creative herself. That’s why styles, effects and designers inspire her a lot.

5. Focus on conventions because users love them

Title above, navigation menu above or on the left and also the color different for clicked links (these are only some of the web design conventions). Web designers love to experiment with new models and that’s the most problematic thing here. Stick to conventions because users are used to them. If you don’t, you’ll make them confused and think. And as I said above, they don’t really like that. The below screen shot from Ciplex.com is a great example.

We all love familiar things, don’t we :)

Eliminate annoying things. Flash intros, anyone? Or wait…STATIC intros:

What are your thoughts on basic usability principles? Don’t forget to share them with us.

Planning to build a new website and not sure where to start? No sweat, we have a cool guide from 12 points that will help you to define your website goals, target audience, choose the images and create the right look and feel for your site. All you’ll need is a sheet of paper, 10 minute access to the internet, a friend and a cup of coffee or tea. Let’s get into work.

1. Answer the question why you need a website.

Starting on website creation the very first questions you should ask yourself is “Why do I need a website?” The answer “because everyone has it” is wrong. Let’s imagine you have a small bakery in a small town and people come daily right to your door to taste your cakes and candies. Do you really need a website in this case? I guess you don’t. Now let’s imagine that you have enough time, equipment and resources to deliver the pastries to the nearby villages. Now this is the case when having a website can be a pretty good idea. Here come just a few most common reasons why you may need a website:

• Additional income
• Brand recognition and audience awareness
• You have something interesting in mind you’d like to share with the online community

2. Define your target audience.

Photo by Stefan Tell
Once you’re sure you do need a site let’s think about your future website audience. If you are making yummy pastries then your audience is the whole world, but if you are a pool cleaner for example, then you need a serious think. If you are targeting a nearby village make sure that there are pools in there and if you work as Santa make sure people who live close to you celebrate Christmas as well.

3. Check your competition and double check it once again.

This one is closely connected with point two. The bigger your field of experience and expertise is, the larger is your audience but at the same time the bigger your competition is. Say you are the only person in your city cleaning pools and everyone knows you. Now let’s imagine there’s exactly the same person in the other city and everyone knows him and invites for a cup of coffee? Right, why would they ever call you even if they find your website? Well, there’ one simple trick you can make to beat the competition- offer something special and unique. Offer lover pricing, some free services, ask your clients to put some reviews for you and put all that on a paper or make a document with notes on your computer.

Photo by will nickelson

4. Check similar websites and put down what you like about them and what can be made better.

Now when you know your audience and your competition you can start thinking about the website itself. Do not hurry and don’t panic. Check the websites of your competitors and websites of the top companies in your area of business. Make notes about what you like and what you don’t, what’s convenient for you as a user and what is not, how are the products presented, is it easy to find the products/service you are looking for and if it is easy to order it online. Choose several websites you like most and ask your friends to test them for usability. Compare your notes and draw conclusions.
Once complete divide your notes and conclusions into the following categories:
- design likes and dislikes: color scheme, website layout and general design direction;
- functionality: what is convenient and what is not, navigation, how quickly you can get to the product page, what’s the registration/checkout process etc;
- calls to action: what buttons, phrases or banners made you interested in the product; what made you feel the product/service is what you need and where would it be appropriate to add the buy/order/call or learn more buttons on your website.

5. Act like a customer.

While you can still act like a website visitor and not like a website owner think of the keywords you would use to find a website like yours. Ask your friends to help you and put the keywords down. It’s better to think about it now while you still have enough time before website design and development starts as these keywords will further drive traffic to the website. Do not forget about geo-targeting, people in CA won’t order cakes from NY.

Photo by Lunabee ^_^

6. Prepare some good photos that can attract visitors and catch their attention.

Let’s make sure your future website looks professional and attractive. Most of the website design companies will ask if you have the photos to use and will be pleasantly surprised if you do. Professional photos of your delicious cakes or neat stylish hand-made jewelry can make and indelible impression on your website visitors and push them to place the order right away. Do not use stock photos if you make the products yourself, seeing thousands of them everyday online people will know this is not yours and will subliminally feel cheated and disappointed and thus not likely to place the order. If you are creating a corporate website for say an IT company using stock photography is a usual practice and you can rely on a design company to choose the appropriate images for you. Still, if you can make photos of your stuff this will give a more personal feeling, thus more trust and comfort. We all like to see people we work with, right?

7. Think of the logo and whether you need one.

Coming to the point of brand recognition you need to think of the company logo and name (if you don’t have one yet). As a rule, if you don’t need a company logo for your offline business you won’t need it online (and if you have one you are more likely to use it online as well). Think of some nice company name and make sure it’s not taken yet. When talking to designer don’t forget to mention that you don’t have a logo but would like to have the company name written in some nice font matching the website style, look and feel. This will also help you to keep the design costs down which is very important when you are just starting your online business.

Logo by vissago

8. Think what you’d like to tell to your website visitors and put that down.

Now let’s remember how you’ve been visiting the websites of your competitors. What information was useful and what was not, what you have found interesting and what was boring, what calls to action made you actually act? Think what you’d like to tell to your customers, what it is so unique in you that they can find irresistible and place the order right away, give you a call or add the website to the favorites to check back later? Do not forget about the list of the keywords you have put down. Use them in your text as this will greatly help to rank good in the search engines when your website is up and running. At this stage you can either make one big text or start dividing it into sections.

Photo by Daniel Y. Go

9. Think of the main menu names.

We have come to the stage when you can plan the website structure and layout. You already have the info you have put together in point 8 and now we can use it to form the menu names. Divide your draft into the sections like about us, our products and services, why choose us, how to find and contact us etc. Ask your friends if they since something else might also be of an interest to the website visitors and add it as well. Do not tend to create many separate pages for a simple website, in most cases all the important information should be located in no more than one click from the home page. If your website is complicated, have lots of info or you plan building some kind of a portal, break the related sections into the groups, define main pages and sub pages, use the experience of your competitors and your notes from point 4 ( where you made the notes about websites friendliness and usability).

10 Think of the website colors.

The website color scheme is one of most important elements to consider. Colors act differently, gray and blue are calm and confident, red is aggressive while yellow sand and brown are cozy. What impression will your website make? Is this color appropriate for your business at all? Read some small studies and find the perfect matching colors. You can also look for colors solution on a website like colorlovers where designers have gathered thousands of color schemes pleasant to the eye and which are free to use. If you have several ideas in mind and not sure which one to choose you can consult with your designer when discussing the project details or simply ask him to try several approaches for additional fee or just make some basic sketches before working on all the details.

Photo by jakerome

11. Define website style.

If you are not sure what website style is, let me give you some examples: corporate, business, urban, grunge, wallpaper, clean web 2.0, minimal, retro, fashion, cartoon etc. You can actually create your own style or make a mix. Nowadays more and more designers tend to create minimal designs with the use of big fonts and obvious calls to action. They make an accent on uniqueness of one or few elements like an intro, photo on the splash page, creative navigation or cool slideshow portfolio.

12. Make sure you can deliver what you are promising and deliver it in time.

Now when you have prepared all the info a designer usually needs to create a perfect and very special website for your company, make sure you can deliver all that you are promising. You may skip this point as it’s not directly related to getting ready for website design but it is vital part of the online business. Surfers will find hundreds of websites offering same products and services one by one and even with the perfect, cool and super-friendly design you can’t stand out from the crowd if you don’t keep to your promises. Deliver it time, give the promised discounts and finally, provide a perfect service.

Photo by Basil Gloo

13. Choose a design company.

Well, here we are. You have a big batch of notes, texts and photos and now you need to find a designer. My advice is to look for young companies as they take less, have friendly customer support and create cool things. Check their portfolios, ask questions, see if you can get some kind of a discount :) And don’t panic, with the tremendous info you have prepared a candy is guaranteed!

Photo by nhussein

Enjoyed the article? Don’t forget to share your thoughts with us.

Some have a passion for web design; others consider it a mere task! This article is for those who consider web design more than just a task, in fact, it is meant for those who always have a passion to create something new! Bringing together elements of design and technicality is an exciting task, if you love website design that speaks and conveys its message effectively.

The approach taken towards design is the key to the entire site. This is also the reason why some websites grab user-attention whereas others tend to drive users away from the page.

Few Points that should be considered:

• The design should attract attention
• A user should find the website engaging
• The content should convey the right message
• The website should be user-friendly

1. The design should attract attention

Simone Moreno

The design is what speaks more than the words when a user first looks at the site. It is therefore essential you have a creative website without all the clutter. This website example has a very attractive and well-balanced approach. Although the main image is rather heavy, it has been balanced appropriately with the colors and tones used. The site is about a musician, Simone Moreno. It gives information in a neat and clutter free way although there is plenty of creativity involved in the way the images are presented.

Bebop Jeans

In this example, the website is all about an attractive color and design form usage. The elements appear slowly on the screen as the whole design takes shape. There is an interesting balance of colors and forms used. This apparel brand ensures users are motivated to explore the site.

2. A user should find the website engaging

Monoface

This example is about a Minneapolis-based company which creates innovative communication solutions for its clients. However, instead of presenting the company information in the usual manner, it has chosen an engaging way to interact with clients. The features of the main face shown in the image above can be changed with mere clicks to reveal some truly hilarious options. This is a great way to engage users whilst conveying about the creativity of the company and the kind of portfolio it will boast of!

Tony D’Orio

It can take some time to figure out this website, yet this is the very factor that makes one stay on the page. A collection of some amazing photographs have been put together by the photographer. As a users clicks on an image, the black and white image changes into color and is further enlarged. The interaction happens in an interesting way that keeps the users engaged whilst browsing the site.

3. The content should convey the right message

EValueShop

The content in a website should target its users keeping in mind the very short attention span. The message should be such that it attracts the attention and causes a user to browse the site further. This shopping website obviously has a lot of content to be presented with regards to the product. Instead of a staid presentation which might even cause a user to go away from the page; it has made use of an interesting display through the use of interactivity.

Costa Navarino

This website has creative usage of Flash. It engages the users whilst the destinations and other related information is displayed. Although, there is a usage of Flash interactions, the main message is not lost. There is a good balance between design and the topic.

4. The website should be user-friendly

Madison Communications

A website should present all its main sections in a clear manner. This is mainly to catch the attention of the user as the time factor is very limited. A website with a boring home page or site map will definitely not hold the attention span of any user. In this example, the various media departments are shown in a creative site map for the advertising firm. As the user traverses through the different headings, the cartoon character changes according to the topic.

Hoodie Remix

A neat and simple design is what this website is all about. Yet, the users are kept engaged on the site as they can create and design their own style for the hoodie. The home, design, gallery and about us section are kept separate so that a user can navigate easily.

Final Thoughts

The common thread between all these examples:

These examples have conveyed the basics of an attractive and exciting website. Upon close observation, the common factor amongst all is Website Interactivity and Creativity.

The Basics of Website Interactivity:

Interactivity is the next step in the evolution of web interfaces. Here, we can take an example. A radio button or hyperlinks are elements of a web interface. Contrast these with a 3Dimensional Cube or a 3Dimensional Flip Book, both being examples of interactivity. They are complete experiences of doing stuff that engages users with web pages whilst the user is going through the information displayed on the website. This is what makes these examples stand out. The use of interactivities woven very creatively with website content makes them successful in capturing user-attention.

This is because, with interactivity, you can get users to stay longer, engage better and return sooner to your websites. However, some of the most commonly known ways to achieve interactivity involve programming. This can be time consuming and tedious. Interactivity thus created can be hard to maintain. On the other hand, Rapid Interactivity – a new paradigm – allows web masters to add interactivity to websites quickly and easily and also permits easy customization. This is a new phenomenon that most web designers are choosing to employ.

Interactivity can take on a number of different levels of complexity, depending on the needs of the site and the tools used to create the interactive features. These tools require programming of interactivity which is complex to code and difficult to maintain. Rapid programming is about creating interactions within minutes through customization.

Interactivity is all about keeping users on a web page!

Website interactivity is fast catching the fancy of many web designers who want to make their websites stand out! I guess it’s time to make your websites turn exciting from plain boring!

Let us know what do you think about interactivity and excitement in web design.