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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
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.
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
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!
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
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.
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
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.
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.
[...] Bring your websites alive “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” [...]
Thanks for this post – some great examples shown. Especially like the creativity of the BeBop Jeans site.
.-= Attitude Design | Graphic Design Portfolio´s last blog ..Attitude Twitter update for the week (2010-02-12) =-.
This is a really great post.thx for sharing. But what about SEO and design ? Where is the silver line?
I think really silver line you create yourself depending from project – in portfolio pages you can go as far as your creativity lead you, but for business purposes you really have no good chance to create unique and in the same time user friendly website :)
I agree to Dainis completely. It is very important for the designer to understand where and how to add interactivity.
A neatly designed website would have a good combination of interactivity while taking care of important elements such as SEO and faster loading of websites.
One such neatly designed website is Raptivity Web Expert. It has used various interactivities to engage users and convey its message to its visitors while taking care of SEO and faster loading.
Hey Poonam, thanks for sharing such a nice post. Keep Posting.
.-= Yagnesh Ahir´s last blog ..Mental Walls. (Part 2) =-.
It’s depend on what niche that your web for..If the web is for medical, not really sure they should have such a nice headers and stylish text.
@healthyman, even if one has a medical site, one can add interactivity to it. After all, the aim of every website is to attract visitors and effectively convey their message to them. Instead of stylish text and fonts, one can use engaging interactions like a Flip book or a panning card type of interaction to showcase their products.
I think interaction is a concept which applies to all kinds of websites.
Good work… Thanks for sharing this useful thoughts. I will design my new website following your guide.
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This is no doubt a good research article highlighting how websites can be very interactive and get the user to do something rather than sit there and click on the usual links and images etc, but most of these websites are only good to show off larger businesses or portfolios.
For the usual business wanting a website they will not hand out the truck loads of cash to get a fancy Flash based website going, especially when you tell them that their website won’t do any well in the search engines and the masses of iPhone users won’t be able to see a thing!
I’m afraid this is a good idea in theory but in practice it becomes impractical for 90% of businesses that want a website.
However this type of interactivity is exactly what jQuery is starting to get to grips with, maybe in about 2 years Flash will no longer be needed?
they’re all flash though… bleh…
the philosophy here is utterly wrong-headed: it’s centered on the site and the site’s intrinsic appeal.
#1 is good for the first visit.
the best sites are not trying to impress with self-consciousness, they aim to “disappear” in service of users’ needs, aspirations, and pains.
These are great tips! Thanks for sharing. I am currently redesigning my website and this is very inspirational!
Too bad pretty much ALL of these sites will be absolutely useless on the iPhone/iPad, eh? Or do they have some amazing HTML5 versions just for the iFolks?
Very useful tips. I generaly like clean designs with less color and bells and whistles
.-= bractus´s last blog ..welcome =-.
cool.. but im afraid to implement them.. im afraid of slow loading..
.-= blackgown´s last blog ..Rumors about Yahoo will close Chat room =-.
Bring your websites alive: From Boring to Exciting!…
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 …….
I have to agree with titos2k, the Madison site is very amateurish. I doubt it would inspire much confidence in their clients. The rest though, they’re pretty awesome!
.-= bottleHeD´s last blog ..Bean-bagging. =-.
Some awesome work highlighted on this page, inspirational stuff
I love the monoface website, so funny to see the mashup of different pieces of the human face jumbled together.
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 …….
So apparently you need to program your website in flash to make your website “exciting”? yawn.
Today there are software’s in market which allow you to add such interesting interactivities to your website by simply customizing it. There is no programming involved at all. One such tool I can suggest to all designers is Raptivity Web Expert.
Hence, adding exciting interactivities to a website can now be done in minutes without a single line of programming!
[...] Bring your websites alive: From Boring to Exciting! [...]
Awesome inspiration post. Thank you for that.
.-= pakaworld´s last blog ..The song that mortivate me all the time =-.
Bring your websites alive: From Boring to Exciting!…
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 …….
Interesting points! But what is really “Rapid Interactivity”? Is it a method or a set of tools or what do you mean really? That would be interesting to get more about for a developer/designer!
Hi Helen,
Definitely – Rapid Interactivity is a new term for designers.
It means creating interactions rapidly without any programming at all. It is a method by which interactions can be created by simply customizing the templates.
You can check Raptivity Web Expert which is created based on Rapid Interactivity paradigm. This tool supports around 15 odd interactions which can be customized in minutes and added to your website to make them interactive.
This tool supports most of the interactions which are needed while creating a website such as a site map, action suggester for your visitors, countdown etc.
I think it is worth a visit for every designer/developer.
Do let me know if you have any more queries about Rapid Interactivity paradigm.
This is absolutely good tips. Very useful. Thanks. Keep blogging.
This is a good read. Have a nice day pal.
Great article, thanks again!
.-= WebDesign Orange County´s last blog ..Get Paid NOW Taking Free Surveys – A New Program That Works =-.
[...] Bring your websites alive: From Boring to Exciting! [...]
[...] Bring your websites alive: From Boring to Exciting! [...]
Very nice article, Poonam. I agree with all you points. Design travels faster than content, at least on the first glance. Outstanding aesthetics in a website always compels the reader to dig further. Keeping it more interactive is certainly a challenge for any designer/blogger.
Thanks
.-= Richie´s last blog ..Photorealism by Illustrious Artist Norman Rockwell =-.
[...] Bring your websites alive: From Boring to Exciting! 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. [...]
[...] Bring your websites alive: From Boring to Exciting! Submitted by Nirhana [...]
Great post. Thanks for sharing :D
Just shows you how out the box thinking can excite and inspire. Thank you for this wonderful collection of creative.
.-= Debbie Meltzer´s last blog ..Future predictions, speculations, projections – where to? =-.
Just shows you what out of the box thought can do to inspire and excite. Thank you for this wonderful collection of creative.
.-= Debbie Meltzer´s last blog ..Future predictions, speculations, projections – where to? =-.
Madison Communications design is an awful example
Awesome list , excellent tips
really makes me want to do better web designs.
Hoodie Remix is really cool. Great post!
.-= julio´s last blog ..Weekly Inspiration: 25 Design Agencies you should know – N.4 =-.
Nice tips! They are well known, but presented in the engaging and attractive way! Great work!
.-= CMS for Flash´s last blog ..SEO Guide: Optimize Your Flash CMS Website =-.
Great article Poonam
Thanks for your effort.Some great examples
Thanks for this Poonam, very interesting! :)
.-= Sneh Roy´s last blog ..Project 365 Vector Characters – Daisy For Day 37 =-.
Cool examples.
Great Post!!!Thanks Author
.-= FreeYorker´s last blog ..Фотограф Christopher Wilson =-.
thanks for sharing , some interesting and important notes :) poonam
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