Website Marketing Club

How to Design the Perfect Web Environment

Nov 27, 2009 Advertising

First and foremost, a perfect web environment is one which is effective in fulfilling the purposes for which it was designed. Looking good is important, but not at the expense of effectiveness. In addition to style, a designer needs the right focus to craft the perfect web environment. Style allows a designer to make a site that looks great, but focus on the purpose of the site allows the designer to select the right kind of style for each individual product.

Designs that Fit

To choose the right design for the site, you need to know the product first. If you don’t know what is being presented on the site, you are flying blind. The more you can learn about the product, the better off you will be. Choosing the right design for a web environment is like choosing the right pair of shoes to sell to a customer. In order to make the sell, the shoes you are offering to the customer must fit that particular customer. In order to find the right fit, you need to know the size of the customer’s foot, taking into account additional variables such as width, height, and shape. But just finding a shoe that fits the foot isn’t enough. You also need to find a shoe that that particular customer wants, and that depends on the customer’s tastes (not yours!) and on what the customer is planning to use the shoes for. A customer looking for running shoes isn’t going to select a pair of dress shoes, no matter how nice they look.

In the same way, a great look does not guarantee that a website will do well. The perfect web environment effectively accomplishes its purposes, which depends on the product being presented on the site. Here are two major guidelines all designers should consider as they are constructing a new web environment. First, the designer needs to keep the target customers in mind. What are their ages, genders, professions, and hobbies? Knowing this will make a big difference. Second, the designer needs to consider the product itself. The style of its construction, the qualities that set it apart from competitors’ products, the way it is marketed, the price of the product, and what accessories or other products it is associated with can all point a designer in various directions. The more information the designer has about the product and the target audience, the better off the designer will be.

Design Guided by Knowledge

Once the designer knows the product forward and backward, they can take action and apply what they know. The designer should make the site appealing to the the target demographic. This does not always correspond with what looks best to the designer. Designers should also try to incorporate the products characteristics into the web design. If the product is fun, the site should be fun. If the product is the next big thing in the technology world, the site better be also. Imagine going to Apple Computers website and finding a wood paneled background with wild life running around! Designers should take what they know of the product and apply it to the web design.

Design with Flexibility in Mind

For the perfect web environment, change is inevitable. As tastes and fashions come and go, the needs of the site will change with time. The target demographic might change, and new versions of the product or new marketing campaigns may dictate a new strategy. This is why it is important for designers to create their web environments to facilitate later changes.

In particular, designers must not let their own personal preferences prevent them from making needed changes. Refusing to redesign as circumstances require will compromise the effectiveness of the site. The most effective design should be used in all circumstances. Redesigning as necessary will keep a perfect web environment perfect. Although such redesigning takes a lot of effort, the payoff is well worth it.

Danny Holley is a web design Utah expert and author. He is also a partner and lead designer at the Utah web design firm, Superior Design.

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