Doctors hate him for these three simple web design tricks

Turns out, designing a positive user experience is not as complicated as one might think. There are rules, sure. Follow them and you will be golden.

Hierarchy

The bigger something is, the easier it is for the user to be drawn to it. When making a website, your product should be the biggest takeaway for the user. When they leave that site, they should have the image of that product engraved in their head. How do we do that? Make it big, bold, and in your face.

Let’s examine this picture. On the left, what do you think the focus is? The astronaut? The planet? Personally, it seems like the planet is the most important part of this image. Then, comparing it to the right side, the astronaut is now much bigger, making him the focus.

Simply put, if you want the user to remember it, make it the biggest item on your page.

Contrast

Contrast is defined as “the state of being strikingly different from something else in juxtaposition or close association.” How can we rephrase that definition for web design? How about, “If you want your user to be able to read the text, make the text a color that compliments the background instead of having it clash or blend in.” Not nearly as catchy as the first definition, but you get the point. Let’s take a look at some examples.

In this example, notice how easy it is to read the text? The white pops off of the red, making it effortless to know what they are saying.

This, on the other hand, actually takes concentration to read. The blue background with the pink text do not go together at all. This ones makes my eyes sad.

Balance

Balance is, as you’d expect, keeping things even on both sides of the page. You don’t want all of your content on the left with a bunch of empty space on the right and vice versa. Having things evenly spaced will be pleasing for the user to look at.

This site is almost perfectly symmetrical, giving it amazing balance. You have “Designer” with a description and “Coder” with a description on opposite sides of the page, with brush strokes on the left and code on the right, this home page is an awesome example of balance in web design.

Hopefully these three design principles will help you out on your journey to making top notch digital products.