Less Cluttered, Sites Will Look More Like Apps

Website design is an ever-changing work in progress. You can’t afford for your site to remain static in an evolving technoverse, not if you want to remain competitive in a crowded marketplace. Just a few years ago, no one could have guessed the changes that would be wrought by the introduction, and subsequent popularity of the Smartphone. Websites are fluid, dynamic, or should be, and with the right designer, you can create a site that is flexible enough to be eye-catching and interesting across all platforms. As more people use larger-screen smartphones or tablets to access the Web, the more web site pages will begin to resemble apps.

After becoming accustomed to phone apps, users will expect websites to be as responsive as the phone apps. Sites will have to be less cluttered, more accommodating to scanning and skimming, short attention spans and the desire for an interactive and interesting experience. Users will expect to see nearly identical visual components and layouts no matter what device he or she is using when he arrives at the site. They are also more willing to share sites that meet their needs in terms of clear and interactive content than they are content they consider irrelevant.

Surveys and other studies are showing that users now want simplicity, clear layouts, simpler fonts, minimal design elements with less decorative “fluff”.  Simple lines and flatter colors play better on inferior cells and devices like eReaders. Making electronic tools look like their non-electronic counterparts; i.e. a yellow, lined background to mimic a legal pad for a note-taking program, is fading in favor. People are now used to phone apps and no longer particularly require them to look like non-electronic tools. Typography is changing as well, to cleaner, simpler forms easier to read on smaller screens. As an example, consider the air plane cockpit. Accuracy matters, but the simple lines of a dial are faster to read and easier for the pilot’s brain to process than a digital read-out, so in spite of the advanced computerization and aeronautics involved in modern aircraft, dials are still the standard display.

Part of this app-style streamlining applies to content as well. Less fluff and more focus is the key. Smaller screens and less time spent on a site before bouncing require that content be meaningful at first glance. Bad writing, heavily laden with keywords geared toward SEO instead of toward human site visitors, just won’t work anymore. If you haven’t already, make sure a header bar is attached to your website. It offers constant navigational support during scrolling and a fast track back to the home page. It also keeps your logo right on top all the time.

There is some debate among designers over whether or not all of these design changes will result in a lot of look-alike, rather dull sites, but there is no reason to assume that human creativity will kick in and, with the help of a good web designer, make the new app-look websites vital, eye-catching and interesting, as well as practical and effective.

It doesn’t matter what today’s trend is, or what tomorrow’s will be, Infintechdesigns.com is on the leading edge and ready to help you stay there too. If you need a website, we’ll work with you to create one to build your business; if you have one, we’ll bring it up to the forefront of customer attention. Contact us at 504-777-3296, or on our website at www.infintechdesigns.com to get your free quote and consultation. You’ll never believe what we can do for you until you ask!