有效设计网页的五原则(英)

五月 3rd, 2008 by horizontal line

Web design has significantly improved over the last years. It’s more user-friendly and more appealing today — and there is a good reason behind it: over the years we’ve found out that design with focus on usability and user experience is just more effective. Modern cut-edge design isn’t filled with loud happy talk and blinking advertisements. We’ve learnt to initiate the dialogue with visitors, involve them into discussions and gain their trust by addressing their needs and speaking with them honestly and directly.

Few weeks ago we’ve presented 10 Principles Of Effective Web Design — a comprehensive article about effective web design and provided you with insights about how users actually think as well as with some examples of how effective designs can be achieved.

This article highlights 5 further principles, heuristics and approaches for effective web design — approaches which, used properly, can lead to more sophisticated design decisions and simplify the process of perceiving presented information.

Please notice that you might be interested in the following usability-related articles:

10 Usability Nightmares showcases usability nightmares you should avoid when designing functional and usable web-sites,
30 Usability Issues explains important usability issues, terms, rules and principles which are usually forgotten, ignored or misunderstood.

1. Use an effective marketing principle

In order to sell a product or a service you need to be able to effectively inititate the dialogue with random visitors of your site. Since your visitors have actually come to your site, they are willing to hear to you and learn what you have to offer. So how do you approach this potential clientele to maximize your earning at the end of the month?

Suggested by Strong in 1925, AIDA is the effective marketing model which describes a common list of events that are very often undergone when a person is selling a product or service:

A - Attention (Awareness): attract the attention of the customer.
I - Interest: raise customer interest by demonstrating features, advantages, and benefits.
D - Desire: convince customers that they want and desire the product or service and that it will satisfy their needs.
A - Action: lead customers towards taking action and/or purchasing.
Nowadays some have added another letter to form AIDA(S): S - Satisfaction - satisfy the customer so they become a repeat customer and give referrals to a product.

In this context customers should notice that AIDA is usually the way how potential buyers are tricked into buying products or services they actually don’t need. To gain users’ trust designers need to make sure that the site provides genuine information and there is no hidden context in which the content can be understood in a different way.

It’s also more effective to offer visitors concrete arguments, situations and ideas of how a product or a service can be used instead of bombarding them with loud and empty ad-slogans.