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6 Web Design Principles

Blog by Ben Rios | October 4, 2022

There are very many different ways to build and design a website today, and you are able to be as creative as you want. However, there are important UI/UX web design principles that every webmaster should abide by.

UI stands for User Interface, and it is the common interaction between a human and a computer or communication device. Examples are desktop, laptop, tablet, and mobile. UI can also be defined as the interaction between a user and a website.

UX stands for User Experience, and it is defined as the way a user interacts with the website and its important elements. Web design principles play a huge part in the outcome of how well users will engage with your website. Below are 6 design principles to consider when designing a website for your clients.

1. Layout

Layout is the overall foundation of your site. Design a layout that is creative to your eyes, but make sure that you are viewing this through a user’s perspective. Ask yourself, what am I looking for in a layout? Is it consistent with what my client is looking for? Will this produce a great user experience for the occasional user? Is it mobile friendly? Answering these questions will get you off to a good start and result in a robust layout.

2. Alignment

The positioning of your web elements are important when trying to achieve the look that you desire. Examples of alignment include text, buttons, images, graphics, and containers. There is really no wrong choice when it comes to selecting a type of alignment for your website. It will all depend on what you feel is best. Most users either go with left or justified alignment for text. Centering for images, graphics and containers. Just be mindful that no matter what your preference, try to keep it consistent throughout the entire site. It will result in a well-balanced presentation.

3. Symmetry

Symmetry is often emphasized in the world of bodybuilding, especially when judges are making their decisions during the big competitions. A bodybuilder must build and achieve a body that is well proportioned. So skipping leg day will result in a not so well proportioned physique. The same goes for your website. Your goal is to produce a web page that offers a fluid presentation that is easy for the user to navigate through. There is nothing wrong with getting creative with your web elements, as long as there is a combination of balance, rhythm and mirroring to achieve that consistent flow.

4. Hierarchy

Hierarchy for web is known as the arrangement of web pages on your website. Your main menu should consist of a list of hierarchical pages for the user to browse through. A sitemap will also need to be included to display a full listing of the service or product pages.

As for web elements, your hierarchical “h” tags should also be used throughout every page of your website. This is important because search engines will be crawling your site to look for these elements so that they can be indexed properly.

5. Color

Web colors are intriguing and offer a great sense of purpose to your site and your business branding. Web colors also convey different meanings and moods.

When selecting your color scheme, your palette should include your primary pop color, and another subtle complimentary color. Your preference of color usage may vary depending on what your marketing purposes are. Some companies splash bright colors while others use neutral colors with subtle pop colors, and there is nothing wrong with both options. It all depends on what your business is trying to convey.

The important factor to consider is that color usage should be well balanced and consistent, especially when applying colors to certain elements, like a horizontal rule.

6. Spacing

If you and your family are deciding to purchase a new home, you will all invest time to look at new model homes. If you ever view a model home, you will immediate realize how much space the home has. Spacing is of the utmost importance when building a new home. Sufficient spacing is needed to accomadate easy access throughout the home.

In the world of web design, spacing is also important to improve the user experience. Enough negative/white space must be included to give the site some balance. Having a cluttered website does not give the elements some breathing room and they can cause confusion to the user. The spacing must be consistent throughout the website as well. A good tip would be to first build out your template with adequate spacing, then clone it to use for other pages. This will help with consistency.

Contact Us

If you need a website that abides by the web design principles mentioned, look no further. Steadfast Websites will build a robust and beautiful website presentation that not only emcompasses all of the design principles, but one that greatly reflects your business ethics and standards. Contact our team at Steadfast today to get started.