ResourcesImprove your homepage design.net Magazine [published 23rd February 2009]Assumption is a dangerous thing, and yet it’s an incredibly common thing for people to do. We assume we know what other people want and what they’re thinking. Web design is no exception, and many designers seemingly consider themselves powerful psychics, second-guessing how an audience is going to use a site, and what they want to see. In modern web design, the biggest thing designers tend to take for granted is that users already know about a site (what it’s for, what it offers) as soon as they arrive at the homepage, which, on reflection, is nonsensical. However, plenty of websites make you hunt down information about a site’s purpose and owners, like some absurd game of hide the needle in the digital haystack. For big names such as Amazon, this might be considered acceptable, its section titles and shopping basket links making it somewhat obvious what the site’s all about (although some would argue that a couple of lines of text about the site itself wouldn’t go amiss). For most sites, however, there’s a definite need to ensure your homepage provides all the right information for new visitors, and that’s what this month’s column is all about. To see how Swimming Hippo Digital can help with your hompage design and layout, click here. |
