When designing a website layout there are some common mistakes that often pop up, especially with interns and new designers. In this list DevsZone provides 9 steps to build perfect website layout, we cover what every new website builder working within a digital agency should know and do before starting a new project, and what they should pay attention to during the process to avoid making these mistakes.
DevsZone provides 9 steps to build perfect website layout
1.Define what success means
Before starting the work you need to know what is it you are designing for. Besides the description of the site, you need to know what the expectations are for it. Take a news site for example, what’s the goal? Is it to make make as many ad impressions as possible or is it to provide the best reading experience? How are those goals going to be measured?
02. Put your thoughts on paper first
This seems very obvious but I’ve found too often that designers jump straight into their work before giving any thought to the problem they are trying to solve. Design is about solving problems, and those problems can’t be resolved through gradients or shadows but rather through a good layout and a clear hierarchy.
Think about the content, the layout and the functionality before starting to drop shadows. Make sure those thoughts are in line with your client’s goals and feel free to share them. No client ever has complained to me about over-communicating ideas.
03. Start sketching a top-level framework
When I’m asked to create a look and feel for a project, the first thing I do is to come up with a top-level framework that solves all the design problems. The framework is the UI that surrounds the content and helps the user perform actions and navigate through it. It includes the navigation and components like sidebars and bottom bars.
If you approach your design from this perspective, you will have a clear understanding of what your layout needs will be when designing sections beyond the homepage.
04. Add a grid
It’s as simple as it sounds. Before starting to design anything you need a proper grid. There are no valid excuses for starting without a grid – and if you don’t, I can assure you, the design won’t look as good. A grid will help you to structure the layout of the different sections; it will guide you through the specific screen size requirements, and help you to create responsive templates, so you’re consistent in terms of spacing as well as many other design issues.
05. Select your colour theme
During the process of choosing a set of typefaces, you should start exploring what colours you will use in the UI, backgrounds and text. I recommend using a limited set of colours and tones for the general user interface.
It’s important to apply those consistently across the UI depending on the element’s functionality. Think about the layout of sites like Facebook, Twitter, Quora and Vimeo. Besides the UI there shouldn’t be any colour restriction for illustrations or graphic details, as long as they don’t interfere with the functionality of the components.
06. Divide the layout
The simpler the structure of the site, the easier it is for users to navigate. Each section in your site needs to tell a story; it needs a reason and a final outcome for the user. The layout should help the content to highlight what are the most important pieces in that story.
07. Think in motion
Motion is essential when designing interactive experiences. No design can be judged on its own or as a static comp any more; every component is defined by its relationship with the system, and that relationship needs motion to be conveyed properly.
Motion can illustrate dynamic effects on content or interactive states within your layout. For that second purpose I recommend taking your designs a bit further into prototyping.
08. Challenge yourself
I encourage every designer out there to challenge themselves on every project. Innovation isn’t always a requirement for the project, so it’s up to us to come up with something fresh. Examples of different challenges could include using a new grid system, creating a new component, or even minor challenges like avoiding blend modes or using a specific colour.
09. Pay attention to the details
This statement has been overused lately but it’s not always visible in the final product. Depending on the concept behind the project, that ‘attention to detail’ can mean different things.
It could be a small interaction, an unexpected animation or an aesthetic touch like a little gradient in a button or a subtle stroke around a box in the background. But overall this touch is essential – and it will come naturally if you really enjoy what you do.
Your pages become attractive if we use the right tools. They can display correctly in the browser and your visitors would be glad to visit again because you appealed to then.
Here these 9 steps to build perfect website layout helps you to develop your desired site.