Web users go to the Internet to learn, communicate or be entertained in the most efficient way possible. Most Internet surfers are familiar only with clicking buttons, arrows, mouses, search boxes or links. Unlike their techie counterparts who know their way around computers, lazy surfers who don't immediately get what they want on the first click would just have to click another button to switch to another website.
Web design flaws that impair usability do exist in many websites even with the tons of web design tools available. If users get stuck or are lost in a website, they abandon the website. If the homepage does not clearly express what the website is all about, they jump to other websites. If a website is difficult to navigate, they leave the website.
Usability is the capacity of the web design to make it easy for visitors to use the website. It allows users to go from one page to the other, jump from the first page to the last or go back and forth without difficulty. Usability is the first experience of the user with the business. This experience must, therefore, be as satisfactory and delightful as possible for the user by avoiding the following common web design flaws:
Complicated Search Tools and Processes.
Users want to navigate with some independence. Too complicated search processes easily tire them, so they usually go directly to the homepage search function. Search tools such as search boxes and links should be simple but visible. The search box should be situated conveniently at the right-hand corner of the top of the page and should have a search input field wide enough so that parts of the query are not hidden because of scrolling. Search boxes are good for complex interior pages while links are for simple interior pages.
Unchangeable Font Size
Many websites have fixed font sizes that don't allow for resizing. For aesthetics, some web designs contain varied font sizes including small ones. This is a problem especially for senior and not too senior users and those with visual impairment. Small and thin fonts diminish readability and drive users away. The web design should allow for resizing of text using layman's instructions instead of highly technical terms like pixels.
Cluttered Pages
Hoping to catch attention, some web designers include features like animation and moving objects such as scrolling, fireworks, twirling graphics, flashing banners or pop-up windows. Add some blasting music to that and you have, not only clutter, but chaos. Too many of these features disrupt smooth navigation that only lead users to the back arrow.
PDF Files That Require Online Reading
Users don't want to be interrupted with additional procedures like the opening of PDF files. Moreover, not all computers are updated and not all browsers are the same.
In creating your web design, user experience is the most important thing to bear in mind. Every user wants to use the web in the easiest way possible. Thus, web designing is not about what you, the website owner, want, but what the user wants.
