Simplicity in good web design
Simplicity in website design does not necessarily mean minimalist aesthetics. Simple sites simply remove all unnecessary elements from design, content, and code. While minimalist sites mostly meet these criteria, there are many sites that cannot be classified as minimalist, but they are still simple.
This article contains a list of several advantages of a simple website design, as well as some easy methods to simplify the design process.
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1. Easier navigation
Simple sites do not contain unnecessary information. This makes site navigation easier for two reasons: sites will generally have fewer pages and sections, site design is easier to read, which makes it easy to find navigation elements.
A simple website design can be a good solution to the problem of usability of navigation elements. Several methods for creating a simple design for the site:
2. Simple design loads faster
Creating a simple design basically results in small file sizes. And small files therefore load faster. Also, if you stick to a simple site code, you will not include several stylesheets, call up several JavaScript files or a large amount of any other content that will increase the number of HTTP requests. Fast-loading and fast-running sites will be better accepted by users.
3. Content is easier to read.
When your design does not contain a lot of difficult for perception of decorative elements, the contents of the site occupies the main place.
One study showed that 79% of users walked through the pages of the site, but only 16% of users read everything from start to finish. It is best to work with these users who simply walked through the site than trying to deal with them. Placing content in the foreground and in the center of the page will make it easier for users to understand. These users will find your site more user-friendly and more likely to visit in the future.
4. Simple sites easier to create
If the design of your site is simple, then the code will be accordingly the same. Creating a design with a simple layout, with one or two pages of a template and simple typography will be much faster than creating a website with 8 sections (each with a different page template), difficult typography and a background that requires difficult prototyping and programming.
Just be careful with creating a website that looks simple, but is actually quite complex. Aim to make the code as easy as possible. Sometimes just making small changes to the elements can be achieved by simplifying the site code without a noticeable change in design.
5. Simple code is easier to debug.
If your code is simplified, it is easier to find errors in it. If you have a style sheet with 300 different properties, it will be much more difficult to determine what the problem is exactly than if you had only 30 properties.
Look for ways to simplify the code from the start. Combining CSS properties and definitions can make the code much shorter. Combining style sheets and javascript files will also greatly simplify the entire site code. Before uploading files to the server, take advantage of special programs that will remove unnecessary content from your style sheets, scripts, and other files (after cleaning, just make sure everything works as it should).
6. The smaller the file sizes, the less space they will occupy on the server.
It has already been mentioned that simple websites will have small file sizes compared to complex ones. This means that your sites will take up less space on the server and the site will not use much traffic. While this is not a problem for small sites that have no more than 1000 visitors per month, for sites with a large number of visits this can be a good way to save money. Some minimalist sites with multiple images will have a size of less than 100kb, while more complex sites can reach up to 1mb. This means that your easy site will use 10 times less traffic than complex and heavy. If you have a lot of content or visitors, it will be better to simplify the site and thus reduce the size of the files.
Remove unnecessary decorations
Many website designs have a large number of decorative elements that actually do not serve any purpose. While it is not necessary to remove absolutely all decorative elements from the design, it is worth removing at least some of them. This often makes your website easier to read and more elegant.
Elements that can be removed or simplified can be image borders, shadows, additional images in the header and in the site footer, and additional images on separate pages (in most cases, a couple of images are enough).
Ask yourself - is this item really that important?
This is the main issue when creating simple sites. You should ask yourself this question about each design element, code or content.
See which elements on your site can be combined. Are there pages that can be combined into one page? Can you combine styles to simplify style sheets? There are surely elements in your design or code that can be combined.
Make sure your code is as simple as the design.
Many designers focus on design and do not pay enough attention to the template code. The template code of some simple sites is completely messy. Make sure your page layout is as simple as you can be. This may be a decrease in the number of styles in your style list or the number of JavaScript effects you use. It also means that you need to write good code that conforms to standards.
It also means that you must select the appropriate CMS for your site. Some CMS are very complex and, while some sites use this complexity, the same CMS can be destructive for so many sites. Choose a CMS that has only those functions that you require or in which it is possible to enable or disable functions when needed.
Below are a few examples of superb simple website designs that will give you ideas for simplifying your website designs.
This article contains a list of several advantages of a simple website design, as well as some easy methods to simplify the design process.
The advantages of sites with a simple design
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1. Easier navigation
Simple sites do not contain unnecessary information. This makes site navigation easier for two reasons: sites will generally have fewer pages and sections, site design is easier to read, which makes it easy to find navigation elements.
A simple website design can be a good solution to the problem of usability of navigation elements. Several methods for creating a simple design for the site:
- Use only one navigation menu,
- Make sure that the navigation menu is displayed on all pages of the site,
- Use the sub-menu navigation menu so that the main menu is not too bulky,
- Do not use drop-down menus for navigation. Instead, incorporate navigation elements into the design itself. Basically this will make site navigation easier.
2. Simple design loads faster
Creating a simple design basically results in small file sizes. And small files therefore load faster. Also, if you stick to a simple site code, you will not include several stylesheets, call up several JavaScript files or a large amount of any other content that will increase the number of HTTP requests. Fast-loading and fast-running sites will be better accepted by users.
3. Content is easier to read.
When your design does not contain a lot of difficult for perception of decorative elements, the contents of the site occupies the main place.
One study showed that 79% of users walked through the pages of the site, but only 16% of users read everything from start to finish. It is best to work with these users who simply walked through the site than trying to deal with them. Placing content in the foreground and in the center of the page will make it easier for users to understand. These users will find your site more user-friendly and more likely to visit in the future.
4. Simple sites easier to create
If the design of your site is simple, then the code will be accordingly the same. Creating a design with a simple layout, with one or two pages of a template and simple typography will be much faster than creating a website with 8 sections (each with a different page template), difficult typography and a background that requires difficult prototyping and programming.
Just be careful with creating a website that looks simple, but is actually quite complex. Aim to make the code as easy as possible. Sometimes just making small changes to the elements can be achieved by simplifying the site code without a noticeable change in design.
5. Simple code is easier to debug.
If your code is simplified, it is easier to find errors in it. If you have a style sheet with 300 different properties, it will be much more difficult to determine what the problem is exactly than if you had only 30 properties.
Look for ways to simplify the code from the start. Combining CSS properties and definitions can make the code much shorter. Combining style sheets and javascript files will also greatly simplify the entire site code. Before uploading files to the server, take advantage of special programs that will remove unnecessary content from your style sheets, scripts, and other files (after cleaning, just make sure everything works as it should).
6. The smaller the file sizes, the less space they will occupy on the server.
It has already been mentioned that simple websites will have small file sizes compared to complex ones. This means that your sites will take up less space on the server and the site will not use much traffic. While this is not a problem for small sites that have no more than 1000 visitors per month, for sites with a large number of visits this can be a good way to save money. Some minimalist sites with multiple images will have a size of less than 100kb, while more complex sites can reach up to 1mb. This means that your easy site will use 10 times less traffic than complex and heavy. If you have a lot of content or visitors, it will be better to simplify the site and thus reduce the size of the files.
How to simplify your sites
Remove unnecessary decorations
Many website designs have a large number of decorative elements that actually do not serve any purpose. While it is not necessary to remove absolutely all decorative elements from the design, it is worth removing at least some of them. This often makes your website easier to read and more elegant.
Elements that can be removed or simplified can be image borders, shadows, additional images in the header and in the site footer, and additional images on separate pages (in most cases, a couple of images are enough).
Ask yourself - is this item really that important?
This is the main issue when creating simple sites. You should ask yourself this question about each design element, code or content.
See which elements on your site can be combined. Are there pages that can be combined into one page? Can you combine styles to simplify style sheets? There are surely elements in your design or code that can be combined.
Make sure your code is as simple as the design.
Many designers focus on design and do not pay enough attention to the template code. The template code of some simple sites is completely messy. Make sure your page layout is as simple as you can be. This may be a decrease in the number of styles in your style list or the number of JavaScript effects you use. It also means that you need to write good code that conforms to standards.
It also means that you must select the appropriate CMS for your site. Some CMS are very complex and, while some sites use this complexity, the same CMS can be destructive for so many sites. Choose a CMS that has only those functions that you require or in which it is possible to enable or disable functions when needed.
Excellent examples of simple website designs.
Below are a few examples of superb simple website designs that will give you ideas for simplifying your website designs.
Source: https://habr.com/ru/post/72927/
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