It could be said that truly professional web design makes everything about designing a website seem easier than it is, and one of the greatest respects in which this is true is when it comes to simplicity.
As much as we may all know something is simple when we see it, actually designing something to be simple can be deceivingly difficult and complex.
The factors that make something simple
Whether the subject is professional web design or something completely different, there are certain factors that help to make something simple that – paradoxically – are often far from simple to figure out.
Harvard professor George Whitesides has pinpointed three such factors. These include predictability – simple things are familiar and easy on the brain. Accessibility is another such factor – we can easily understand simple things and we don’t feel dumb when we look at them. The third factor is that simple things serve as building blocks for our creativity.
These are elements that all of the best websites have. We aren’t confused when we look at them, they are vaguely familiar to us without feeling overdone, and they have a great sense of creativity and innovation.
So how can I create a simple website design?
There’s a lot that we could tell you about the psychology of why we human beings like simplicity so much, including a little thing about ‘cognitive fluency’, which refers to our brain’s love of the familiar. But of course, we don’t really have the room for that here.
Instead, we’ll leave you with a few ‘takeaway’ tips for what our human love for simplicity should mean for the design of your website. It should mean taking care to strike the right balance between keeping your site predictable and not rendering it boring.
Make sure the basics – such as a navigation bar and search feature – are there to reassure your visitors rather than confuse them. But also try to be innovative with your design by, for example, not using the same old tired templates that so many of your competitors are using.
Then, there is the even tougher challenge of achieving a harmonious blend of beauty and function with your website design. While creativity is invaluable in professional web design, here at Futura, we also realise that an aesthetically pleasing website design must also be one that is accessible to the broadest range of users.
Achieve the right balance between creativity and predictability with Futura
Above all, remember that in web design as in so many other areas of life, simplicity is rarely simple or easy to achieve. However, the benefits of striking the most appropriate balance between predictability and creativity can also make your hard work more than worthwhile.
Why not contact the Futura team today about how our professional web design services can assist you in achieving a simple, but also powerful website for your business?
