Original Article Written By: Roger Howard
People are always looking to find a good design with new trends, it is a bit confusing to know if what we do is according to what others consider as good. Trends arrive because someone creates a new fashion or way of showing something, and it is at that moment where we must avoid losing ourselves in style and concentrate on the essence of design.
In the end, all good designs, no matter how new or old they may seem, if they have a good design, age will not be reflected because it will always be contemporary. So if you want to know how to identify a good design, I present ten principles that will help us to find out, and of course, to put them into practice when we have to start a new project.
1. Good design is innovative
Good web design is characterized by having elements or shapes that have not been seen before. From a personal point of view, innovation comes with making designs that we have not done before, and for the user, innovation is reflected by seeing a website and being amazed because it is nothing like previous designs.
The second is very difficult because, according to the profile of your user, it is the innovation that you should apply, since a user who is very used to seeing very good designs will be less surprised with a design that is not better than the previous ones.
2. Good design makes a useful product
In the end, web design makes a product or service stand out, as it is an extra makeup that is added. Just look at the Apple page, the photos are good, the product looks interesting, but it is the web design that makes it much more attractive to the user. The web design, in this case, being so clean and minimalist, manages to highlight the photographs, and consequently makes it appear that the product looks as good as the website.
Usability also reflects how clear the information is presented, how user-friendly the website is, and how comfortable the user is with the site in general. All these aspects help to have a useful design that helps to highlight a product, service or whatever the site is about.
3. Good design is aesthetic
Good design balances the side of visual details and content. There are various websites that emphasis on the visual side, and the user completely loses track of what they visited the website for. If a design focuses only on the content side, you will never see beyond design and flat colors to a site. An example of this is Wikipedia, which is more focused on offering content, but the visual details are scarce, which makes the site very ugly but above all, unusable and attractive to the eye.
4. Good design makes a product easy to understand
If your web design does not reflect the reason for it, it is because the site has failed. If a shopping site does not look like a shopping site, the chances are that we cannot use it properly, and the user does not understand what to do to use it. Websites have to be eye-catching and easy to use, but above all, they must be able to reflect the use they are going to give them.
There are key elements for all types of websites, icons, expressions, buttons, etc. It is up to each designer to take these standard elements and add our own innovation so that the user is surprised, but at the same time, knows what to do.
5. Good design is discreet
Design is not art, or that cannot be interpreted according to people’s point of view, because it is discreet. A discreet design means that it has only the necessary elements to be able to give value to the user and to be able to use it. It is discreet because it preserves elements with balance and does not visually disturb the user. And it is discreet because just as we see a design, so thousands of other people see it, it does not change, and there is no intermediate between two points of view.
6. Good design is honest
An honest website is one that tells the user everything they can use. Sites that do not fall into this definition have visual tricks for advertising or links that do not look like links, or images that appear one size but load much heavier images in the background. A clear and honest design is one that shows you all the elements as they are, and of course, they work as they should.
7. Good design is durable
Websites from 10 or 15 years ago look old because they don’t follow any rules like the one we are talking about in the post. Websites from two or three years ago don’t look so old anymore because all of the design and content is built to last. Today’s good websites are made so that redesigns don’t happen in a few years.
If you ask if there is the ideal durable design, I would say yes, for example, Google, which still has the same four constant elements as always: a logo, a text box, and two buttons.
8. Good design is thorough
Good designs, don’t forget about the details. From elements such as the link for contact, such as the equitable space between a container, something that not many notice, but if it is well done, it looks good without knowing why.
The details range from the most necessary in a web design to the most imperceptible. There is no rule about how much detail is needed, but rather that what is needed is well designed.
9. Good design is environmentally friendly
It is very easy, a good design is friendly, it has no obstacles or options that are not understood, on the contrary, a user should know how to use and navigate the website without there being an instruction manual that tells how to use it.
10. Good design meets all the above points
And it is not an exaggeration. A website that does not comply with these principles, from my point of view, looks empty, or you feel that something is missing. Any site that implements these points guarantees that the user will understand, and like the site they are viewing, they do not find errors. Therefore they do not feel bad about visiting it again on another occasion.
If you’re looking for a web design company in Pakistan to create a website with all of the above points, reach out.