Every business owner wants more conversions.

More conversions equal more sales, and more sales mean exponential business growth. But netting those conversions can prove challenging, especially if your website is not in the best shape.

This is where web design plays a major role.

The web design concepts you utilize directly impacts growth and how many of those coveted conversions your business racks up.

Let’s say your SEO is on point, but conversions are lacking. Yes, optimization is a must-do for your website.

Unfortunately, if you’re not converting site visitors, all is for not.

From New York to Houston, a web design agency could be useful to fix that conversion problem. But you can certainly develop a web design plan starting today.

This is why we compiled the following 6 web design concepts proven to increase conversions.

Let’s dive in!

1. Grab Attention In 8 Seconds Or Less

The human attention span has been compared to that of goldfish.

This may be a myth, but there is no denying that online consumers have a very short attention span.

To ensure you lead potential customers down the path toward conversions, you need to grab their attention fast.

The 8-second rule is a web design concept that can help you increase conversions.

This small window of opportunity is critical, so make it count, because you are on the clock.

For example, you can employ creative imagery to grab attention, like this example from Mailchimp:

This artistic image has little to do with email marketing, the core of Mailchimp’s business. However, it is so unique, it catches the site visitor’s eye quickly.

Other web design assets for grabbing attention in under 8 seconds include:

• Large signup and CTA buttons
• Power words and clever terms that are engaging
• Video and other interactive content
• Hover effect on buttons and links
• Animated transitions in sections
• Pop-ups that add value to the site visitor
• Big benefit headlines that are concise

Web design is not solely about making Google happy. A clever design that grabs attention quickly can have a serious positive impact on your conversion rate.

2. Encompass Speed And Increase Conversions

“Most industries are highly competitive, and to gain a competitive advantage in your market, you need to have a fast website. This is a search optimization (SEO) essential that is tethered to web design.

This is especially so for image search and compatibility with Google’s spiders. If images & design are slow to render, Google views that as an unfavorable compared to your competitors in a particular SERP” says Matt Bertram, co-host of BestSEOPodcast.

Let’s face it: A consumer’s attention span is pretty low. But not as low as his or her patience level. Did you know that a one-second delay in page loading can decrease your conversion rates by 7 percent?

Is your website fast enough to keep potential customers on-page and off your competitors’ pages? To find out, you can utilize a few different speed check platforms, such as Google PageSpeed Insights:

Pingdom is another good site speed platform you can use to get insight on just how fast your website is, on desktop and mobile, as well as info on what you can do to fix poor page load time.

3. The “Rule Of Thirds” Is Also A Web Design Concept

The Rule of Thirds is a very important photography concept that can also be used in web design.

What is the Rule of Thirds exactly?

This web design concept divides a screen by thirds horizontally and vertically.

The intersections created by this division become very important strategic points.

The Rule of Thirds looks like this for web design:

You can see that the intersecting lines are more enticing to the eyes. This could be why the Apple web design team placed the iPhone image directly in the middle of the bottom horizontal line. 

The price point also sits strategically between the two top intersection points, just above the horizontal line:

The Rule of Thirds can help you design each section of your website with strategic focal points in mind. You can place CTAs on these intersection points, key marketing messages, product images, and more.

4. Maximize Conversions With Powerful Color Design

Color remains an essential part of quality web design, especially when it comes to increasing conversions. But choosing the right color scheme for your website, and subsequently, your brand can prove a bit difficult.

There are a ton of colors to choose from, but you should consider employing a bit of color psychology. That’s right, consumers are more motivated to buy from a website based on the color scheme used.

Here’s a color wheel you can use:

Most consumers don’t even know that color played a role in the purchase. For example, a HealthTech website will need to convey trust, empathy, and security on their website to increase conversions. The colors used could be:

Using this color psychology, a website in the HealthTech industry can convey confidence to buy or signup quickly using a subconscious psychological connection.

However, do not just pick a few colors and start developing your website. Quality web design using color means utilizing the power of contrast as well.

Contrast will ensure headlines, CTAs, and text standout against your primary brand colors.

Contrast looks like this in web design:

You can see how HubSpot used contrast and a mixup of their primary brand colors to create a visually aesthetic website that also serves up a psychological connection.

5. Employ The Law Of Similarity (Gestalt Principle)

The Law of Similarity, Gestalt Principle, is another web design concept worth employing to increase conversions.

How? The Law of Similarity states that the human eye groups similar objects, which enables the human brain to make sense and organize what we see.

This is important for web design since websites have multiple aspects. By grouping together these aspects using the Law of Similarity, site visitors can easily and quickly process website information and make a purchasing decision.

For example, you can group testimonials with CTA buttons to drive more conversions. Here’s how this looks on a website using the Law of Similarity:

You also serve up a powerful user experience when using the Law of Similarity as a web design concept. By having main aspects of your site grouped, like headline, paragraph text, and CTA, information is much easier to process for the visitor.

6. Increase Conversions By Using Real People In Images

To make your business more familiar, it is essential to put real people front and center.

Most consumers can tell a stock image from a unique one, so having the people of your business front and center on your website can make the difference between conversion, or lost customer.

This supports the current shift in marketing messaging for brands. In fact, a study found that 80 percent of consumers are more likely to make a purchase from a business that provides a personalized touch. Images of you and your team can achieve this.

A good example small businesses can draw from is this image from Paradise Service Technologies:

You can see the people that represent this small business. Having a personalized, real-life touch within your web design is paramount. 

Videos are also exceptional for delivering these personalized moments consumers demand in today’s overly competitive market. The same website that served up the team image employed video content as well:

Are You Using Web Design Concepts To Increase Conversions?

Creating a website for your business is more than simply putting optimized text and images together.

You need to add that human element in order to net the conversions you want and need for growth and success.

The above 6 web design concepts can prove useful while revamping your website. You may choose a few to implement, or maybe even all.

Combining every web design concept, and more you find online can ensure that conversion rate continues to rise. Happy designing!

User interaction, or UI, is arguably the single most important aspect of anyone’s technological experience. However, people change, their needs change, and technology changes to go along with it. Every year, there are always new trends that everyone should integrate to their designs. Because it’s important to keep up with the times, we’ve compiled a list of the best UI design trends of 2019.

Seamless Interfaces

Nobody likes to have to navigate a website by clicking on an unnecessary amount of links. Loveforiceland.com executes this perfectly, so let’s use it as an example.

All of the information is located on the main page, so the user never have to leave the home page. This avoids loading times and ridiculous transitions.

Big Typography

Big fonts are in! Adding a simple, or even an interactive font to your home page can really set the mood for any user. It’s a great way to advertise and get people familiar with your brand. Weareacademy.com is a very great example of how to pull this off in a trendy way.

Gradient Transitions

We all need a splash of color. One color can be a little boring, but add too many, and you’ll confuse your users. Gradient transitions are not just one of the best UI design trends of 2018, but possibly of all time.

It has made quite the comeback this year and is spreading like wildfire. As your eyes move from one side of the screen to the other, they’ll be greeted with a fresh, new treat every inch of the way.

Custom Illustrations

What better way to give people a custom experience then to throw in some custom illustrations? If you have a unique logo or font, throw it in there! People really get the sense of uniqueness and genuine care when they see something other than copy and paste style UI.

These are just a few of the best UI design trends of 2018. There are many trends out there to be discovered, and even more to be created. Put on your thinking hat, gather the troops, and start getting creative. Who knows, maybe one day, someone will be writing an article about a trend you set.

Think about how many times you went on a website or a mobile app and left because of the poor design? I personally can count multiple times recently when I was searching for something specific, and the website was impossible to navigate. Unfortunately, this is a trend that I’ve noticed catching on here lately. Let’s put a stop to it and go over some of the worst UI designs that people still seem to think are okay.

Cluttered interface

One of the biggest turn-offs for me is a messy or cluttered interface. Listen, I get it, you offer a lot of cool features and blog posts. However, I don’t need all that junk on my screen at one time. It can and very often does confuse people to a point where they’d rather look elsewhere.

Basically, a cluttered interface can quickly go from a source of information, to this:

The solution is simple, create a more interactive interface that allows for multiple, easy-to-read transitions to other areas of the website.

Lack of contrast

See how all of this just blends together? When navigating a website, you want clear and understandable navigation. I don’t want to have to squint and lean in just to see if what I’m clicking on is a link or just part of the scenery.

This is a great example of contrast. The letters are bold and defined, and nothing blends into the background. Of course, this is a promotion for a TV series, but you get the point. It also doesn’t have to be as wildly contrasting as the above image. Take this interface for example:

All the letters are clear, the colors aren’t overwhelming or wild, and it’s still very creative. This is a great example of a website UI that everyone wants to see more of.

Bad Consistency

One of the worst UI designs out there is bad consistency. Don’t get me wrong, changing things up a little bit just to be artsy and creative can really help your website grow. The problem is that people either take this way to far, or don’t take it far enough.

To break this down a little better, let’s talk about when consistency is needed and when it isn’t. For a design website, it’s not so important to be consistent, because that’s what design is, inconsistent. When you visit any given design website, the last thing you want to see is all the images lined up and the same size. You want each experience to be different and you want articles to be broken up in interesting ways.

On the other hand, you have websites that are so plain and boring because they’re so consistent.

Craigslist is a great example of too much consistency. As one of the most used websites in the United States, it would make sense for them to spice it up a little.

This isn’t me bashing anything other than their design consistency. The website functions perfectly and is easy to navigate, it is just lacking in the pretty department.

How to Avoid These Most Common Mistakes of bad UI Designs?

Generally speaking, there are five mistakes people do that end up in a bad UI design:

1. Working limited by the deadlines

We all know that as a designer, it is quite difficult to gain notoriety at the beginning of the career. Novice designers are advised to take as many jobs as offered. Granted, this can happen to designers at any level. Not only do they overload themselves with work, but they are pressured by deadlines. In such circumstances, creativity has no room. One step to avoiding bad UI designs is making time to explore and select the best for clients.

2. Forgetting who or what you design for

When designing, people tend to forget that ultimately, the ones who will interact with their designed work are the users, not their clients. Therefore, instead of being focused on the deadline and paycheck, ask yourself “Is my work user-friendly? Do I offer a pleasant experience?”

3. Not knowing the target audience

We are talking about user interface, not designer interface for a good reason. UI design means putting the user before ourselves. It is important to create while focusing on the target audience. Our goal has to be offering them the experience and interface that would ensure them easy navigation.

4. Mentally designing too much too early

One of the qualities of a designer is flexibility. In the early stage of design, we might be so excited about a project that we project it in our minds and we try to stick to it no matter what. But we need to allow ourselves to explore more, and admit when something needs to be changed, even if they are our ideas.

5. Exaggerating with dynamics

Too much of anything can ruin a project. With today’s technology, we have easy access to tools that can do literary anything we want. It’s easy to get carried away with decoration and animation, but the key to a design is, in fact, to keep it simple and accessible.

Conclusion

Hopefully, these trends of bad UI design will go away sooner rather than later. The worst UI designs often come from startups or companies that haven’t been in business long. Ideally, after a few years of experience, they will get better at UI design.

New websites, take this as a learning opportunity. Don’t fall prey to what’s easy in UI design. Be different and unique. Keep the readers in mind, and everything else will follow suit.

As an avid internet user, both mobile and computer, I think it’s safe to safe that filling out forms is one of the worst things ever. As boring and time consuming as they can be, they are undisputedly necessary. Today, we are looking at what should a mobile form look like and how to give it a formal touch.

Let’s think for a second about how many times we use forms for an online interaction. You use them basically anytime you purchase goods, hotel rooms, or movie tickets. Not to mention, companies often use them to bring better service to the customer. So, the question remains: what can we do to make this process better? I’m glad you asked.

Say no to too much info

In terms of a transaction form, one thing that needs to become the norm is putting all the necessary information on one page. Notice that I said “necessary.” Too often, I’ll go online to order something and I’m bombarded with additional advertisements and options that make my eyes water if I stare too long. Listen, I already purchased something from your website. You don’t have to convince me anymore.

First impressions mean the most

I think most people will admit that if the form looks too complex, they won’t finish it. It’s not really anything new. People are going online for their convenience. If you make something too complex, or even just look complex, people will avoid it. I’m certainly guilty of thinking this way. Make forms effective and efficient.

The perfect mobile FORM (ula)

What exactly does a good form comprise of? Believe it or not, there is a basic recipe for a good form. One that doesn’t overwhelm users, and one that gets the job done. Here’s what we’ve got:

• Input fields

Here, you’ll have room for all the required information. Things such as passwords, discount codes, sliders, checkboxes, etc. will all be input in these boxes.

• Field labels

Field labels tell the user what to put into the input fields.

• Structure

You have to have some sort of framework for your fields. Make the order make sense and it’ll be easier to follow along.

• Action button(s)

The page will have to have at least one button that submits all the input info.

• Feedback

After the action button is triggered, the submitter should get a notification that everything went smoothly.

There are many successful form templates out there. Depending on what the form is used for, it will probably look a little different than the last. The key is to make it simple, understandable, and convenient for the user. Remember, people do things online to make it easier for them. A complex form will only scare away potential customers.

When you want to make an good impression, wearable technology products are your allies. Not only that, but they make your life easier, as well. 

There is no better time to bring into our readers attention the products that confirm the highly technologized world we live in than today. If you were wondering what have been the experts developing lately, well, we have the answer. In today’s article, we will be discussing some of the most useful wearable technology products on the market.

“Why have the classic watches been replaces by the smart watches?” almost sounds like “Why have we replaces Nokia 1300 with iPhone X?” The world “suffers” an on-going evolution, and there’s no time for traditionalism. At least not in this field. The high-tech products are out for us to enjoy them, use them, and simplify our lives.

The list below includes products that you might need or someone you know might need. Designers are notorious for embracing all these innovations. That’s why wearable tech products make amazing gifts for birthdays, anniversaries, graduations, Christmas, so on and so forth.

If you love our list, like it, comment it, and share it for others too see it. Or you can just love it silently.

Smart running shoes

Shoes are part of the everyday clothing, but when they can read your mood and your heartbeat, they become something else. Lenovo’s running shoes do that and we are in awe. Not to mention that they work as a mobile game controller, as well.

Fove

Fove is the first virtual reality headset and it was created by a Tokyo-based startup founded by Yuka Kojima and Lochlainn Wilson. The product utilizes eye-tracking technoligies, allowing the user to interact with objects by looking at them.

Fitbit’s 2018 offensive

Fitbit had been proving to be an amazing product for a while now. People love it for several reasons which include the ability to track your activity, exercise, food, weight and sleep. This watch will motivate you to exercise daily, a key factor in staying healthy.

Disneyland’s MagicBand

Disneyland’s bracelet is magic, indeed. The device connects to all of the vacation choices you make with My Disneyland Experience. It gives you access to the whole park, you can connect it to your card, it tracks you in the park, and the waiter will find you at the restaurant.

Temp tech tattoos 

These tattoos put an end to misleading or gamed breathalyzers. The temp tech tattoos measure the alcohol in your blood in a non invasive way. The printed tattoo paper generates an electronic board which contains a thin layer of gel. The gel induces sweat and an electrochemical sensor measures the alcohol. A smartphone will let you know via Bluetooth if it’s safe to drive home.

What is rapid prototyping, and why would a designer want to use it? What is the difference between traditional UI prototyping and rapid prototyping? Why is this important in the field of research?

As a designer, you might be familiar with traditional UI prototyping. UI prototyping gives a visual representation of an idea.

When designers use traditional prototyping, they create a visual illustration of how a website should look and behave.

Rapid prototyping has followed on from traditional prototyping. Designers now create a prototype and then rework their designs, forming or burying changes according to user interactions. This iterative approach is known as rapid prototyping.

Rapid prototyping involves creating a mock-up or prototype of a website, application or mobile app. And don’t even think of using Illustrator to create a rapid prototype.

This prototype is then sent out for validation from clients, site users, designers and stakeholders. Changes will be made according to any feedback received.

Rapid prototyping creates a quick mock-up of a site design

Designers use rapid prototyping to create a quick mockup of a website or application. Included in this prototype is the way a designer believes the site or app will work.

The designer then explores how each aspect of a design will work in reality. This includes how a site will be navigated and how users will engage with the tasks at hand.

This design is then sent out to be tested by future users. Users offer feedback, explaining how they were (or were not) able to navigate a site, and where the site felt mysterious and difficult to use.

Once this feedback has been received, the designer will incorporate it into the user interface. The prototype is then disposed of.

Gaining feedback

As we see, the prototype provides the opportunity to receive feedback on the design.

By sharing the design with users, other designers, clients and stakeholders, the designer gains insight into how the application will be used. This helps to reduce any blind spots in the design.

A rapid prototype, therefore, allows the designer the opportunity to gain feedback early on in the design process.

This offers up the opportunity to improve on the final design and reduce the need for changes during the final stage of a project.

As the project develops, changes become far more complex to introduce. Early insights are therefore beneficial.

Rapid prototyping, therefore, generates feedback quickly. This can be used to streamline the designs until the prototype feels smooth and users no longer have questions about how to use the site or application.

Once the majority of these questions have been answered, a designer can begin work on the user interface.

Your prototype may still have edge areas

When you create a prototype, this will always lead to questions. Some questions may be general and others are very specific.

Every product has an area which impacts on your user experience and causes unhappiness or frustration. These are not always easy to identify using a rapid prototype.

In cases such as these, it is often easier for developers or engineers to list edge cases and work with them one at a time until these problems are resolved.

Sending your design out for testing

When you use rapid prototyping, you will send out your design for testing. Users will try to follow tasks in order to navigate their way around an application or site.

When you send out your application for testing, try to find users who represent your population as a whole.

These users would include people who are not highly computer literate, people who have visual impairments or people who have intellectual impairments.

By introducing a wide range of users to test an application, a designer will gain insight into any struggles users might have.

A facilitator can be used to show users what is needed from them during the evaluation as well as assess the difficulties users experience.

Once you’ve gained insight into your target users and how they are able to use your app, you can make changes. You will also be able to create user categories in order to understand who will use your application.

Users who are computer literate or who have knowledge in an industry will use your application differently to those who do not. Assess who will be using your application and design accordingly.

Test your prototype as you go along

As a designer, there are so many different ideas to explore and so much you would want to achieve. However, remember to test your designs as you go along.

This will help you to catch any mistakes you are making and resolve them quickly. If you go too far in your design, you may find there are a great many bugs that need to be repaired.

This may take you additional time and effort as each new problem impacts on a different area of your design. Short, rapid bursts which shape an iterative process are much easier to work with.

Refine your prototype

Once you receive feedback, it is time to refine your designs and create new changes. Some of these changes will be effective and will become a part of the new design. Others will be less so, and these are changes which will become buried.

Analyse the information you obtain as this will help you understand how users engage with your designs, what brings value and what causes confusion or frustration.

This will help you understand the themes which are emerging and how severe any design problems are.

The scope of your prototype

When you initially create a prototype keep it small and limit your areas of exploration. You can then expand this prototype if you need to.

Once your prototype has been tested and retested, and you’ve incorporated all the changes you have made, you’ll be ready to work on your final product.

The process of rapid prototyping should be fast. Changes are made quickly and a new product is developed until the user experience is a positive one.

When you create a rapid prototype you aren’t doing so in order to create a fully functioning site. Instead, the prototype is simply there to visually map out your user experience (UX).

Don’t prototype the full product

When you’re working on your prototype, avoid releasing the full designs.

Instead, simply release sections of your work as your ideas and concepts emerge.

This will assist you with gaining insight step by step without worrying about the ongoing hassles which will continually emerge with a larger product.

Don’t make changes at the last moment

Rapid prototyping is about creating small, frequent changes in an iterative process. Many designers leave changes until the last minute.

Very often teams only really ask for feedback as deadlines start to loom and they want to show clients a final product or result.

However, this approach isn’t always a helpful one. There may be a great many changes needed to the User Interface and this will create a ton of work on a tight deadline.

Ask for final feedback before you start building the site. This will enable your team to gain insight before the deadline emerges.

Organize yourselves and set up meetings to discuss what needs to be done. Use a tool that you know it will work for you. Calendly is good for setting up appointments. If that one doesn’t suit you, use a Calendly alternative.

You can then spend your time working on the design for your final product rather than rebuilding your prototype.

Define the scope of your prototype early on

You don’t want to spend a great deal of time working on your rapid prototype. Find out the specs of the prototype you need to release for testing.

This will give you an idea of the work you need to produce in order to receive feedback.

Explore the scope of your design, the size of your screens, aesthetics and how precise your mocks ups need to be.

Map out how precisely you need to develop your user interactions when you create your prototype. Do you need realistic buttons or animated transitions?

What content will you need to place on your site? Will you be using precise imagery and the exact text, or can you use dummy images?

How will you work with code and what levels will you need?

If you agree on these specs early on, both you and your clients will know what you need for your prototype. This can avoid stress or disappointment at a later stage.

Keep your process rapid

Whether you are looking for user insights or client feedback, rapid prototyping will enable you to ensure that your designs are on the right track.

By following the guidelines in this article, you’ll be able to keep your process quick and efficient. Rapid prototyping is an iterative process which produces quick feedback in order to improve the user experience.

You know time management is important so you’ll value the fact that this will also save you time and reduce your workload when you follow the process.

As web designers, each project you work on has a unique set of goals and requirements. However, we all have one goal for all our projects – to impress people, creating the websites that are memorable. Who wouldn’t like this, right?

To accomplish this purpose, we usually think of all kinds of content strategies or try to follow at least some of the latest web design trends. But despite all receipts of creating great content, there is one that some of us have forgotten: a fun experience is often an enjoyable one and an enjoyable experience is a memorable one. By adding some fun to our projects, we can offer people a delightful experience that they will not only remember, but they also might share with others.

When I say “add fun”, I don’t mean to turn your client’s website into a circus web page (unless your client is a circus, of course). I am thinking of changes and additions that add a bit of fun into the interactions between viewers and web pages or at elements of a design that would help the websites you develop become more enjoyable to use, and more memorable overall.

At the same time, I’d like you to understand that “fun” doesn’t mean “silly”. You can add a touch of delight and enjoyment to the user experience without making your client seem childish or unprofessional. The trick is to know how much fun you can add, where is the best to use it, and when to admit that you’ve gone too far.

Let’s look at some examples of websites that do a great job of using fun to create both enjoyable and memorable experiences for their users.

Meomi

The whole Meomi’s design includes fun characters that move and respond as you scroll over them, the overall experience being filled with discovery and delight as you explore. I love especially the fact that as busy as the site is, you know quickly what’s all about due to the tagline placed towards the top of the page — “A little design studio dedicated to play, delight, and whismy.”

Slaveryfootprint

This website “allows consumers to visualize how their consumption habits are linked to modern day slavery”. Maybe doesn’t sound like a place where “fun” would work, but if you visit the website and select the “what?” arrow, the experience begins. The whole site includes cartoonish illustrations, a sense of anticipation, and fun interactivity, turning a simple web page into a memorable and powerful experience.