Website Design Clarity: How to Guide Your Viewers' Attention

By SylverTek [ Reprint Info ]

When designing web pages it is important that your viewers notice what you want them to notice. For usability and user-friendliness, navigation and features must be non-obtrusive yet easy to find. For successful e-commerce, a link to "Buy Now" or "Click Here to Join" must be noticeable, accessible, and right where the user expects it to be. People can display an amazing degree of blindness sometimes, as their eyes unconsciously overlook things.

The first reaction is often to simply make the link or item larger. Most designers can't count how many times they've heard the request "Can you make that font a little larger?"

Increasing size, though, isn't the only way to make something stand out. Other methods should be considered:

• Density - clear the immediate area, surround your item with some empty space
• Color - Not only could you accent the item by uskng a different hue (i.e. red or green), you can more subtly vary the value (amount of light or dark) or the brightness (intensity or saturation)
• Accent with an Image - Put an image, such as an arrow or bullet, next to the item. If you need to save space, sometimes a small graphic can communicate more efficiently than text. Don't overdo this though: for other reasons, text links are preferable to image links.

The key is to increase the contrast between the important item and its surroundings.

Yet when you make these changes, remember that in web design, everything is relative. So once you make an item larger, for example, you might find yourself feeling that another item is now too small, beginning a process by which all the items are changed and you're back where you started.

Placement is an important factor and a useful tool for emphasizing items on a web page. Advertisers refer to the so-called "hot-zones" of a webpage - those areas that, due to the way the human eye functions, get the most attention. The upper center, about 1/3 from the top is one such area, as is the left side of the middle section, making them prime areas for important announcements. Keep in mind, though, the nature of the item and the appropriateness of the location. Users can easily overlook something if it is not where they expect it to be. Lastly, consider the other items in that location. If your item is juxtaposed against another, more attention-getting item, it could easily be overlooked as your users eyes are drawn to the other item.

One final note: listen to your designer! (Admittedly, our opinion on this subject is biased toward the designer's point of view) As site owner, you are expected to know your business, your audience and customers, and convey relevant knowledge to your designer. The designer, though, having built and studied numerous websites over the years, will be able to foresee and avoid potential conflicts and problems, thereby saving time and money. He/she will understand how everything is interconnected and recognize the consequences of each decision. Thus, the designer should incorporate your insights as to the subject matter, and combine them with his/her knowledge of the web for a professional result.

We hope these tips help you to create a useful website.