Brand With Design & Navigation

Designing for the web is a skill that can take years to master and is not something that comes free with a copy of Photoshop. And a great knowledge of HTML has nothing to do with design, as the painful results of many 'techie' websites will testify! A tawdry, badly designed front page may deter users from even entering, as might a design that looks completely inappropriate for the site's theme, not to mention undermining your brand.

Branding the site

In traditional media, companies try to express their brand values and aspirations in their logo and typeface, often producing complex, literal interpretations.
On the web, elaborate logos rarely work and invariably hog far too much screen real estate. Simple and concise logos offer a more flexible solution, easily scaled for different uses, like banners and small graphic links. Let the design and functionality of the web site articulate your values and aspirations, not a thumping great logo or just tacked-on taglines and slogans.

Color

Although it's tempting for companies to try and foist their corporate colors on to a web site, color schemes should first and foremost make for good readability and accessibility.

Designing navigation

Navigation should be clear, self explanatory and consistent. The main site categories should appear in the same place on every page and appear high enough on the page to avoid the need to scroll. Don't overdo it and overwhelm the user with links. Be selective!

Go for the simplest, most accessible solution whenever possible and don't use 'funky' Java applets or complex Flash/Javascript rollovers as the sole means of accessing pages - not all browsers will be able to see the links.

If your navigation bar is entirely made up of graphics, include a text only version and make sure that each graphic has clear and self explanatory 'ALT' text information provided.

Sites that use stylized concepts or metaphors as their primary navigation often end up baffling users, and having a site full of weird icons, endless clicks, dead ends and irrelevant spinning gizmos is a sure fire way to guarantee they'll never return.

Try and make all pages accessible in less than 3 clicks (4 or 5 is acceptable for very large sites) and most of all, keep it simple! Here are some guidelines for evaluating your site’s design and navigation:

1.  Is your site’s information architecture intuitive? Ask an ‘outsider’ to run through your site. If they get through it with no problem, you're in good shape.

2.  Users should be able to go through the site without having to use the browser 'back' button - try it out!

3.  All site categories should have clear, easily understandable titles - avoid ambiguous wording and make sure the text is set against a contrasting background.

4.  If you have to include advertising banners, try to reduce their impact by incorporating them into the navigation bar.

5.  Include the branding/logo of the site in the navigation bar and use it as a link back to the site's homepage.

6.  If you've time, build a text-only version of the site and let 'outsiders' try out the navigation - the less web-savvy these people are the better! Set them some tasks, like finding certain pages or ordering goods, and note any difficulties they encounter.

7.  Unless you're planning your page as a portal, don't stick external links on the front page of your site. If the links point to more content that is more interesting than what is at your site,  your visitor may leave and never return.

8.  Keep your navigation in a separate HTML table as it'll load faster that way.

9.  Use context sensitive 'help' links where needed. If you've a complicated sign-in procedure, put links to explanatory pages next to items where users may get confused.

10. If you want to encourage user feedback, litter the site with 'call to action' buttons in appropriate articles, linking to feedback forms and bulletin boards.

Based on an article from: http://www.max-hits.net/