Incorporating Scanning Principles In Web Design
There are a lot of elements that make web designing successful. One of the most significant among those is to remember that websites designed to be scanned has a higher possibility of being successful than those that are not. In this article we will explain what is scanning in relation to web pages design.
When visitors come across a particular website, scanning is the first thing that they do. They scan through the pages and look for something that they need, and when they do not see anything they will immediately hit back and move on.
Since you cannot make people read, as a web designer you are required to know how to aid them to scan successfully.
When visitors scan a particular website page, they do it in certain patterns: the "F pattern" or "E pattern". As a web designer, when you create your site, scan it the way your visitors will, that is in a broad horizontal strokes. The vital part of this technique is to not to read your text. Just scan the pages in a very relax but fast gaze.
Now after performing the above exercise, try to answer these questions:
1. Do the things you have seen give a clear purpose? 2. What is the first thing that has taken your attention?
To help you attain your goal of helping your visitors scan your pages successfully here are the tips you can follow:
1. Write meaningful section headers. This facilitates visitors to acquire an instant summary of the pages they are scanning. Think of the insights that will be most applicable and important to the user.
2. Put the most important things above the fold. This is one of the most common mistake designers make. They are utilizing the above fold for fancy images, banners and logos that do not show anything at all about the real purpose of the site.
3. Put related items together. Do not make people hunt for contents. When you are talking about a certain topic make sure to put things in one place.
4. Use contrasting colors. This is one of the ways on how you can tell visitors what is and what is not related on your page.
5. Use different font sizes. Big fonts are usually being used for section headers or for significant keywords that you would like your visitors to remember.
There you go, all the best to your web designing career for now.
When visitors come across a particular website, scanning is the first thing that they do. They scan through the pages and look for something that they need, and when they do not see anything they will immediately hit back and move on.
Since you cannot make people read, as a web designer you are required to know how to aid them to scan successfully.
When visitors scan a particular website page, they do it in certain patterns: the "F pattern" or "E pattern". As a web designer, when you create your site, scan it the way your visitors will, that is in a broad horizontal strokes. The vital part of this technique is to not to read your text. Just scan the pages in a very relax but fast gaze.
Now after performing the above exercise, try to answer these questions:
1. Do the things you have seen give a clear purpose? 2. What is the first thing that has taken your attention?
To help you attain your goal of helping your visitors scan your pages successfully here are the tips you can follow:
1. Write meaningful section headers. This facilitates visitors to acquire an instant summary of the pages they are scanning. Think of the insights that will be most applicable and important to the user.
2. Put the most important things above the fold. This is one of the most common mistake designers make. They are utilizing the above fold for fancy images, banners and logos that do not show anything at all about the real purpose of the site.
3. Put related items together. Do not make people hunt for contents. When you are talking about a certain topic make sure to put things in one place.
4. Use contrasting colors. This is one of the ways on how you can tell visitors what is and what is not related on your page.
5. Use different font sizes. Big fonts are usually being used for section headers or for significant keywords that you would like your visitors to remember.
There you go, all the best to your web designing career for now.
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