The Benefits of User Centered Designs: Why You Stand to Gain From Them

There are websites and there are more websites… but why do people prefer one over the other given their same product or service content? You guessed right, it’s the design!

In webpage design, the term user-centered design (UCD) is honored both as a philosophy and as a process. The importance of UCD in websites, cannot be underscored as it is vital to the way the entire site communicates its message to the user or guest. In this short article, we’ll try to discuss a few methods to achieve effective UCD as well as the benefits they bring to your site.

Here are six simple but effective ways to make web design more user friendly:

1. Make Use of Navigation Aids

When a user or guest navigates your site, he or she does so in two levels; within your web site and in between the web site itself. So how can you help make the experience easier for them? Simple, do you best so that they don't get lost. Set up navigation menus or site maps within the web site and make it easy for the users to go back to the home page or any of the other main pages. Relevant links should also be found in specific places on the web pages.

2. Strike a Balance Between Simplicity and Consistency

For optimum functionality and readability, make sure that your web pages and entire web site for that matter, make use of a consistent pattern. Utilize of modular units which more or less have similar layout grids, graphic themes, editorial conventions. It would also be wise and ideal to keep web pages short and use simple yet visually-appealing fonts, styles and colors.

3. Avoid Dead Links at all Costs!

Another important UCD principle to take note of is eradicating dead links in your site. It is the job of the web designer and also the website administrator to ensure that all links to, from, and within the site are working well.

4. Give Users Direct Access to Your Site’s Information

The next UCD principle is making sure that your guests find the information they are looking for within tour site using the fewest number of clicks possible.

Providing direct access would mean creating a highly efficient content hierarchy to help users get to the desired page as quickly as possible. According to research, website users prefer menus that give them only 5 to 7 links to navigate from.

5. Provide Visual Confirmation

Whether it maybe through links, titles or headings or even the ever-popular breadcrumb trail, website designers should be able to visually tell where they are within the web site. Sort of like the "You Are Here" sign we see in malls or shopping centers, UCD aims to provide users a visual frame to identify their location.

6. Take Connection Speed Into Consideration

Let's face it, not everyone has warp speed internet connection. As web designers, we should always take this into consideration. As we all know, website guests and users get turned off by having to wait ages for a page with very heavy graphics or animation to load.

Keep it light and non-techie friendly, after all the website was designed with their best interests at heart.