Have you ever been in this situation? You see a website but don’t know where the menu is or can’t find contacts or the website itself is loading too slow.
Why does that happen?
The answer is overdesign. When there’s too much of everything, the website fails at its main objective — to help the user navigate.
Web designers and developers are creative people who just want to show off all their skills at once. But if you are the company’s owner and your goal is to get leads or entice the user to return, you should find the right balance between creativity and practicality.
According to Merriam-Webster, “overdesign” means “to design in a manner that is excessively complex or that exceeds usual standards (as of sturdiness or safety).”
We at Outcrowd would like to warn you against some common mistakes.
It’s essential to find the right contrast ratio. Bold colors can attract people but also distract them. An overreliance on visuals means that your website’s message gets lost among numerous irrelevant pictures, videos, and other elements. Take a look at one of the best examples of minimalist web design, Apple. It’s simple, catchy, and easy to understand. Overly visual websites load too slowly, and users always leave websites that have slow loading rates, unlike the smartly designed Apple website.
The most common mistake is our beloved stock photos. Of course, it’s okay to use them, but it’s important to pick the right ones. Don’t choose pictures of people discussing something in a meeting. Be different by making an effort to take pictures of your actual team.
Be careful with popups. Users should always have the opportunity to close them quickly, otherwise, they’ll just leave the site. Make sure popups work in the mobile version.
Your mascot image should match your product, and font colors shouldn’t blend into the background.
Your website’s priority to help users navigate. Some websites are so overdesigned you can’t even locate the menu tab. Some contact forms require too much information and no one will be bothered to fill them out.
There are two big mistakes you can make with your website. The first is putting up too much content. The second is not having enough content. If your site is overloaded with content, users will stop reading it. If there’s not enough, users will not understand what you’re offering, and SEO will suffer since there’s a minimum wordcount requirement.
Here are some good examples of how to have the right amount of content by Four Seasons Hydra.
