Website Navigation — Less is More
Ever since the information age, computers took off, which sequentially allowed our lives to take off even further — globally. With worldwide communications and commerce, thanks to the world wide web. But the web isn’t responsible for all of these great innovations in our lives; hundreds of HTML code lines are. HTML is the programming language that is used to build websites. Websites are the gateways between the real world and the digital world; the meat on the bone, that bone being the internet. Back then, websites were not as simple to access as today, which is now the very foundation of internet usage.
With such a bedrock of a status, websites should have an easy time navigating, right? Unfortunately, the ease of accessibility for website creation still comes with the ease of problematic website layouts. Websites are not an easy-bag to open, especially if you’re starting with website development; however, many developers often have oversights in the user interface [UI] and user experience [UX] departments of web development. UI and UX should be your two most important aspects of the creation process that goes into making your own websites. You mind the question, “What about the font colors, or how can I make money from it?” The thing is that UI and UX are the very foundations of those desires, respectively.
When the Chicago skyline was being developed by famed architect Frank Lloyd Wright, he emphasized that less is more… well, at certain times. Regardless of my Chicago-riverboat-tour knowledge, Wright was right (get it?) less is more. If you want more accessibility, as I covered here, which the more simple your website is, the more of a consumer base you can expand from it. Expand, as in profit from your website traffic way more.
Great, now we established what UI and UX are, and the principle of minimalism through “less is more,” so what’s next? Well, time to apply all the aforementioned to your website’s general navigation.
The best practice a web developer should follow is:
Display your website’s main focus at first sight.
Make good usage of colors for directing users to important functions (installing the application, tools, tutorial, etc.)
Contact information visible essentially throughout the website.
Streamline the navigation/search feature.
Any side content should be separated on a sidebar.
Avoid dropdown menus and many layers of hidden menu items overall.
Be descriptive — visually.
Use web conventions from other websites; be consistent.
The list above combines the overall arch of incorporated simple access for the user with strict UI and UX guidelines. Such less is more examples would be having fewer menus, buttons, and especially dropdowns. The more options you have, the more daunting and confusing it is for the regular user. With the greater usability of your website comes with greater diversity and range of your site users. Thus, your platform comes with better profits, reviews, and reusability of the website for future use. All compiling into a more solid website for your bedrock contribution for the rest of the world wide web, giving simple access for the entire world to be acquainted with the advent of the internet.
