Focus on target

September 16, 2003 | View Comments (2) | Design

Every website has some content or information that the creator and stakeholders want the users to focus on. It is our job as designers to create websites that draw the users towards that information. Some sites do this really well, for example iStockPro. The focus is obviously on images and that is where your eyes are drawn. The content is the design.

The reason weblog structures is because we all share the same content structure. Obviously we want to draw people to the content we produce so the most dominant elements on the page are the entries. For this site I have made the content (the entries) darker than the side information. This should draw the eyes towards the entries. It is definitely minimalistic, but it is effective and that is more than what some websites can say.

Some designers get lost in the concept of what their websites are actually there for. Google certainly knows what their site is used for and did just enough (more than enough) to let the audience know what they can do there. Google offers great results no doubt, but to be honest I think the real draw for people was how quickly and effectively they could get their searches done. Google just doesn't get in the way.

When I get ready to start a design sometimes I try to cram all the visuals on the page that I can because it can be easier to take stuff away from a design than to add to them. This may be backwards for most of the cases, but it really does work sometimes.

Great designs are great because the content controls the structure of the site. Once you start trying to force the content into your own ideal layout, the site loses its effectiveness. That is the beauty of great minimalist design. It lets content control the site and therefore the layout focuses on the content, which should be your target all along. Please do not get the idea that minimalist means plain. On the contrary look at Apple and Tiffany's. These are minimalistic designs that are extremely pleasing to the eye.

Try not to get lost in the concept of making your site the coolest site on the web unless that is your main goal. For your clients, give them sites that help the user get the job done. Sometimes you will have to remind them who the site is really for. Great websites do not get in the way of the user experience. They enhance it.

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