"What IS Intuitive Website Design?"

That is the question I hear asked most often.

The concept behind Intuitive Website Design is fairly simple - it's website design that works as expected.

Not unexpectedly, over time internet users have developed clear, consistent 'patterns of behavior' and 'expectations' from websites. And experience reveals that while individual preferences can vary widely from site to site - there are consistently shared 'patterns and expectations' that must be met by intuitive websites.

With that in mind, here are a few key

Guidelines for Designing an Intuitive Website:

Be Fresh

Now is the time get your fresh, original content in front of the viewer quickly - so you'll want to make sure it's up to par.

I believe that the person most qualified to write content for any given website is the website owner themselves. However, writing doesn't necessarily come naturally to everyone, and writing for the web is strategically different than writing for print.

Whomever the website content writer is, they may find it helpful to join forums or blogs specializing in writing for the internet, and read what the pros have to say. And maybe, if permitted - and only if there is an area appropriate for this, ask for a critique.

Do not expect a free re-write - don't even ask - but do be open to criticism, and remember that as is often the case, hiring a professional writer may be the most time and cost-effective solution for an intuitive website.

Be Fast and Easy

"To do business online with any success, a website must make accessing, navigating, reading and understanding the information it contains intuitively fast and easy for visitors".

We'll not get into the long-standing debate over how long a website has to get a viewers attention.... 3 seconds - 10 seconds - 30 seconds...I think there are too many individual variables at work, suffice it to say it's not much.

In that miniscule span of time your website must be able to tell the viewer what they need to know to enable them to make that 'split-second' decision to stay and look further. You accomplish this with well-written, intuitively laid out, relevant content - not flashing images, bouncing text and fancy effects.

Now is NOT the time to put up road blocks such as poor navigation, confusing layouts or superfluous fancy effects such as animation or flash.

Be Stylish, not Flashy

Wait - what? Did I just say Flash was superfluous? Can there be too much Flash? Absolutely!. Should an intuitive website use Flash effects? Maybe...

Is your website selling Flash? Then by all means - you'll probably want to build the entire site in flash to showcase your talents - but offer a non-flash version too.

But what if your website is NOT selling Flash? - then offer a flash snippet if you must - but - and this is "Mission Critical":

Never, Ever, Ever force your viewers to choose between Waiting for your flashy effects to load to access what they want, versus getting it from another website NOW

- you WILL LOSE THE VISITOR.

Be Accessible and Easy to Find

Don't forget the Search Engines when Designing an Intuitive Website

Even the Freshest, Fastest, most Stylish website out there will fail if nobody knows it's there. And few, if any, will ever know a website is there if the Search Engines don't.

Intuitive Website Design must also involve making a website quickly and easily accessible and indexable by Search Engines, Crawlers and Bots. Among other things, the strategic use of valid, appropriately developed xml Sitemaps is key to Search Engine friendly, Intuitive website design.

Contact DLPerry at Intuitive by Design today for help with your Intuitive Website Design.

This quick 4 step outline can give you some idea of what to expect in an Intuitive Website Design project.

1. Preliminary - review design guide, discuss, ask questions, submit fee estimate.
2. Prepare - domain registration, hosting, purchasing and installing software, etc.
3. Create - develop layout, navigation, imagery; build site.
4. Launch - upload site, begin free submission to major search engines.

Preliminary Research and Estimate

I'll review your Website Design Project Guide, and respond with my comments and any questions I may have (there are always questions). At this time I also like to do some quick research using data from the guide.  I do this to help familiarize myself with what is currently out there for your site topic or industry (site trends, commonalities, differences, what to avoid, etc.), and possibly even get some early inspiration.

After further discussion as needed, I will submit a fee range estimate for your project based on the data and information supplied to that point. Because no website design project is ever without changes, additions, modifications and deviations from the original plan - I do not give a to-the-penny quote. Each range estimate is based on the available data on hand, your input, your budget if available, and my experience and knowledge of what it may take to complete your project.

Prepare for Website

Upon acceptance of my estimate and initial payment, I will assist with the basics such as registering a domain, securing and activating website hosting, and selecting and securing any website software; tools; utilities, or 3rd party applications that may be needed.

Now is also the time to gather all the images and content to be used on the website. This may involve purchasing royalty free stock photography, as well as editing of existing images as needed for internet use.

Create, Review, Create

At this point I will begin putting together rough draft(s) of your sites main (home) page for review.  Once a base layout is decided upon, I then begin building the entire site, page by page.

Testing ...testing ...testing, and Launch

After the website is completed, approved, tested, and ready for public viewing I will send an invoice for any balance due.

Upon confirmed receipt of payment I will upload the website to your host location and continue testing as needed.  I’ll also begin the included free one time submission to Google, Yahoo, MSN.

I also include 7 days of post-launch support to fine-tune the site and fix any issues that may crop up relating to the design and function of the site. Major changes, additions, etc. must be estimated and approved.

As always, please contact me with any questions or comments.

 

Please complete and submit this guide to receive a free, no obligation quote for your project.

If you would like a copy of your responses, just let me know in comments (#11) below.

Please tell me about your project...

Company/Domain Name:

1. What is the primary purpose of the site?

 Informational   Brochure-Ware   Online Sales

2. Who is your target audience?

• Everyone
• Female   Male
• Kids   Preteens, Early Teens
• Teens, Twenties   Thirty-Somethings
• Forties, Fifties   Sixties and up

3. Do you need to be able to process orders and/or payments for products or services from the site?

• Yes(see below)   No   Maybe Later
• If yes, approximately how many products or services?
  Yes No  If yes, do you have a Merchant Account?

4. Do you have pictures, photos, graphics, etc. for use on the site?

• Yes   No

5. Do you have text content ready for the site?

• Yes   No

6. Technology-wise, what type of site do you want?

• Hi Tech -- hi bandwidth, hi load, Flash, etc.
• Lo Tech -- FAST load, primarily text - no fuss, no muss, no more than 16 colors.
• Business -- Somewhere between the two above :) - standard load, images, html, javascript, dhtml, cgi, etc.

7. What are your ideas/concepts/etc. on how you want your site to look?
 Perhaps a 'message' or concept that you want your site to convey.

8. What are the urls of sites who’s design/layout/etc. you like? Be as specific as possible on what you liked or disliked about each example (note: we will not steal designs, but this will help to nail down the desired style and functionality of your site).

9. What are your immediate and future plans/goals for the site?

10. What is your desired date of completion?

11. Anything else? - questions, comments, thoughts, suggestions, etc.

12. And finally -- how did you find IntuitivebyDesign.com?

• Referred by a Friend   Advertisement   Other
• Search Engine:
   Google   Yahoo   MSN   Other

And now the usual required stuff:

Your Name:

Email: