Comments on: Thursday Theory: Common Web Design Mistakes People Keep Making

By: Tom

Tom — Mon, 14 Feb 2011 00:10:06 +0000

What mistake?

By: Mat

Mat — Sun, 13 Feb 2011 23:52:50 +0000

Common copywriting mistakes that people keep making.

1. Making spelling errors in the second sentence of an article…

etc.

By: Trisha Cupra

Trisha Cupra — Sun, 13 Feb 2011 01:15:03 +0000

Hi Tom,

I was speaking generally about the header area – I didn’t mean it should only contain those three things, or that they should appear in that order. I’m strongly in favor of creativity, as long as it’s still plainly obvious what the site is, what it’s about, and how I can navigate around in it.

By: Tom

Tom — Fri, 11 Feb 2011 14:13:52 +0000

Thanks so much Mark . I do try to include as much as my thinking process in each weeks redesign post (even if sometimes I’m not thinking all that much!). I hope that you’ll continue to enjoy the series, and join in with this new Thursday Theory series.

By: Tom

Tom — Fri, 11 Feb 2011 14:12:28 +0000

Thanks for the great comments guys! This is exactly what I want to achieve with this post series – discussion.

In my eyes ‘above the fold’ is a pretty malleable concept, so shouldn’t be viewed as totally concrete. However, I do tend to think in terms of a ‘visual hierarchy’, as Trisha pointed out.

It’s also important to realize that whilst the points above highlight some general mistakes, obviously each website is different. Some designs may need to stand out more, whilst others may need to be less obtrusive.

Trisha: Whilst you’ve described quite a standard layout with your list of website elements, if every website followed these guides, we wouldn’t see as much variety and creativity on the web as there is.

By: Eric Vasquez

Eric Vasquez — Fri, 11 Feb 2011 13:40:27 +0000

Absolutely – I agree that the term ‘Above The Fold’ isn’t the best way to describe something since there is no fold on a computer screen, but the logic makes sense. You want to have the most important information about your site visible as soon as the page loads. I agree with your other points as well about having the logo and other crucial information along the top of the page.

By: Mark T

Mark T — Fri, 11 Feb 2011 10:39:08 +0000

This is a really good piece on the thinking behind structured and cohesive modern web design. I like that you always explain what it is you try to achieve in your 30-minute redesigns, Tom, hopefully people pick something useful up from that.
I know I do.

By: Trisha Cupra

Trisha Cupra — Fri, 11 Feb 2011 06:14:53 +0000

I HATE the term ‘Above the Fold’ as it’s completely misleading, and people tend to cram everything including the kitchen sink up into the top of the page. There is NO fold online.

But, it IS vital to use the ‘Information Hierarchy’ and put the right elements at the top of a website, like the ‘Site ID’/Logo, the tagline/slogan, the navigation, and what the site is about.

And then the page should end with a call to action.

By: Eric Vasquez

Eric Vasquez — Fri, 11 Feb 2011 00:33:03 +0000

This was a very good article and I just wanted to say that I love the way that the Climb Addict and Austin Luker redesigns came out – both examples show a more sophisticated version of the original from the typography, use of a grid, and especially the use of image.

I wanted to preview the Austin Luker page but the link didn’t seem to be working. I really like the blog-like appearance of the redesign. It would be really nice to see the D-List site implement your redesign – It always makes me cringe to see sites that don’t seem to put much thought into the design.

In regards to the overlooked points that you mentioned I think that there are definitely a lot of common mistakes like not placing important content ‘Above The Fold’ as some would say. And a good website should always have something memorable or unique about it, whether it’s the navigation or colors, but when they try to accomplish too much it just starts to become overwhelming, but this is just my opinion.

Great article, it definitely provides people some food for thought!

By: Vivek Parmar

Vivek Parmar — Thu, 10 Feb 2011 21:26:33 +0000

one more thing i like to add, did not know how to make a perfect design just copy others