Designing a web page with a large amount of content is never easy. It’s highly possible that your audience will feel lost in the maze that is your page.
Let us help you organize all your website information into an easily compensable resource for your readers.
Have a Clear Hierarchy of Information
They say the first impression always counts. The first thing a user must be able to do when he/she opens a webpage is, understand the layout and be able to navigate the pages. They must quickly spot what to read first. Remember, a user spends an average of a minute on a page, before bouncing away. This gives you a small window to make that first impression. You should try and make it really easy for your user to find what they are looking for. First, they should know that they have opened the right webpage. You can indicate this through the main heading with a navigation bar. The second detail users need to know is how the page is organized and how it works. A quick glance through the page, should give them an idea of what they will gain by spending more time engaging with the content.
Tip: When building the structure of your page, remember that users scan from left to right, top to bottom — in the shape of an F. The most important information should be arranged at the top, and down the left side of the page.
What does the User want to See at That Moment?
Do some number crunching and research about your audience. Find out which actions your user wants to take most urgently. This will help you organize the content on your webpage and provide the most relevant content first. This way, the user saves time navigating through all the pages, and can complete their task easily.
Show Details ON Request
Presenting every detail on a static page will quickly create clutter and confuse the reader. It would be a good idea to give the user enough material to get a brief understanding of your page and provide further details upon request.
How to achieve this?
- Use tooltips or hover text to provide more detail or further explanation.
- Use ellipses to shorten long bodies of text. You must create a way for users to reveal the entire body of text.
- Allow users to to search or filter any list of a collection of information. This adds a layer of interactivity to your page and content, helping the user become more efficient.
Make navigating your pages easy
The user should always know where they are, how they got there, and how to get back to the home page. With the help of simple visual cues, you can make the navigation of your site very tangible. For instance, if the user clicks on a new page, and it slides in from the left, then the user understands that the original page lies to the right of the page they are currently on.
Making the navigation highly and accessible enables users to navigate through the site faster and more easily.
Make Actionability Apparent
The user must know if something on a page is clickable or editable immediately. If text, icons or images are clickable there should be clear visual differentiation from the static content. A non-intrusive way to convey actionability is to change the styling of the content when you hover over it. This works well for icons, images, and clickable text.
The user should also get visual feedback about the state of any edited content. For example, while filling out a form, the user should know if the text they have entered has been accepted, needs to be edited, or if there is an input error.
Preventing Errors
The user is going to make some errors, that’s certain. As a designer, you can help them avoid the smaller mistakes. Using icons are a smart way to easily represent an idea. However, if the icon is not immediately recognizable, then it loses its purpose.
If the user does make a mistake, sometimes he/she can be stopped. Failsafe pop-ups can verify the action and warn them of the effects it will have. For example, if they accidentally navigate away from an incomplete form, they should be prompted to confirm that they want to abandon their work.
The Last Word
A simple and highly interactive website design and page layout can help make your website or page very user friendly. This increases the possibility of good user experience, ensuring repeat visits and higher engagement with your content.
So, don’t be daunted by a website that may require a lot of content to be added to its pages. Think smart, and you can definitely work around getting users to actively engage and enjoy the website. This translates into a rewarding user experience.
