Web Templates: The Design that Works Best for Your Needs
We all get swept away by all the pretty websites out there with Flash and stock photography. We have to learn to see that design is only half the battle, the other half includes a useful layout of the information they are trying to portray. These site samples level the playing field by cutting out all the glitter of a design and focusing in on the layout of information.
Focus on what's important to the company.
Are they trying to sell a product? Are they trying to offer advice or information? Are they a recreational website? This is viable information when looking at web design.
1. The Consumer-Driven Website
This first design is of a website trying to sell a product. The design displays a "Featured Product" on the home page with a description below on the right. On the left, the text was used to describe more about the company and its philosophies with a photo of store/staff. The "Search" bar is an important factor to this website, prompting the user to search for whatever product they came to the site for. There are also multiple ways to get to the same information. When you are trying to sell a product, the information has be quick to find or the potential customer may leave to visit a more user-friendly website.
2. Member-Oriented Design
This website design was adapted from: http://www.sxc.hu/, a stock photography website. The largest picture is a Flash animation of their most successful stock photos. The text below tells about how to use the site, in case you are new to the website. The rest of the page is oriented towards users that have a membership to this site, they can read the latest news about the company, see a featured photo, search for photos, and sign-in to download stock photos. The "click here" image is an advertisement to their more exclusive stock photography site that prompts current members to upgrade their plan.
3. The Informational Website
Though this site has regular users, it is geared more at sharing information with a community of visitors, new or repeat. A first-time visitor is greeted with the Mission Statement, a readily available list of useful information to get started browsing the website, a traditional right-handed navigation and top left search bar. The pictures shown are only used to complement the information and are not meant to sell a product
4. The Recreational Website
With a recreational website, the homepage design can be a little bit more creative because the user usually is willing to spend time browsing the site for videos, pictures and other information. This website design was adapted from: http://www.hrc.utexas.edu/ (circa 2006). The photos featured whatever new exhibit was on display. When the user rolled over the main navigation then flash animation popped-up and was used to display more link options. Rolling over each navigation changed out the smaller picture for whatever corresponded with that link.
