If the World resembled a website, chances are that life would be pretty damn confusing. Stores, for example, would either be very long and narrow with skeleton crews, or tiny booths with huge stock rooms - and hardly any workers. Others would look great but be impossible to navigate.

The Internet boom was pitched as a revolution that would leave behind the tired practices of yesteryear and create something shiny, fresh and delicious – like a good apple ?

The fact that designers can usually do anything they want does not mean that they should. Many times a designer with lack of experience will go ahead and talk the client into a flashy animation for the entire Website, or add music without an on/off button. These happenings debilitate a user from downloading a page quickly and enticing them to make that purchase. So many companies have gone out of business because of poor design, lack of skills in the checkout/backend process and of course wasting millions of dollars in funding on senseless advertising.

It is worth avoiding jargon; most people will have no concept of what you are talking about. The functions of particular buttons should not change between pages; and give users an easy way to get back to the start. I have been on countless websites where there is NO home button! Why? Ignorance! All users should be able to go home from any place on your web site at any time. Instructions should anticipate what people want to do and help them achieve it. Every click that people make is effectively a decision and users will be reluctant to click if they either don't know where it will lead them, or they have been overwhelmed with information.

Keep it simple, professional and cool and you will be very successful with your design and functionality. Clients will come back with more and more projects because you enhanced their ROI and made solid decisions that are taking their site to the next level.

DISCLAIMER: The content provided in this article is not warranted or guaranteed by Developer Shed, Inc. The content provided is intended for entertainment and/or educational purposes in order to introduce to the reader key ideas, concepts, and/or product reviews. As such it is incumbent upon the reader to employ real-world tactics for security and implementation of best practices. We are not liable for any negative consequences that may result from implementing any information covered in our articles or tutorials. If this is a hardware review, it is not recommended to open and/or modify your hardware.

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