What are some of the common web design mistakes that affect user experience and how can you avoid them?

Navigation design should only begin once there is a foundational understanding of the content, the business objectives and the user needs. These factors should be evaluated alongside current trends in online engagement, technology and marketing. And content architecture should be tested by multiple user groups. It might seem simple and straightforward, but there are benefits to good planning.

Poor navigation and site structure can negatively impact both your users' experience and how search engines crawl your website. In my experience, to do this well, the first step is understanding your users' needs at different stages of their customer journey. This helps build an optimised structure, making the site easy to navigate with the importance on users being able to find the information they are seeking in as few clicks as possible. An optimised navigation also maximises a user's time spent on site - which is positive for rankings and performance.

Too often, the navigation menu items are dictated by politics of internal departments, instead of what will best serve the needs of the user. Don't be afraid to analyze your site data and remove menu items that aren't performing well, since chances are, the space could be better utilized. It's better to limit the header navigation menu items to the most important links so as to not overwhelm the user. Large footer menus have been increasing in popularity and can always be used for additional links. To ensure your navigation structure is intuitive, you can use a site like UserTesting to get feedback from real users.

Several common web design mistakes can significantly impact user experience. Here are some of them along with tips on how to avoid them: Cluttered Design: Mistake: Overloading your website with too much information, graphics, or elements can overwhelm users and make it difficult for them to find what they're looking for. Avoidance: Embrace a clean and minimalist design. Prioritize essential information and use white space effectively to enhance readability and focus. By addressing these common web design mistakes, you can create a more user-friendly and engaging website that effectively meets the needs of your audience.

The biggest culprit of slow loading sites is often unoptimized images. Even if image optimization is implemented on your site, always use images that are the proper size. For photos, jpegs are more light-weight than pngs, and serving images as WebP is even better. Additionally, videos have a large filesize and self-hosting videos can use a substantial amount of your server's bandwidth which could slow down your site. It's best to use third-party video hosting platforms when possible to reduce load times. You can implement lazy loading for videos by showing an image thumbnail and loading the video only once the user has interacted with the element.

A fast website starts with a clean, well-built site. If you use a WordPress page builder, for example, research the impact these have on site speed before even beginning to add images and video. Upload images that are the correct size for where they will be used on the site. A website I like to use for resizing and compressing images before uploading them is iloveimg. Serving WebP or AVIF format images will give greater image size compression whilst retaining the quality.

Responsive design that is properly implemented should not only look good on desktop and mobile screens, but the layout should adjust for nearly any screen size. While it's impossible to do a design specific for every possible device, the design should never appear "broken" at any point. This means using modern development approaches like flexbox, which is an efficient way to dynamically distribute items within a container of an unknown size (hence "flex"). Tablet devices typically account for a fraction of a site's traffic, but it doesn't mean the tablet screen size should be completely ignored. Fun fact, a high percentage of tablet users are often executives!

When displaying text over images, use a dark overlay on the image to improve readability. Always check the contrast of the text foreground and background colors to ensure the ratio is compliant with accessibility standards. You can use devtools or other online tools for this, and some platforms, like Webflow, have built-in contrast checkers. APCA is a more context-dependent calculation for contrast than WCAG's AA/AAA guidelines that takes luminance into account and is an acceptable accessibility standard to ensure readability.

One of the most common web design mistakes affecting user experience is poor readability, especially when text is placed on images or low-contrast backgrounds. If the text colour blends into the image, it becomes difficult for users to read. To avoid this, always ensure there’s enough contrast between the text and its background. Use tools like contrast checkers to help. Additionally, consider adding a semi-transparent overlay behind text on images or using solid backgrounds. Keep fonts simple and legible, and break content into sections using headings, paragraphs, and lists to improve overall readability.

Inconsistent branding can create confusion and distrust, making users feel like they've been redirected to a different site or, worse, being scammed. If your logo, colour scheme, or typography suddenly change between pages, users might question the security of your site or feel disconnected from your brand. To prevent this, create a clear style guide that defines all branding elements and apply them consistently. Regularly update your site to reflect brand changes and ensure user trust. Consistent branding helps users feel secure and confident while navigating your site.

Cluttered Layout ?? A cluttered web design confuses users by overwhelming them with too much content or visuals. This leads to frustration and difficulty in navigating the site, which can cause visitors to leave. Solution: ?? Keep your design clean and simple. Use white space to separate elements and create a natural flow. Focus on clear navigation and organized content to enhance user experience and make your site easy to explore. Auto-Playing Media ?? Auto-playing videos or audio can annoy users and disrupt their browsing experience. Solution: ?? Give users control by disabling auto-play. Let them choose when to engage with media, creating a more enjoyable and user-friendly environment.