Style Vs. Substance: Creating innovative experiences in website design

Finding the right balance between style and substance is a constant challenge in our creative work. It would be one thing if we knew that we were always looking for an equal balance, but that’s not the case – different work has different objectives, different required outputs, and different expectations. Finding the right balance is always a source of debate.

The key question that we need to ask ourselves is, “What are the core details that will drive us to reach our objectives that we have set for this project?” This takes significant discussion but usually revolves around what the audience should see and take away from a piece of work. It’s our job to get our partners to the stage where we feel we found that all-elusive balance that represents the best path.

To give a specific example, we can look at a common objective for our clients in the video game industry: ‘Create a website for a game IP, and make sure a website that will help us create the highest number of Steam wishlists possible.’?

Here are some examples of the things we might consider for a game IP website;

• Engage visitors immediately with high-impact visuals
• Show game innovation and differences in gameplay, style, quality, or any other element that might make the game more appealing
• Use messaging that communicates and excites the visitor whilst bringing them into your ‘universe’
• Get visitors to their first meaningful engagement and convert – a CTA that is clear, understandable, and unmissable by the visitor

Ultimately, we are aiming for something that, combined with trailers, concept art, and messaging, makes visitors fall in love with our client’s games – in other words, whatever it takes to get the best results and the highest number of positive results possible.

Two things are certain in getting to this objective;

1. Do not let standard UX tropes (and the inherent position people often have that ‘users are stupid’) create mediocre work that compromises every other point in the list above. Doing that will lower the results.
2. Do not let devotion to the presentation of art, or of the game as art, forget the CTA objectives. Doing that will lower the results.

Visually striking websites (no matter the industry or purpose) immediately draw you in. That’s a win. But those sites may, at the same time, feature a UX (User Experience) that damages engagement KPIs. In these scenarios, the obvious time and care taken to make a site look amazing (on what might be described as a superficial level) has overtaken the necessary focus on usability.?

On the flip side, there are many projects where data on converting CTA’s – potentially based on out-of-date approaches predicated on the belief that “what has always been, will always be.” This inevitably stifles creativity and loses the difference you were likely all aiming for in the first place.

So, how do you strike a balance between style and substance?

The average user spends up to 53 seconds on a website before dropping off, so in that 53 seconds, you need to use everything in your arsenal to stop people in their tracks – to engage them and get them to do something. You could add that we might want people to feel something which is equally valuable, getting them emotionally invested in your product – artistically, this is great, too, but extremely difficult to measure against KPIs.

The designer's dream is to have everyone on the website revel in how amazing the complete experience is at every level as they explore each page. But this does not come without its challenges—functionality being one of them. Sometimes, the right option is not always the most aesthetically pleasing.

‘Substance’ is seen as less concerned with visual impact and more concerned about the user journey, asking questions like: why is the user visiting the website? What information are they looking for? And how quickly and easily can they get it? However, we feel that, in many cases, style is substance. The two aspects truly do not sit independently – they are closely intertwined. Analysing how visitors are using a site and identifying areas that visitors miss – or even get stuck on, is an essential part of the improvement of work. If you find a problem, you shift the approach and test again to see if the journey has improved. In these types of scenarios, visuals can take a back seat as that testing is validated, and that’s exactly the way it should be. However, these approaches can often conflict with one another. Heaps of information or overly familiar layouts can be the enemy of not just aesthetically pleasing visuals, but getting visitors to engage. It isn't a one-size-fits-all scenario.?

Context also matters. For example, the style-first approach would be more beneficial if you are a new company looking to create brand recognition for a new game IP. Here, it is crucial that your website is styled in a way that instantly reflects the brand's tone and values as well as creating some excitement in those who see it. For a studio, a substance-first approach might be more relevant to a pre-existing brand looking to hire for multiple roles. This means it is really important that the user can find a specific role quickly and easily, with no problems along the way. But yet again, you have to excite these visitors, and you don’t do that through an aesthetically mediocre piece of work.?

What’s the conclusion of all this? Simply, you need to;

1. Create the best user journey that drives visitors to your/their objective
2. Keep visitors engaged enough to complete that journey

And how do you do this? By creating something that drives the results you are looking for in the best way possible – and that’s always going to be a combination of visuals, content, and structure.?

Style and substance.