Design Declutter: 5 Things Your Website Doesn’t Need
Just like everything else, your website can get messy over time.
If your website feels more chaotic than helpful, it’s more than likely time for a design declutter. A few smart cuts can make your site cleaner, clearer, and more effective.
Here are five things your website doesn’t actually need.
Auto-Rotating Sliders
When you have multiple pieces of information that you want featured front and center on your website, using a rotating slider is the obvious answer, right? Wrong!
They work great in theory, but just like the second page of Google, they are notorious for being ignored. Users rarely stick around long enough to see beyond the first slide.
Focus on the single most important message first instead of spreading their attention across multiple slides.
Excessive Animation
We’ve talked before about the benefits of interactivity, but too much motion quickly becomes distracting instead of helpful.
When used strategically, adding interactivity can create an engaging user experience, and even help guide users to take action. However, if your site is filled with bouncing buttons, sliding text and hover animations on every element, it has the opposite effect.
Use animation subtly and intentionally to be sure that it adds to the user experience.
Inconsistent Fonts and Colors
Nothing makes a website feel messy faster than inconsistent fonts and colors (not to mention, it hurts your credibility).
You should always refer back to your brand guide, and stick to it! The cleaner and more consistent the design, the easier it is for people to focus on your content instead of being distracted by unnecessary visual clutter.
Pro tip: Create a style guide to follow as you design to make sure all of your font sizes, color usage, and design elements are used consistently across the board.
Long Paragraphs
Long blocks of text can crowd the page and discourage people from reading. If visitors can’t quickly scan your content, they’re likely to give up before finding what they need.
Keep paragraphs short and scannable. When possible, use headings, white space or bullet points to break up copy where it makes sense. This makes your content easier to digest and helps to keep your site clutter free.
Overstuffed Navigation
When your navigation is packed with too many options, your users can quickly get lost, and it can make your entire site feel cluttered and disorganized. Having endless menu items can bury links and create decision fatigue, making it harder for people to find what they actually need.
Instead, stick to your key pages, group related pages together, and keep dropdowns simple.
Cutting out the clutter gives your users a better experience and allows your website to do what it’s meant to. If you need a hand simplifying your design, reach out to us!
