Web Site Development Form over Function
"Thanks for all your help with our website and your
suggestions. We get so many comments on our web site.
Web reservations are going great. Your other marketing
advice is working well too!"
Thanks
-Kathy, Innkeeper
Inn at The Rostay, Bethel, Maine
Why Choosing Form Over Function Kills a Site
At IMS-21 we never put form over function. Why?
Because it's crucial that visitors actually be able
to USE your site.
Everything we do must be designed to be as easy for
the visitor/your guest to understand as possible.
Everything should be functional first.
If you put form before function, you sacrifice your
visitor's best interest for your own preferences. By
definition, putting form over function means you
sacrifice function--you make it harder to perform
whatever task is supposed to be performed.
You give
up ease of use or simplicity in order to make it
look nicer. Basically, you wind up with a lot of
icing and no cake.
Mind you, form often accentuates function, just like
icing accentuates a cake. Something what is visually
pleasing often increases the usability by making it
more attractive or by using visual elements to
increase understanding. Creative design can often be
used to make a task easier to perform. It can entice
the visitor to take whatever action you want them to
take.
However, on the web, there are frequently contests
between form and function. Designers make choices
between whether to make something look nicer or make
it simpler and easier to use. For example, these are
common ways of sacrificing function:
- Using an uncommon style of links that makes it
hard to recognize the links.
- Putting a textured background behind the copy,
even though it will make the text harder to read.
- Choosing a font color that doesn't have enough
contrast with the background color.
- Using a font face that is difficult to read.
Or worse, uncommon to most computers.
- Using an uncommon name for a common link. For
example, "Talk" instead of "Contact us".
- Placing elements in unexpected places. Like
putting the logo on the right side of the page or
placing the main navigation along the bottom of the
design.
- Using a splash page on the site because it looks
neat, even though it keeps visitors from getting to
the real information in the site and search engines
from finding it.
- Using a lot of fancy images that make the page
load more slowly.
- Opting for a totally graphical design with
no copy
on the main page. Regardless of the fact that
visitors won't have a clue what the business is all
about until they get further into the site.
These are all examples of choosing form over
function. Unfortunately,
if your design looks great
but is hard to figure out, your visitors will be
gone. They don't come to your site to admire the
looks; they come to use the site--to find
information. Anything you do to stand in their way
is wrong.
Visitor's have VERY short attention spans. They have
no patience. If you complicate their lives, they are
gone. Other sites are ready and waiting to meet
their needs, so there is no reason they should
struggle through your site. If you opt for form over
function, you're likely to opt yourself right out of
the sale.
When we design your website, we don't think about
looks first. We always make function a priority. We
think about what's going to be easiest for your
visitors to use, understand and ultimately purchase
your product. Then create an attractive presentation
to accentuate it.