An advertiser’s look at web design: the basics of creating an atypical design for a typical site
Introduction
“Need more gold”
Unrecognized economic genius
It all started with this conversation in the comments. In short, the content can be summarized as follows: the customer wants “beautifully”, the designer wants to make beautifully (without quotes); the customer gushes with ideas that are often harmful to usability and sales, the designer knows how to act within the framework of standard usability and style solutions.
And then an advertiser / salesman appears on the scene. He also has his own opinion. And the opinion is this: to the true beauty, and a boisterous kitsch, throw in the garbage dump disputes about ideas; the site should work, make a profit: initiate sales, serve for branding, attract calls - what the customer needs. You need to study the target audience - and find out which design will help to get the right reaction from it. And to create from scratch exactly what is required to achieve the goal. Typical solutions are not suitable - they are not thought out for a specific combination of customer / target. Worse, they became familiar.
“Good,” they will agree with him. Even great. But how to make an original decision where originality cannot exist in principle (I will give an example from that discussion - “an online store selling bridal bouquets”)? And how to understand what exactly the audience wants?
A complete answer to this question would take many pages. The author will try to set forth certain fundamentals of the direction in which to go, questioning the customer and studying the target site’s CA, and how then to use this data to create a design that would in itself serve the task - that is, make a profit in one way or another . However, the author does not plan to touch on specifics and go into particulars - they are too numerous for a short article.
Warning. Under the cut - a long text without pictures.
Warning 2. Honestly, the author did not suspect that these were not common truths. Therefore, do not hope to find something new in the text.
What is atypical design and why is it needed
“Think different”
The inscription on the wall of the psychiatric ward
To begin with, we will briefly deal with varding so that there is no misunderstanding. What is not atypical design:
- This is not a beautiful concept, understandable only to the designer and his two friends: people use the design and it should stand out exactly by what is done for them;
- This is not necessarily a convenient design: the concept of convenience may contradict the task. For example, if the task is branding, which requires retention of the user on the site, then instantly finding them the necessary information and then closing the page is a mistake, not a victory;
- This is not a beautiful design: it is a design that is nice to see for users from Central Asia (and they absolutely don't have a taste).
What is an atypical design? This is a design created for a specific target audience in accordance with the capabilities and goals of a particular customer and exactly matching the content created by the same principle (preferably by the same people).
The final goal may vary - improving the image, sales, attracting customers ... In any case, speaking of the commercial segment, we can say that any goal comes down to profit in one form or another. Everything else is its derivatives. It is on the basis of them that a specific design should be created, but one should never forget about generalization.
Before you start, or what you definitely won't need
“Violinist - not needed”
One metalworker
1) Opinion of the customer (or “big boss”). Yes, this is the hardest part. Many beginners are used to the fact that the customer controls almost every stage of the development of the site design. And customers are also used to it. The problem is one - the customer is often not a professional in the field of sales. Moreover - he does not understand the Internet at the right level.
Your task is to explain that the design is exactly the same tool as, say, a drill or jackhammer, only designed to influence the mind of the audience. How to hollow a specific wall to achieve the desired result is determined by a specialist. The customer’s task is to explain what he wants from this wall and provide all the information about available resources.
You can reassure the customer that at the final stage he will be provided with several design options. What he will be able to discuss, what he wants to change within their framework - and they will tell him whether this is possible or not;
2) Your ideas about the beautiful. Taste is not an absolute value. Your opinion most likely does not coincide with the opinion of the target audience of the future site, unless you yourself relate to it. You may need to do terrible things - just to make the user comfortable. Humble yourself;
3) Your guesses about the target audience, its tastes and ideas. Guessing is nothing. You will need facts, otherwise you will be like that customer from the first paragraph - and your design will not shoot;
4) And yet - in the first stages of work you will not need professional software. Only browser, text editor and folder for screenshots.
Primary analysis
“In Russia, at least one outstanding businessman, politician and voivode in one person sits in every kitchen”
A certain politician, businessman and strategist in one person
So, it's time to try yourself in an unusual role - a marketer. You won’t mention all the recipes in one article, even the main ones ... and then ... The author refers those wishing to find out all the necessary actions to the literature on psychology, statistics, and, in fact, marketing. Here we list a few tricks, making an impression about which you can reason and select new methods on your own by analogy.
First, the designer must knock out one simple answer from the customer - what is the purpose of the site? Branding, selling, attracting new customers, keeping the old? Most likely the customer will say: "everything and more." Explain that "master of everything is master of nothing." This, of course, is not always the case, but in most cases the creation of a multidisciplinary site requires the efforts of a cohesive single team, including a designer, and an encoder, and a copywriter (moreover, it is desirable that everyone possesses skills in all three areas), versed in marketing, and a huge budget.
The second one. The designer must know what he can count on. Does the customer have visual material and in what quantity and quality? What kind of content are going to be published on the site and how often (by the way, this issue needs to be solved “in conjunction” with the content writer - otherwise the crayfish, swan and pike will come out). What is the customer in general, what are its strengths and weaknesses as a company (for example, can the country of origin be emphasized in the design of the website of a company selling consumer goods)?
The third. We move on to market analysis. You should find the most popular sites on the subject and for a similar purpose both in RuNet and in foreign segments. Compare their design. Perhaps some factors in the design positively affect the target audience. The task of the designer is to notice common features and trends that are not on the “ordinary” sites. A good option would be to analyze sites with a significant number of negative reviews about the company - such reviews mean that the site, and not the company, works to attract clientele.
Attention! Not necessarily foreign solutions for a Russian-speaking user. They can push away.
Also note all the inconveniences, inconsistencies and what is missing on these sites. This may come in handy.
Fourth. Need to evaluate CA. To begin with, it’s good to find specialized forums / communities and cook in them for at least a few days. What to look for:
- the lexicon will indicate the general intellectual level and psychological profile of the audience, as well as their pleasant usage (this will be useful to the author of the content!);
- graphic materials, their nature, frequency and reaction to them will allow us to draw some conclusions about how shifted the priorities of “text / graphics” in Central Asia, as well as about which color schemes, concepts for constructing drawings and themes are pleasant to the audience; what are her “artistic tastes," so to speak;
- the interface of the most popular communities will tell you how complicated the interface for this CA can be in general - however, keep in mind that many forums live “by inertia”, at the expense of the community since the times of web 1.0, so they are not indicative;
- draw conclusions based on indirect data. Central Asia is sentimental and “from the stove” will most likely be prone to kitsch of a very definite nature. For a teenage audience, aggressiveness and show off are more expensive than money - and so on;
- pay attention to the criticism of sites similar to yours, representatives of Central Asia. Who needs to know if not them?
- Try to notice if CA has a love for, relatively speaking, “little things”, a wow factor - for example, a CA with such a syndrome will have a very positive attitude to moving elements, sliders and carousels in design, while “severe men” can and do not understand.
Fifth. You need to understand the complexes of the target audience - and how you can play them. The simplest example is the "fat men" of Central Asia. Inferiority complex in all fields. How do we play it? You need to understand how fat people relate to their complex, how they want to see themselves and how it will be combined with the nature of the site. It is clear that many would like to see themselves as athletes, sort of Russian heroes.
But if your site specializes, say, on clothing for them, to use images of these very heroes in the design elements - once again taunt the wound of Central Asia, reminding them of their inconsistency with the image. But the cheerful and respectable John-bullous, Churchill-shaped gentleman is the very thing.
It may seem to the reader that it is easy with fat people, but what kind of complexes are normal in people? Remember - everyone has the complexes, except the holy elders, and they are not sure of their holiness.
Any woman wants to be loved and attractive. Any man is smart and strong. The builder is to be the Creator, not Ravshan, the buyer is “always right”, and not a sucker - “not a freeloader, but a partner,” remember?
This is a very important task. One needs to read special literature, learn to empathize, feel part of Central Asia - and at the same time look at it from the outside. But if you learn this, the design elements you created will actually be more effective than the text of the site itself.
Having penetrated the target, once again pay attention to competitors. What is wrong with this point of view?
Sixth. Checking search queries on the same Yandex.Direct will give a greater idea of the desires and aspirations of Central Asia. Example - looking for the majority of a useful product (the one that the client produces), tasty or natural? Which of the competitors of the customer are looking for and what is the famous competitor of these three factors? Is it possible to say what most are looking for about a customer’s product?
How to use it? For example, a background picture can create a completely different impression. The author will leave further discussions on this topic to the reader.
Let's finish the first stage - although the possible actions on it are still dark, the reader must have grasped the essence. Go to the next step.
What to do: reasoning and tools
“If you beat a person for a long time on the head, something will certainly happen”
Rake
So, you have completed the first stage and turned out to be one on one with a set of seemingly unnecessary and erratic data. How to turn them into design?
First, decide (along with who will create the texts) what exactly is the purpose of the site in arranging for you. This will determine how the visitor’s path through the site, and your actions.
Branding means - to delay on the site, to show the maximum, to be remembered, but not to be bothered - that is, to interest. Increase in sales - provide an opportunity to find goods and place an order for a minimum of clicks. Attract to an offline store or provoke a phone call - show on a single page everything you need, motivate at a glance. And so on and so forth…
Having decided on this, make a verbal portrait of the visitor, his expectations, which you realized at the first stage. Compare with customer information. Think about the shortcomings of competitors and try to figure out how you can create a design without them. Estimate what you can do for such a budget. Compare with the purpose of the site.
The intersection area of these sets is your task.
True, most likely it will come out somewhat vague, and ideas - contradicting each other. There are several tools at this stage. If the budget allows you to use them, you are in luck.
1) Create several small promotional sites in accordance with different ideas. Simple, without wide functionality and content. Take advantage of contextual advertising. Look at user behavior;
2) The previous item is too expensive. The solution is simpler: try to find someone familiar with Central Asia among your friends. If the design attitude is normal - approx. Then - not appropriate. If the reaction is negative, you did everything right;
3) At the editing stage, after laying out the site, scripts that track user behavior on the page can help. Now there are quite complex systems that allow you to track almost the cursor position. Pay attention to where people click on the page most often - it is quite possible that this zone is visible in the best way and the most important links and buttons should be pushed there.
In any case, when creating a design, remember a few general rules:
1) According to British scientists, palmists and equines, most people are visuals. Ergo, pictures beat text. Abstracts beat text walls. This is true for any audience;
2) Try to get into the shoes of the visitor - you worked on it, right? Proceed from this even when building elements that do not carry an information load. For example, builders and warriors are concrete guys. Clarity of form, accuracy - this is for them. “Vanilla” girls, on the contrary, like rounded corners, fawn tones ... And so on;
3) Do not neglect the wow factor, if only CA allows it. Something striking that pays attention to what you need - and not found among competitors - is worth a lot. This can be, for example, a slider with a rare visual effect or some other not-so-familiar way to win the interest of the visitor;
4) In most cases, the visitor is not interested in the mug of the director, a photo of the company building, or something else. He wonders what service he will be provided. Remember the google site - all about the case. Ergo, on the website of a medical clinic on the pages of doctors’s photos is less useful than, say, a photo of some beautifully glowing, but harmless “scientific gizmo”. However, if it is a surgeon or a dentist, a harmless (!) Physiognomy may be beneficial;
5) I repeat, because it was already said at the beginning of the article: do not overdo it with originality, the interface should be clear;
6) If you have completed all of the above and the design is still typical, try again to look at competing sites from the point of view of Central Asia. Surely there is some point that interferes and which can be replaced, improved, or even create something new. The moment characteristic of a particular company, city, season, task, target - you only need to catch it.
Conclusion
“Build-Build ... Not Build”
The motto of road workers
This article, as you noted, is not a manual. The manual would not fit here - there are so many nuances, specific methods of collecting information, its types ... The author suggests considering the article as a set of certain patterns of thinking. Developing them, you will be able to understand how to create a design based on the requirements of Central Asia, and not to offer Central Asian solutions that were not originally intended for it.
It seems to the author that it will be important to note the inevitable conclusion from this article - everyone working on the site should act together if a truly effective result is needed. The option “the designer sends the picture to the typesetter, he typeset and spreads, the girl-secretary scores some information inside” does not work if it is necessary to achieve a really high-quality result.
I hope that the information was useful to someone.