Web Design (Conscientious)

Web Design

This is an updated version of a post I wrote almost five years ago, I updated it a little. I must have looked at ~~hundreds~~ thousands of websites ~~lately~~, trying to find good links for this weblog. And it's quite amazing to see how many web pages suffer from very simple problems. I'm sure there are web sites devoted to design aspects of web pages. From my personal experience I compiled a list of my personal do's and do-not's. Needless to say, you might disagree with me here and there.

Make sure navigational elements are clear and easy to find. You can't imagine how many pages I saw - especially if Flash was used - where I basically had to guess what to do. Ideally, navigational elements follow some sort of unique pattern across the whole site. That gives the site a uniform look-and-feel, which enables the visitor to focus on the content and not on how to get from one page to another. In the worst case, people like me just close the page when they can't figure out what to do. And it's not that I'm too stupid to find out, I simply ~~am too lazy~~ don't have the time.
People think when they use Flash they need to make it flashy. Let's face it: If your website takes over a minute to load for a broadband visitor you messed it up. I'm also not sure how many people really like to look at several fancy intro pages before finally getting to the actual images. I personally do not bother to look at a site if, after two minutes, there still is some "cool" animation going on. Sure, you paid someone, who is a Flash wizard, a lot of money for a snazzy site, but let's face it: Who, apart from the Flash wizard, really thinks the fancy intro is cool?
Also, I'm not sure a website needs music. Music inflates the download time, and unless you're aiming for a special target group it's next to impossible to find music everybody likes. For example, I'm totally tired of this ~~"downtempo" muzak~~ minimal techno, which is so popular on websites.
Thumbnails are tricky. There's a tendency for things to get too confusing and too messy, unless you do it right. Don't have thumbnails point to images which are just barely larger than the actual thumbnail. That's just ridiculous.
Another gizmo I'm tired of: Slides shows where photos are shown in some small band, next to each other, which moves depending on how you move your mouse. I don't know what it is but I lack the skill to move the band in such a way that I see every photo. Clearly: If I want a video game, I play a video game.
I've seen many cases where the image compression was so bad that the photos showed very visible artefacts. Needless to say, that's quite disastrous. Would you hand bad prints to a possible client? If you're afraid of images being stolen from your site I think there are better ways to protect them.
Apropos: Huge warning signs and long text about copyright etc., right before people get to see photos, are a big turn-off for me. If you're so worried about somebody stealing low-quality images from a website (what can you do with those small images you usually find on websites anyway?) why do you have a website in the first place? Alternatively, use digital watermarks. Oh, and please avoid copyright text directly on the photos. That's a real turn-off. (Hear that, Magnum?)
Don't make the images you're showing too small. It's amazing how many websites have sample photos which on the screen are about as big as a postage stamp in an album. Bigger is not always better, but smaller is almost always worse.
If you have a Flash site don't add sound effects for when the visitor does something. Clicking a navigational button should not result in some sound. It's just goofy. A photo website is no video game.
Having a start page is a nice thing. Not showing people where to click to get to the actual photo pages isn't. Making people click on female models' behinds to get to the main pages is even worse.
Dead links ("404 page not found") are just... horrible.
Not really a design issue, but very important nevertheless: If you have projects, make sure there is at least some text that tells the visitor what is actually depicted. Do not assume that everybody will just know, even if it is something that is maybe widely known in your own country. So include a little statement (but please please please don't make it too pretentious).
Finally, certain restrictions apply. If you know your "audience", cater to it as shamelessly as you want. That's fine. However, if you want to cater to a wider audience test the site before going public by showing it to friends. And don't tell them it's your site so that they'll give you honest feedback ("Looks nice" is usually not honest feedback).

Posted on January 21, 2008 9:36 AM | Permalink

Comments (12)

roland lebrun

This is concentrated common sense. You got it all right to me.

Posted by roland lebrun | January 21, 2008 9:54 AM

Posted on January 21, 2008 09:54

carlo

It seems to me that flash is a bad idea for photography websites. Aside from the points you have made, in many cases it's also not possible to send a direct link to a photograph on a flash website - or to bookmark an image. Nor can one easily copy the image from the site (although I guess this may have its pros and cons)
Whats you take on flash vs html overall for photography websites?

Posted by carlo | January 21, 2008 6:18 PM

Posted on January 21, 2008 18:18

Joerg Colberg

I don't care whether it's Flash or HTML, even though Flash tends to invite all kinds of "abuse".

Posted by Joerg Colberg | January 21, 2008 6:33 PM

Posted on January 21, 2008 18:33

claudia

plus: How to create a great website

Posted by claudia | January 22, 2008 7:53 AM

Posted on January 22, 2008 07:53

Justusj

Your suggestions are as wise now as 5 years ago. What is sad is how few photographers have heeded your advice.

Posted by Justusj | January 22, 2008 1:10 PM

Posted on January 22, 2008 13:10

herenotthere

Pretty sound advice overall... I recently posted an entry specifically targeting web design for photographers portfolios; you might find some of the guidelines interesting.

Posted by herenotthere | January 22, 2008 1:29 PM

Posted on January 22, 2008 13:29

Joerg Colberg

While your list is quite useful, I think it skirts around some of the important issues from my list.

Posted by Joerg Colberg | January 22, 2008 1:39 PM

Posted on January 22, 2008 13:39

zen

I think you nailed most of them, thanks. Especially Flash and Music. Now add frustrating slideshows that you cannot control - that display for a given amount of time even if you want to linger, or move on quickly...

Posted by zen | January 23, 2008 6:47 AM

Posted on January 23, 2008 06:47

herenotthere

Joerg-

I'm not so sure "skirts around" would be an accurate phrasing. It's definitely a basic list of guidelines rather than a set of personal preferences. I don't think that items like copyright and music are prima facie bad things. Many of the sites that group 94 makes utilize sound effectively, for instance.

I think some of the points you make about copyright and compression are spot on, however if I were making a set of guidelines for the structure and flow of a site, production issues wouldn't be included.

A lot of the issues you're mentioning specifically, I think I mention generally: Clear navigation, useable thumbnails, low loading time, etc.

Posted by herenotthere | January 23, 2008 9:19 AM

Posted on January 23, 2008 09:19

Joerg Colberg

Having seen so many problems with websites it seems to me that in general including what you call "production issues" (something that I would call attention to detail) is actually very important.

Posted by Joerg Colberg | January 23, 2008 9:30 AM

Posted on January 23, 2008 09:30

Noah Everett

I agree with the guidelines you've listed especially about slideshows.

I recently redesigned a photo sharing site called EchoPic and I think the site fits most of those rules.

It should be about the photos, the meat of the content. I never understood what sites like slide.com were thinking, yet they are popular.

Posted by Noah Everett | January 30, 2008 6:00 PM

Posted on January 30, 2008 18:00

TheMarco

I'd like to add another rule:

Use as little color as possible in your website design. Any use of color will distract from what people are visiting your site for in the first place: the photos. A lot of photoblogs / portfolio sites have screaming colors which make it hard to focus on the actual photography.

Posted by TheMarco | July 10, 2008 10:19 AM

Posted on July 10, 2008 10:19

Conscientious

Conscientious - Jörg Colberg's weblog about fine-art photography (and more)

Web Design

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