Designers have full control over the sizing of and spacing between page elements, though it’s recommended to provide at least some whitespace to aid visibility. Grids solve the issue of presenting many pieces of content of equal importance in a way that users can easily follow. Page elements are placed based on these column boundaries, so they are aligned vertically, and often horizontally as well. This design pattern divides the page into a set number of columns of equal width and spacing between them. The grid layout is a foundational design component of many modern websites. Here are just a few of the many navigational patterns that work well for getting visitors where they want to go. It’s one of the first things users see on your website, and probably the last if it doesn’t do its job. Successful web design needs to nail the navigation. It can be challenging to grasp the concept of web design patterns in the abstract, so let’s review some more examples below. We need guidelines to ensure the interface is optimized for as many users as possible. However, designers are not the same as the people they design for, so the logical solution for us might not be the same for the majority of users. Some web design patterns probably reflect our own common sense, which is shaped by our own experiences on the web. Of course, we’re all internet users ourselves. So we instead share the best practices which are based on these insights. We know from years of testing what users tend to expect from dropdowns, and we know that their preferences stay more or less consistent from site to site. It would be wildly inefficient for every website with dropdown menus to test and develop their own best practices. Patterns address common UX issues seen across websites, so designers don’t need to invent a solution to the same problem over and over again. Second, design patterns streamline the design process. This can largely be avoided by adhering to the design pattern. You’d probably form an immediate negative opinion of the site, and perhaps the business it represents, all because they can’t perfect fundamental navigation. Imagine landing on a website with poorly designed dropdowns. A web design pattern instructs a designer how to place and arrange page elements to best serve visitors’ needs and establish critical trust. So, why do web designers follow these patterns? Ultimately, there are two key reasons:įirst, design patterns ensure good UX. But, the design pattern for dropdown menus provides usability guidelines for their implementation. You have control over specific options, functionality, aesthetics, and even the language it’s programmed in. Here’s just one example from the homepage: The menu closes when the user hovers off it.Īs you can imagine, there’s an endless number of ways one could implement a dropdown on a website. Users can choose any option from this new menu. This design pattern specifies a list of options that appear after some trigger, typically a mouseover event or mouse click. One solution is the vertical dropdown menu. How do designers fit links to many different site sections on a single page? This presents a challenge for larger websites with many pages. the visible area of the web page) before visual clutter sets in. You can only fit so many page elements inside the viewport (i.e. When designing for the user experience, space is always limited. Let’s look at a simple example of a web design pattern: dropdown menus. Rather, it is a collection of best practices that solve a user-centered problem. Web design patterns are developed for specific user experience challenges and can be adopted and implemented by any website.Ī web design pattern is not a standardized template or a precisely specified design. A web design pattern, also known as a user interface design pattern, is a set of guidelines for designing a user interface aspect or component.
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