What is bad webdesign and how to avoid it?

Webdesign is the perfect harmony between usability and looks, it usually follows a structure and it contains design consistency throughout all pages. What constitutes a good web design is the way the user almost doesn’t notice it and navigates through it in a seamless way. 

Bad webdesign is however extremely noticeable and it is guaranteed the user will encounter some usability frustration along the way even though he might not know exactly what it is that doesn’t work in particular. As a webdesign agency based in Geneva and Zurich working with numerous projects we learnt to identify the elements that constitute a bad webdesign and therefore avoid it completely. 

In this article we will identify the elements of a bad web design and how to avoid it on your future projects. 

Bad web design 1 – No clear design structure

In web development, consistency is one of the most important things to have in mind. Just like in brand design a brand’s consistency can make users trust it more. Lack of consistency in web design can be identified as completely different design elements and colors in different pages with no link to each other. This creates a detachment from the whole website as a whole, it makes it look like the pages don’t belong in the same world and that makes the user subconsciously confused on what the message is. To avoid this detachment, when doing webdesign it is important to keep elements, such as hero sections, colors, buttons and overall body text + images consistent the whole way through so it creates its own environment, its own world for the user to be immersed in. 

Bad web design 2 – Hidden navigation

There is nothing more frustrating than a hidden menu or an unclear menu in webdesign. 

In bad webdesign usually the menu is either on the wrong side of the screen or is hidden or does not follow a good structure. The menu contains the most important information of the webdesign and should be extremely accessible for any type of user, so in order to avoid a bad menu, you should follow always a standard web design rule, which is, the menu should always be on the top right either as a hamburger menu or as individual menu items on the top of the page and constantly visible even after scrolling down. Another tip to avoid a bad menu on a web development project is to organize the menu items according to the most important pages of the website. 

Bad web design 3 – Bad typefaces

As a webdesign agency we care about the readability of our projects in web development, therefore a bad typeface can completely ruin the readability of your webdesign. If the user cannot read the content or if it is difficult to read the content then it becomes a very frustrating experience. A tip to avoid bad web design is to choose a very readable font for body text such as a sans font and keep the serif font types or more complex types for titles, however it is still a good idea not to go extreme with the title font to guarantee readability. 

Bad web design 4 – No clear message

The goal of a website is to communicate a certain message to guide your users and guide them through a specific path sometimes in order for them to complete certain tasks. Webdesign is a big part of that goal and without a clear message users will easily abandon your website. 

Web design exists to combine design elements in a specific structure so it leads to pages and cta’s so users can easily find their way around it. This is why it is important to always define the message first and then design the path to the ultimate destination. 

Bad web design 5 – Cluttered layout

As a web design agency from Zurich and Geneva we often work on projects that need a bit of a clean up in terms of design. A cluttered web design layout is like a cluttered house. If you are looking for something in a cluttered house you will eventually grow frustrated because it will take you ages to find it. The same happens in webdesign, if the layout is too busy and it has too many things happening at the same time it is hard to draw attention to anything in particular. It gets so overwhelming that in most cases you end up with the overwhelming feeling of seeing everything at once and at the same time nothing in particular. 

For more webdesign information please check our website: https://swisstomato.ch/de/webdesign-zurich/