Ten Principles of Effective Web Design
Even though the following 10 principles seem like no brainers, there are plenty of websites out there that don't follow these guidelines making them hard to follow.
Don't Make User's Think - The web-page should be obvious and self-explanatory. When you’re creating a site, your job is to get rid of the question marks
Don't Squander User's Patience - Let users explore the site and discover your services without forcing them into sharing private data.
Manage to Focus User's Attention -Focusing users’ attention to specific areas of the site with a moderate use of visual elements can help your visitors to get from point A to point B without thinking of how it actually is supposed to be done.
Strive for Feature Exposure - Let the user see clearly what functions are available
Make Use of Effective Writing -Avoid cute or clever names, marketing-induced names, company-specific names, and unfamiliar technical names.
Strive for Simplicity - The “keep it simple”-principle (KIS) should be the primary goal of site design.
Don't Be Afraid of the White Space - It’s really hard to overestimate the importance of white space. Not only does it help to reduce the cognitive load for the visitors, but it makes it possible to perceive the information presented on the screen.
Communicate Effectively with a "Visible Language" - Organize: provide the user with a clear and consistent conceptual structure. Economize: do the most with the least amount of cues and visual elements. Communicate: match the presentation to the capabilities of the user.
Conventions are our Friends - Conventional design of site elements doesn’t result in a boring web site.
Test Early, Test Often - According to Steve Krug, testing one user is 100% better than testing none and testing one user early in the project is better than testing 50 near the end.
I found that these serve as a good guide for website development, hope you find them helpful as well.
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