In 2019, convincing my clients to collaborate online on visual elements was quite hard. In 2020, for obvious reasons known by everyone, it’s much easier to explain to customers what are the advantages of online collaboration. They are still in time to move to a remote environment in a very fast way, adopt methodologies and start using all sorts of software like Miro’s online whiteboard or any of the video call tools, for better distance work.
1. Ensure you get the right setup
To work remotely and collaborate with people who are not in the same room as yourself, you should ensure that no technical issues will get in the way. Test your audio and video setup before getting started, you don’t want to lose precious meeting time and get everyone stressed. Don’t underestimate the importance of having good quality camera and microphone for better interactions. Obviously, having a good connection to the Internet is also crucial, don’t be greedy on the wrong things.
2. Prepare your meetings well
This tip goes for all meetings, but it is specially right for online visual collaboration. For an online visual meeting, you should ensure that everything you want to say is planned out, so you can make the points you wanted to make.
Ever been in a meeting where you felt that nothing of importance was said and that you wasted your time? If it happened, it was because nobody was ready for the working session. Don’t worry though, being ready for working together doesn’t mean that you need to prepare for hours, making a checklist in fifteen minutes is often enough to be ready. You can also dig into preparation principles for a good starting point.
3. Choose the right tools
In terms of tools, it is mostly the software that is worth mentioning. For visual collaboration online, Miro is the perfect companion. Better than your average whiteboard, Miro is an infinite canvas that helps you ideate, strategize, get organized, and work with your team.
You can kick off a project even faster by selecting one of Miro’s many pre-built templates. From business model canvases and user story maps, to fishbone diagrams, mind maps and more, templates provide an easy way to get your team ideating and collaborating.
When you need to meet with your team, use Zoom (which can be integrated with the mentioned whiteboard): after months of confinement, the company has improved its service, becoming the undisputed video call software -the easiest to use and the most secure, and the one that offers more integrations and personalization.
4. Ask the right questions
To collect feedback on your work, there are questions that will help you collect much better answers than others. Explain your design decisions to try to answer questions before they come, and be very specific on the type of feedback you need. For example, asking “What do you think of this logo design?”, you should write “I chose this font for this reason and that color for that reason, do you think it’s a good choice?”.
5. Follow-up
When the meeting is over, don’t wait for the next meeting to act upon what has been suggested and do everything you can immediately, your future self will thank you later. If you do this, not only you are already mentally involved in this task, which will make you more productive, but your colleagues or clients will also be ready and knowing what you are talking about.
Conclusion
The world is ready for online meeting and visual communication through the Internet now, so make the best of it. Use the tips given in this article wisely and you will become a more productive designer.
Think for a moment about how coronavirus has changed your life. You may have gone from commuting to an office to working at home. Instead of going to the gym, you exercise at home or not at all. You went from socializing in large groups to solely interacting with a small bubble of friends. You have replaced trips to the mall with online purchases. Fancy dinners out have been replaced with whole food delivery.
Individuals who visit your website are experiencing the same changes. As a result, their behaviors and preferences have shifted. This has changed what they expect when they visit your website. What was considered a good user experience at the start of 2020 may now seem out of touch and insufficient. According to the Toptal report, 88 percent of users are more likely not to return to a website after a bad user experience. Some research even showed that a well-designed UX interface could yield conversion rates up to 400 percent.
Now, anyone considering a job as a UX designer will need to value research as well as a proper education. The needs of users are shifting rapidly. Each group of users is unique and has been impacted by the coronavirus pandemic differently. Designers must be cognizant of:
Behavioral shifts
Changes in user groups
Psychological shifts
Regional effects
Temporal effects
Let’s look at some of these with the goal of understanding how they are creating the new normal in user experience.
How Behavioral Shifts Changed User Experience
Visitors to your website are not engaged in the same activities that they used to engage in. Or the frequency with which they perform certain activities has increased or diminished. Their motivation has also changed.
For example, your users may desire to use your product but feel afraid of catching the virus or spreading the virus. There are several industries that are affected by this. For example, the travel industry has seen a major downturn. This is true even in countries where people may fly around freely.
The economic consequences of COVID-19 are also changing the buying habits of people. Some people may have felt freer to charge purchases on their credit card because they were relatively confident that they were going to have a consistent paycheck. Now, they may avoid making purchases because they are worried that their future income is not guaranteed.
UX designers need to design with empathy for their customers’ worries, desires, and needs in mind. They need to dig past the superficial to uncover genuine concerns, needs, and behaviors when interacting with a website.
Designers need to think outside of the box and make websites that offer something that users will benefit from and come back to again and again. For example, people might not be booking flights yet. However, a website that also services as an easy portal to see travel restrictions across the world or that offers an up-to-date map of pandemic outbreaks and the ability to book flights might be a service that users come back to and eventually will opt to use for their flights.
Psychological Shifts and User Experience
Most people understand the immediate dangers caused by COVID-19. The psychological toll the pandemic is having has not yet been fully understood or quantified.
However, the pandemic has led to a lot of uncertainty. People want to feel secure. User design, whether it be of websites or of apps, can help generate less anxiety. Even if it’s not their primary function, digital apps can improve a person’s well-being and productivity. They can add a sense of normality to people’s lives, giving them something that they feel they can rely on.
UX designers must focus on building products that people want to use and want to come back to. They should also build products with their user’s mental health, especially considering the pandemic, in mind. Designers have the privilege and responsibility of creating products that society is going to use for the next years to come. They also have the benefit of years of studying user’s behavior.
This means that designers should be mindful of what they create. They should prioritize the impact of their design over its intent. They should consider the psychological makeup of their users and the long-term impact their designs can have.
It might sound like a stretch to say that websites and apps impact a person’s psychological well-being. However, most people have experienced the anxiety and stress that comes from not being able to check social media. They have experienced the elation that comes from getting positive feedback on something they post. Most know what it feels like to be bombarded with negative responses to a comment or post. This underscores the power of the impact of user design on the psyche of society.
Responding to Changes in User Groups
Not everyone has been affected by the COVID-19 pandemic equally. Some groups are higher risk, especially individuals who have certain pre-existing conditions or who are of a certain age group. Some professions are at higher risk, especially those in the medical field. And other groups may feel that they have little to no risk, especially young healthy adults.
The user experience for each one of these groups is going to be different. Each group may respond to the same information differently. For example, a photograph of a hotel being disinfected by an employee in a hazmat suit might cause an older individual or someone with serious concern about COVID-19 to feel at ease and want to stay at the hotel.
Conversely, the same photograph might cause a younger user with little concern about COVID-19 to shy away from the hotel because the image forces them to think about something that is not forefront in their mind. Politics and culture also play a factor. Certain governments have taken COVID-19 seriously, so their citizens have responded in kind. Others have downplayed the risk of the virus, creating a mirrored response in their citizens. Designers will need to take these regional differences into consideration.
Research is key in providing your users the best experience possible. COVID-19 has presented several challenges for businesses in all sectors. It is also providing opportunities for user experience teams to make adjustments to the websites, apps, and products they work on to benefit the lives of their users in ways that were not previously possible.
Think for a moment about how coronavirus has changed your life. You may have gone from commuting to an office to working at home. Instead of going to the gym, you exercise at home or not at all. You went from socializing in large groups to solely interacting with a small bubble of friends. You have replaced trips to the mall with online purchases. Fancy dinners out have been replaced with whole food delivery.
Individuals who visit your website are experiencing the same changes. As a result, their behaviors and preferences have shifted. This has changed what they expect when they visit your website. What was considered a good user experience at the start of 2020 may now seem out of touch and insufficient. According to the Toptal report, 88 percent of users are more likely not to return to a website after a bad user experience. Some research even showed that a well-designed UX interface could yield conversion rates up to 400 percent.
Now, anyone considering a job as a UX designer will need to value research as well as a proper education. The needs of users are shifting rapidly. Each group of users is unique and has been impacted by the coronavirus pandemic differently. Designers must be cognizant of:
Behavioral shifts
Changes in user groups
Psychological shifts
Regional effects
Temporal effects
Let’s look at some of these with the goal of understanding how they are creating the new normal in user experience.
How Behavioral Shifts Changed User Experience
Visitors to your website are not engaged in the same activities that they used to engage in. Or the frequency with which they perform certain activities has increased or diminished. Their motivation has also changed.
For example, your users may desire to use your product but feel afraid of catching the virus or spreading the virus. There are several industries that are affected by this. For example, the travel industry has seen a major downturn. This is true even in countries where people may fly around freely.
The economic consequences of COVID-19 are also changing the buying habits of people. Some people may have felt freer to charge purchases on their credit card because they were relatively confident that they were going to have a consistent paycheck. Now, they may avoid making purchases because they are worried that their future income is not guaranteed.
UX designers need to design with empathy for their customers’ worries, desires, and needs in mind. They need to dig past the superficial to uncover genuine concerns, needs, and behaviors when interacting with a website.
Designers need to think outside of the box and make websites that offer something that users will benefit from and come back to again and again. For example, people might not be booking flights yet. However, a website that also services as an easy portal to see travel restrictions across the world or that offers an up-to-date map of pandemic outbreaks and the ability to book flights might be a service that users come back to and eventually will opt to use for their flights.
Psychological Shifts and User Experience
Most people understand the immediate dangers caused by COVID-19. The psychological toll the pandemic is having has not yet been fully understood or quantified.
However, the pandemic has led to a lot of uncertainty. People want to feel secure. User design, whether it be of websites or of apps, can help generate less anxiety. Even if it’s not their primary function, digital apps can improve a person’s well-being and productivity. They can add a sense of normality to people’s lives, giving them something that they feel they can rely on.
UX designers must focus on building products that people want to use and want to come back to. They should also build products with their user’s mental health, especially considering the pandemic, in mind. Designers have the privilege and responsibility of creating products that society is going to use for the next years to come. They also have the benefit of years of studying user’s behavior.
This means that designers should be mindful of what they create. They should prioritize the impact of their design over its intent. They should consider the psychological makeup of their users and the long-term impact their designs can have.
It might sound like a stretch to say that websites and apps impact a person’s psychological well-being. However, most people have experienced the anxiety and stress that comes from not being able to check social media. They have experienced the elation that comes from getting positive feedback on something they post. Most know what it feels like to be bombarded with negative responses to a comment or post. This underscores the power of the impact of user design on the psyche of society.
Responding to Changes in User Groups
Not everyone has been affected by the COVID-19 pandemic equally. Some groups are higher risk, especially individuals who have certain pre-existing conditions or who are of a certain age group. Some professions are at higher risk, especially those in the medical field. And other groups may feel that they have little to no risk, especially young healthy adults.
The user experience for each one of these groups is going to be different. Each group may respond to the same information differently. For example, a photograph of a hotel being disinfected by an employee in a hazmat suit might cause an older individual or someone with serious concern about COVID-19 to feel at ease and want to stay at the hotel.
Conversely, the same photograph might cause a younger user with little concern about COVID-19 to shy away from the hotel because the image forces them to think about something that is not forefront in their mind. Politics and culture also play a factor. Certain governments have taken COVID-19 seriously, so their citizens have responded in kind. Others have downplayed the risk of the virus, creating a mirrored response in their citizens. Designers will need to take these regional differences into consideration.
Research is key in providing your users the best experience possible. COVID-19 has presented several challenges for businesses in all sectors. It is also providing opportunities for user experience teams to make adjustments to the websites, apps, and products they work on to benefit the lives of their users in ways that were not previously possible.
Art can come in many forms, even the most traditional ones. Embroidery is not typically associated in our minds with high-level creativity. If it was needed, Victoria Rose Richards gives us a creative glimpse of the British fields seen from the sky using embroidery as an art form.
A few of her amazing artworks are displayed in this post, more can be seen on her Instagram account, along with her other work.
Art can come in many forms, even the most traditional ones. Embroidery is not typically associated in our minds with high-level creativity. If it was needed, Victoria Rose Richards gives us a creative glimpse of the British fields seen from the sky using embroidery as an art form.
A few of her amazing artworks are displayed in this post, more can be seen on her Instagram account, along with her other work.
It’s not so often that you find some truly well designed packaging, so I was delighted to stumble upon this wonderful work done for Volta by Stamp.
Focused on typography and elements around it, the design uses lines, waves, and simple shapes to suggest the pasta rather than placing photos on it. The choice of colors and simplicity, along with simple line-based illustrations, are an amazing publicity for this Italian restaurant located in the heart of Osaka, Japan.
It’s not so often that you find some truly well designed packaging, so I was delighted to stumble upon this wonderful work done for Volta by Stamp.
Focused on typography and elements around it, the design uses lines, waves, and simple shapes to suggest the pasta rather than placing photos on it. The choice of colors and simplicity, along with simple line-based illustrations, are an amazing publicity for this Italian restaurant located in the heart of Osaka, Japan.
Being more productive and avoiding procrastination are the biggest challenges everybody wants to overcome.
The designer profession requires you to be a creative person. For someone who is always brainstorming there’s no other way to stay competitive.
All this sounds easy. Here is when frustration will come up because staying productive as a designer is super tough.
This world has been designed to distract you. You can easily put off things for later or jump from one thing to another.
Productivity can make the difference between two designers. You should be able to brainstorm and troubleshoot problems. At the same time, you will need to handle other tasks.
Here are some productivity tips for designers to stay focused, creative, and avoid procrastination.
Plan your day ahead
Planning is everything. If you don’t know where you are and where you go, anything will be the best choice.
Productivity comes from a well-organized agenda. Having clarity which is the next step and marked things done. It seems simple but most people don’t do it. There’s no point to pretend to be productive without a plan ahead.
This is not related to the field you are in, it is something that depends on you. Schedules and due dates are overwhelming.
Build a to-do List
Planning will give you the list of tasks you need to get done. Yet if you want to prioritize and organize your day a to-do list should be your weapon.
Without it is overwhelming to accomplish your daily goals. You have a lot of things on your plate but you don’t know where to start.
Once you create a to-do list and if you refer to it several times a day you have high chances to get things done easier and faster.
Build habits and stick to them
Building good habits will help you be more productive. Yet this is not as easy as it sounds; it requires commitment and patience to stick to them.
Your task is to build and stick to habits that work for you. They should make your life easier.
They will allow you to focus on creative activities having a positive impact at the end of the day.
Find peace in your environment
If you don’t feel peace and good vibes from your current environment, it could be a good idea to make a change.
Believe it or not, a few changes in your behavior are enough to recover and get inspired.
From hanging a picture of your family to a piece of art or even re-design completely your work environment are the changes you need to be more productive.
It’s not only about software high-quality tools it is also about all around you. Pens, board, notebooks, paper, or anything else that make your job easier. This generates emotions and creativity.
Figure Out the Best Time
Your optimal time slots are different than anyone else out there. If you figure out which time fits with which tasks you will have better results at the end of the day.
You already know yourself. You probably enjoy getting up early and start the day ahead of the rest of the world. Or on the contrary, you are a night owl and you feel you get more focus and creativity at nights.
Once you find the ideal time to work and that works for you, you will see the positive effects on your productivity.
Workout to Reset Your Mind
Working out creates emotions and they are the booster to productivity.
As a designer no doubt you will spend 90% of the day in front of your computer. This means you will not have the chance to give your body the movements it needs.
Exercise will reset the state of mind. It will disconnect from any work-related thing. You don’t need to go to the gym. You only need commitment and start to exercise from 20 to 30 minutes during the day.
Choose the Right Tools
I bet to say that you have heard this popular advice. Work smart, not hard.
Choose the right tools that will increase your productivity. You will deliver more with them.
No matter if you are designing a website, a mobile app, or a logo. There is one thing you need to make sure you have in place: the right tools and also they set up to make part of the job.
You have the freedom to get a freemium or premium tool. That depends on your possibilities. Either of them should help you to be more productive.
Tracking your time
Do you know how much time a task demanded you during the day? How do you know you are being faster than yesterday on the same task?
You will not have the answer to those questions if you aren’t tracking your tasks time.
If you follow the creation of a to-do list and if you make it achievable and realistic then it is a good opportunity to start to track each task. How can you do it?
There are plenty of tools out there that allows you to track your tasks. Basically, their usage is pretty straightforward. You decide which tasks tracking and to which project they belong to.
Tracking your tasks will give you more than productivity. It also helps you to keep the focus on tasks and allows you to evaluate where you could be faster.
Have effective and strong communication
Having strong communication skills should be a must for everybody. It’s not only about your technical skills, but also your abilities to communicate and handle the relationship with clients.
Sometimes there’s a barrier between you and your client due the client doesn’t know the topic and jargon of your field. You can fall into the mistake of using design words like wireframes, mock-up, and the client will feel lost.
If you can have effective and clear communication you can easily and as a result fulfill what exactly clients want.
When trying to complete a big task without dividing it up it is probably you will end up not finishing it on time or poor quality. You don’t need to overwhelm yourself and be snowed with the big picture instead see the small goals.
Break down the general goal into specific ones. Once you have granular tasks you can think about the priority.
Breaking down the tasks will not be worth it if you decide to assign yourself many of them at the same time. At this point, you should assign them based on the complexity, effort, and if you have worked on similar tasks before.
Use shortcuts
Sometimes we underestimate the power that keyboard shortcuts give us. No doubt once you use them you save a lot of time giving you the chance to spend that time on other tasks during the day.
You don’t need to memorize them, as soon as you start to know and use them the faster you will be. This is a simple way to gain extra time at the end of the day.
Repeated tasks like taking a screenshot are a real case scenario to leverage shortcuts.
Finally, the better thing is that you also can add your keyboard shortcuts, those you feel more comfortable with.
Breathe and take a break
No matter how busy you are or how many tasks you need to get complete. You need a way to disconnect completely from what you are working on – you need to take a break.
As a designer, you spend many hours a day sitting down in front of your computer as much time you stay there the less productive you will be.
Set aside time for a break every single day. It shouldn’t be a long time, five minutes will be enough to reset your mind and fill it out with energy to continue doing your job.
Give yourself rewards
One of the biggest mistakes everyone makes is to underestimate the act of rewarding yourself. When you get a kudos, clap, or even a material gift you feel important and rewarded.
Why not give the same to yourself when you have worked hard to get things done?
No need to buy something, it could be to stand up and go for a good coffee, see the sky for a while or prepare a great tea. Then sit down in front of your television and watch for a moment something that makes you laugh. By doing this you change your state of mind.
Avoid Distraction and finish what you start
This world is designed to distract you. Avoid falling into the distractions trap.
There are high chances that push notifications, email, or WhatsApp conversion comes up and distracts you.
If you jump to any of them you will waste your time, focus, and energy. Build the habits of sticking to what you are working on and force yourself to stay there until you finish it.
Find focus and motivation by listening to music
Music can have an incredible impact on the way you work. Find music that keeps you working at a steady pace, the genre will be different for everyone so try out different styles to see what works for you. Music relaxes your mind and soul. It gives you peace, focus, and inspiration.
Listening to music is a good decision while you are working since it keeps you motivated. No doubt, listing music will have a positive impact and effects on your productivity.
Share your Thoughts and Opinions
Sharing your doubts and thoughts early will save you a lot of time. Ask questions for clarification when you are not completely clear on your tasks.
This should be an often task during the creative process. Share your point of view based on your experience and hear other ones too.
A successful design team is the result of flexibility and an open mind. So don’t worry to try to spread your voice.
Keep Up the Momentum
Momentum makes you believe in the impossible. The battle is how you keep it up.
Every single day ask this question: what do I need to do today to get closer to my goal? This will get you quickly momentum and focus on what you are trying to achieve.
Your productivity will soar once you keep the momentum up.
As you know if you have been reading Designer Daily for a while, A’ Design Award & Competition is the world’s leading international annual juried competition for design. In a wide range of creative fields, designers compete for awards that are judged by an international jury panel of experienced academics, prominent press members, and established professionals. As a designer or agency, you can register on this page.
The Graphic Design and Visual Communication Awards
Most readers of Designer Daily will probably be particularly interested in the Graphic Design and Visual Communication Awards. Some of the type of designs that can be sent for this category include: Symbols, Logos, Typography, Posters, Books and Page Layouts, 2D Packaging and More. Graphic Awards Sub-categories and their descriptions are available on this page. The deadline
Previous winners of a Graphics and Visual Communication Award
The best way to understand what type of designs are accepted and appreciated, just check the previous years’ winners in this category.
Typeface Calendar by Katsumi TamuraGrand Egyptian Museum Corporate Identity by Rana GaberThe Moment 2020 Calendar by Xiutao FuI Really Like Math Interactive Textbook by Jaehun KimAirport Bremen Wayfinding System by Thomas GeissertFIL Brand Vision System Random But Unified Brand Vision System by Young HualeMountain Stone Exhibition Visual Exhibition Visual by Weiquan LongText of Cycle Font Design by Junheng LiPeace and Presence Well-Being Branding by Lisa WinstanleyAll In One Experience Consumption Infographic With Animated Gif by YuJin Jung
If the work you have seen above inspires you, do not hesitate to submit your own work and compete with the world’s best designers for recognition. Register here.
Making sure your website will look good on every browser and device needn’t be an insurmountable challenge. These responsive designs show you how it’s done.
When, according to data from StatCounter, more than half of today’s website traffic is viewed on mobile devices, a web designer is left with three options: (1) stick with desktop browsers, (2) go mobile, or (3) maximize traffic by going with both.
Going with Option 3 requires extra effort, but not all that much, and the rewards are great (if roughly twice the amount of traffic appeals to you).
There’s a list of specs and requirements that must be satisfied in designing a responsive website; but given today’s tools and techniques those specs and requirements needn’t be difficult to satisfy.
High-quality WordPress themes like those BeTheme provides do most of the heavy lifting for you to make designing a responsive website just like taking the proverbial walk in the park.
Both desktop and mobile users have easy access to your site, and Google will reward your responsive, mobile-friendly site with better search rankings
Which is why Responsive web design is a must.
It’s simply not true that responsive design takes desktop users out of the picture. Prioritize the mobile experience, and if you do it well everyone will be happy.
Let’s look at some examples of what “doing it well” involves.
How responsive web designs can encourage leaner yet highly engaging desktop experiences
One advantage of designing for desktop users is having more space, and therefore more pixels to work with. Trying to get the most out of “every pixel” is not only impractical but a poor design approach as well.
Consider the popularity of sites featuring minimalist design techniques or exhibit a generous use of white space.
Designers have in fact learned to create leaner and more efficient desktop experiences in their drive to create effective mobile experiences.
Take designer/developer Rob Grabowski’s website as an example.
On a mobile screen it looks like this:
Website visitors have no problem focusing on the welcoming message and the photo behind it.
Desktop visitors encounter virtually the sameexperience:
This is a great example of seamless transitioning between desktop and mobile displays. With the proper design techniques,it’s not hard to accomplish.
Mobile web designs that simplify and enhance the decision-making process
One of the pitfalls of an over-busy website is that it can present an overabundance of choices or options to the user, which in turn can make choosing between similar options more difficult.
Responsive design techniques force web designers to take a modular approach to designing a site, creating levels of website sections which in turn makes it easier to review one option at a time.
BeRepair, one of the 500+ pre-built sites in BeTheme’s library, does an excellent job of demonstrating this design approach.
This responsive layout makes it easy for the viewer to focus on the message without being distracted by an overabundance of information.
Let’s take a look at a completely different websitetype, in this case the BeRestaurant pre-built desktop site:
Great looking, right? The mobile version is every bit as attractive while featuring fewer details that could prove to be distracting.
Note how the menu has been placed on a separate but readily accessible level by incorporating it into the hamburger menu, allowing the visitor to proceed one step at a time.
Responsive designs that excludeexcessive information
Consider paintings you might encounter in an art museum.
You’ll see landscape murals that are rich in beautiful details yet still tend to have a central focus.
That central focus is generally more clearly defined in portraits, even when surrounded by intricate details.
Responsive websites offer the best of both worlds. When you think of landscape, think desktop, where there is an abundance of space to work with. When you think of portrait, think mobile, there’s less space to work with but more than enough to focus on the message.
To get from one to the other, it’s a matter of knowing what details can be trimmed away as excess in such a way as to ensure the mobile experience remains worthwhile.
BeITService is a good example of this. First, the desktop version:
This is a great looking home page. Plenty of detail, and plenty of space as well in this responsive image. Note how easy it is to remove some of the detail to create the mobile version:
While some of the image has been trimmed away, it’s fair to say that nothing has really been lost in the transition and the message is still front and center.
Culturally Connected, while involving some rearranging to make the transition, takes a very similar approach.
The desktop version:
The desktop version features a rather elaborate background graphic. Much of the graphic can however be looked upon as excess, giving you this on mobile:
Again, nothing has been lost. The secondary text has been placed in a different section where it will not serve as a distraction.
BeTutor is another great example of this technique. The desktop version looks like this:
To get to the mobile version, the designer simply omits the smaller text. The primary message remains intact.
None of the subject matter that reveals the type of service offered has been removed.The graphic is unchanged, and the design as a whole remains uncluttered.
Responsive websites that leverage their space
The previous two examples removed secondary textin the mobile versions. In the following example, by leveraging space web designers can sometimes take advantage of different screen size ratios.
The mobile version on the other hand takes advantage of the vertical space to show additional content that will be of value to the viewer.
While mobile designs are sometimes forced to show less content to work effectively, it doesn’t always have to be that way. BeCosmetics is a good example of this.
The desktop view:
The mobile view leverages the added vertical space to provide the viewer with some useful introductory content plus a button that invites the visitor to check out the product line:
While it may sound counterintuitive, having less space doesn’t always limit the amount of comment if you are able to leverage that space.
Responsive websites that heighten readability
Internet users tend to be an impatient lot to begin with, and even when they find a site to their liking, they’re not apt to put up with text that, for whatever reason, is difficult to read.
It’s not only font type that matters. Too many words on a line or cramped lettering can be enough to cause a reader to bail out.
One helpful hint is to use visual elements to even out the text, as has been done in the BeDanceSchool site.
While it’s easy for visitors to focus on the content on the desktop version, thanks to the eye-catching graphics, the same design won’t work on mobile. By taking advantage of both the strengths and weaknesses of mobile screen size, the problem can be handled like this:
Significantly paring back the graphic designelements enables visitors to easily read the content. The text itself is beautifully styled to support readability.
The choice of font size and type also matters of course. See what Base Coat has done to ensure the text is both readable and engaging:
Be mindful of the fact that, while a vertical format can often be used to advantage with respect to text, lengthy text that requires scrolling can prove to be daunting for mobile users.
Mobile sites that highlightvisual content
Turning from how best to deal with lots of text on mobile sites, let us now take a look athow storytelling elements can contribute to a highly positive mobile experience.
Starting with what visitors experience on BeBand on the desktop:
A mobile screen doesn’t provide nearly as many options to play with design balance as on a desktop, but it can nevertheless highlight whatever image you’ve chosen:
It’s not only website static images that work well on mobile. The Scott Resort, for example, invites its first-time mobile visitors to watch a brief video:
Regardless of the device a visitor is using, a responsive video will automatically conform to the width of the screen.
The video as seen on desktop:
The video on mobile looks like this:
A mobile responsive design gives the maximum number of users the experience you want them to enjoy by allowing your content to adapt to the devices they happen to be using.
Mobile responsive sites that do a great job of accumulating leads
It needs to be emphasized at this point that, while responsive websites will typically generate more traffic, mobile conversion rates are not as high as they are on desktop; a situation that is expected to improve over time.
Given than, a responsive site should be designed to capture as many leads as possible to help achieve an acceptable conversion rate.
The BeClub pre-built website illustrates how this can work:
Note how effectively “Newsletter” is highlighted on the home page, and how it immediately precedes an invitation to subscribe.
The result? A ton of subscribers.
Here’s how the same page appears on mobile:
Not only is it very well done, but the mobile version may be even more effective in engaging potential subscribers due to its smaller,more dedicated space.
As is the case here, and with all the previous examples, website owners receive an extra benefit whenever a visitor uses both desktop and mobile devices.
Responsive web designs for the win
What do WordPress users look for in a theme to base their website design on? Most certainly, they look for many if not all of the following qualities:
Easy to work with
Cost effectiveness
Key features
Customizability
Overall design quality, including performance
Yet another quality must be added, and that is responsiveness. Not every WordPress theme has been designed with mobile users in mind.
That’s not the case with BeTheme. Each of its more than 500 pre-built websites has mobile responsiveness baked right in. With BeTheme, you won’t have to agonize over how you think your pages might show up on mobile screens. You can spend the time you would have otherwise spent stressing yourself out with worry to getting your site online and building your business.
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