When a web designer is starting to get the hang of css, cms, flash and/or xhtml application based web development software, they often find it tempting to jam as much cool content as possible. This is understandable since the first thing you want to do when you find a cool new script or widget is try it out and show it off, however when you bog down your website with tons of meaningless features it detracts from the overall objective of the website much of the time. Whoever may be visiting your website may be confused by the overall clutter of the website, and in-turn may end up being detracted from it! Below I’ve put together just a few design principles I notice very often when surfing the web, as well as reviewing client pre-Trident webpages.

Breathing Room

A webpages material needs “breathing room” to maintain ease of readibility. Take a look at the below examples, you’ll see what I mean by my metaphor. Specimen (A) is an example of what not to do, and specimen (B) is an example of what is effective to do from a design standpoint (Both are news publication websites). You’ll notice right away that even with how small these thumbnails are, your eyes still have an easier time scanning over specimen (B), and experience considerably less stress in comparison to (A).

(A) "The Bad"

(B) "The Good"

I think your catching my drift by now. If you really need to cram, better you require more scrolling, or simply have smaller thumbnail pictures. These couple changes to an existing website alone will make for a considerably more casual and enjoyable experience for your end-users. To conclude; If ANYTHING on your website goes outside of it’s initial objective, or hampers visitor experience, remove it!