When form follows function in Web design.

“Form follows function”, most of us have heard this at least once in our lives. This catch phrase is one of the bases of architecture. Its primary meaning is:

The principle is that the shape of a building or object should be primarily based upon its intended function or purpose.

It has lead and still leads to hot debates on its intended purpose. We can however take it literally and analyse it from a Web design angle.

The need for function.

Why would we need function in the first place, especially in the world of Web design? We’ve already seen how to optimise a site for search engines even before its coding:

• 5 tips to a successful seo oriented web project
• The Head element in SEO basics
• SEO in your code

This is one aspect of Web site designing. The other aspect remains the fact that a website has to fulfill a purpose. There are some real world cases that IT experts tend to forget. 90% of the persons out there are not that at ease with the web or a computer as we are. Its so easy to just say: “Ok, they’re not my primary audience so what the f***?”. This is where the leap has to be made.

You’ve integrated the concept of SEO, now integrate this one: people buy products and services, not search engines. Design your sites accordingly!

Be effective, profitable and convert.

Web designers, this is not about you. Many a time a web designer can end designing a site with this idea in mind: “how will it look in my portfolio?”. Its not about your employer also (if you’re in a company), you’re out there to answer to a need, conversion. This is where your work gets interesting. In the current credit crush and economic crisis climate, a website must not be a cost to a business but a real revenue center.

Another thing that should be taken into consideration is that web users, though not all computer savvy, are getting more and more ruthless and demanding from websites as well as a huge demand for simplicity. This takes user experience from yet a,other angle and calls for more usability for more profits. An example is the lack of conversion tricks on some of the Mauritian websites.

DHTML, JQuery, Ajax…

Eye candy! That’s one word that sums it all! We love that, we love the animation thing, the out of this world experience that lasts… 10 minutes. Yes, once the user has seen it, it gets boring to him. When I started my Web design career I was so easily influenced by all those javascript and DHTML tricks that would make a whole page go pop. And we didn’t even have ADSL at the time. I would script for the sake of scripting but there was not any real function to it. This where we fail to understand the function of a site.

Giving more importance to the form turns the site away from its goals and the project as well. A website designed like that will not work (in terms of returns on investment)!