January 21, 2006

If content is the king, consistency in content and design is the queen. Dictionary describes consistency as anything “in agreement with itself, reliable and steady.” In the internet world, this should apply to a website. This means that a website design should be in agreement with itself, reliable and steady. In short, it should be consistent.

In the wilderness of the World Wide Web, the internet savvy citizens tend to apply different rules to websites. And because of this, web developers and designers alike need to create, maintain and support apparently similar websites. That is, they should follow the trends of the current web design age.

With the passage of time, a number of common practices have emerged that serve to preserve similarity in website design. It is also a fact that — barring a certain margin for creativity and diversity — if you stray from the current established trends, you risk confusing (and eventually losing) your website visitors, who expect certain conventions in website design. Some of these similarities include:

The logo: The logo is usually on the top, top-left or top-right. People need assurance that they are still surfing your site. What better way to reassure them than through a company logo, or site name, displayed boldly upfront?

Navigation bar: This is on the top, left, right or on all the locations mentioned. You need to give visitors their space to move around. Let them navigate.

Content: Generally, the main body content appears in the centre of the page. But this is not a strict practice anymore.

Foot links and information: Copyright, trademarks, privacy policies and web-page information; links to all of these usually appear at the bottom of the page.

The above-mentioned conventions are in no way meant to become a barrier or constraint to your creativity and diversity. These are simply guidelines to make your website more user-friendly.

One of the finest examples of consistency in web designing is stopdesign.com. This site is a fantastic composite of uniqueness and artistry, while simultaneously catering to above-mentioned ‘unity disciplines’. Founded in 1998 by Douglas Bowman, Stopdesign is one of the leading names in the visual designs (web and print) arena. Examples in the accompanying box will give the readers an idea of how the designers follow rules without hampering their creativity.

Following are a few factors that will help budding designers understand why consistency is so important:

— Constant and regular page elements (such as a logo, navigation bar and search box) create a sense of subconscious familiarity in the users’ mind. When a visitor logs on to your website the second time, and sees the page laid out in the same way as they remembered it, the earlier experience acts as an assuring factor.

Consequently, the visitor feels ‘safe’, and subconsciously, is more inclined to becoming a regular user of the site. Familiarity leads to trust, trust leads to business.

— If a visitor sees different layout schemes on every page, he or she is likely to become confused. And confusion leads to abandonment. Unity in design is crucial.

— Consistency also reduces work load. It allows you to create generic templates and style sheets instead of individually styling pages across a website. This is by far a more efficient money- and time-saving practice.

It makes site maintenance easier, and most importantly, allows the implementation of XML (eXtensible Markup Language), CSS (Cascading Style Sheets) and other technologies that rely on well-structured codes.

Consistency is not necessarily the last refuge of the unimaginative, despite what Oscar Wilde might tell you. But consistency throughout your website design and layout can help you minimize development and maintenance costs.

It saves you a lot of petty coding issues such as with recurring elemental code. Most importantly, it provides for a better, more satisfying user experience for your clients. A satisfied customer means more customers. It’s elementary my dear Watson!

The author waleed@doubleudesigns.com is a freelance web designer