How important is "web design" to you as someone browsing the web?

Cromulent

Cromulent

Cromulent

Soldato
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I'm building a website and wanted some feedback. I'm a programmer with zero design skills so I've been using a prebuilt CSS framework (Bootstrap 5) to build my website. It is a highly technical site so doesn't have to look flashy or anything. I've seen some other sites in my niche which are also very simple in terms of design and they seem to be doing ok.

My main goal is to present the information in a fast manner so I don't want to require downloading kilobytes of JS and CSS just to view the website. I'll also be using a CDN to speed things up.

What is your view on this topic? Do you leave sites if they look "plain" or not very interactive?
 
What are you trying to achieve with your site? If you're just sharing some technical info, then make it functional and don't worry too much.
 
Good web design shouldn't get in the way of function.

Given your function is technical/factual/instructional then less should be more. In your case the user shouldn't notice the design at all. Use good contrast for page elements and text, keep it accessible, keep the files lightweight.

If you're expecting/hoping for a large user base then all you really need is decent navigation. Plus if you're not confident with the frent-end side of things, aim for an MVP, get it out there then you can always open it up to feedback for future refinement.
 
Keep it clear and functional, don't put in a load of fancy stuff just for the sake of it because you think that's required these days etc.

Also getting *a* site up is better than not publishing anything because you're distracted/sidetracked by wanting to add a load of fluff to it.
 
I think it really depends on the category of website / product being sold (and the target market as a result) - in some cases, less is more.
 
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Definitely depends on the purpose of the website. I've worked on highly corporate internal apps, public marketplaces, blogs etc. and they all have different requirements for design.

Designs should be for the intended audience, and ease & accessibility will often trump beautiful looks.
 
Depends on your target audience really. If its just a technical website then design matters less as people are just hunting for information. See websites such as StackOverflow, they're simple. So long as it is presented in a clean way. If its a brochure site the design matters much more.
 
I really hate how UI and UX have become buzzwords that nobody in the industry actually seem to understand, but good "design" is 100% about the User Interface - how people engage and use your site - and User Experience - how satisfying it is to use, how simple to navigate, how logically structured, etc.

As long as your site delivers your information without fuss and clutter, is simple to access and navigate and everything can be easily found (or searched for) then it doesn't really matter what it "looks" like.

Also Bootstrap and every other site/CSS framework out there sucks. They're all bloated with cruft and use the "latest" trends and technologies for largely no reason.
 
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LePhuronn said:
I really hate how UI and UX have become buzzwords that nobody in the industry actually seem to understand, but good "design" is 100% about the User Interface - how people engage and use your site - and User Experience - how satisfying it is to use, how simple to navigate, how logically structured, etc.

As long as your site delivers your information without fuss and clutter, is simple to access and navigate and everything can be easily found (or searched for) then it doesn't really matter what it "looks" like.

Also Bootstrap and every other site/CSS framework out there sucks. They're all bloated with cruft and use the "latest" trends and technologies for largely no reason.
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I get your point. The reason I use Bootstrap is I have no idea how to make things look and feel in a way that makes information easy to comprehend. Maybe I should look at some graphic design courses or something similar.
 
buzzwords aside, you'd benefit more initially from UI and UX courses. That way you'll know how to arrange and present information, navigation and such clearly, which in itself will make things "pretty". You can add the glitz and glam later on.
 
Keep it simple always, I'm sure bootstrap has plenty of component libraries to take your pick from, simple copy and paste jobs.

I think my site is linked in my profile, that's straight up simple UI using Tailwind with a Laravel backend and 1 JS library, jQuery for handling the Ajax on my form and mobile nav.

Never overdo web design. I'll give you an example - I worked with a well known consumables brand for years, conversion rate over 3% (which in retail, is good). After I closed my previous company, I recommended they go to another service provider who carried out a 'UX audit' followed by a swanky facelift of the UI. The conversion rate tanked and they were losing sales hand over fist which proves the point, substance over style.
 
Tee Hee Johnson said:
I’m losing interest in the design/ui/ux these days, the thing that gets in my way is cookie/analytics prompts.

I feel I judge a site these days before I even get to the site!
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Cookie and data prompts are certainly way more intrusive. It probably comes down to active consent now being a legal requirement. It's safer for them.
 
Paracelsus said:
I prefer 90s/early 00s style websites TBH - minimal bogging down with frameworks/scripts.
Main things are is it easy to navigate and clear where everything is, everything else is a bonus.
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This, 100% this - the amount of blogs who use massive frameworks, thirteen different languages and ten thousand lines of Javascript is insane. Give me basic HTML and a bit of vanilla CSS any day of the week, there is very little actual use for Javascript in my opinion. Every single aspect of the web has become complexity for complexity sake, nowadays people seem to think you need some Kubernetes cluster to host a Wordpress site which gets 5 visitors a month with full on load balancing, HA and observability.

*Extremely opinionated web user.
 
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