And, there are many, however, the top ten web design mistakes just happen to be:
Bad Search
Search engines should be designed for usability and not made overly literal so they are unable to handle typos, plurals, hyphens, and other query terms variants. Search is a user’s lifeline when navigation fails. While, advanced search sometimes helps, it is the simple search that usually works best presented as a simple box, as that is what users are looking for.
PDF Files for Online Reading
Forget using PDF format for web designs, not only do they irritate but they also break the flow while browsing. Even simple things like printing or saving documents are made difficult, since standard browser commands don’t work.
Not Changing the Colour of Visited Links
Links are a key factor in navigation processes. Ensure visited and unvisited links have different colours so users are able to tell the difference between visited and unvisited links.
Non-Scannable Text
A wall of text is deadly for an interactive experience, boring and painful to read. It should be written with online not print in mind, drawing users into the text and supporting scannability with the following well-documented tricks of the trade:
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Sub-heads
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Bulleted lists
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Highlighted keywords
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Short paragraphs
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Inverted pyramid
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A simple writing style, and
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De-fluffed language devoid of marketese.
Fixed Font Size
Forget using CSS style sheets which unfortunately give websites the power to disable a Web browser’s ’change font size’ button and specify a fixed font size. About 95% of the time, this fixed size is tiny, reducing readability significantly for most people over the age of 40. Respect user preferences, letting them resize text as needed. As well, specify font sizes in relative terms, not as an absolute number of pixels.
Page Titles With Low Search Engine Visibility
Search is the most important way users discover websites. Search is also one of the most important ways users find their way around individual websites. The humble page title is your main tool to attract new visitors from search listings and to help your existing users to locate the specific pages that they need.
For your homepage, begin the with the company name, followed by a brief description of the site. For pages other than the homepage, start the title with a few of the most salient information-carrying words that describe the specifics of what users will find on that page.
Anything That Looks Like an Advertisement
Selective attention is very powerful, therefore, it is best to avoid any designs that look like advertisements, such as, banner ads, avid animation or blinking or flashing text, pop-up purges, etc.
Design Conventions
Consistency is one of the most powerful usability principles: when things always behave the same, users don’t have to worry about what will happen. The more users’ expectations prove right, the more they will feel in control of the system and the more they will like it.
Opening New Browser Windows
Opening up new browser windows is like a vacuum cleaner sales person who starts a visit by emptying an ash tray on the customer’s carpet. Designers open new browser windows on the theory that it keeps users on their site. The strategy is self-defeating since it disables the Back button which is the normal way users return to previous sites.
Not Answering User Questions
The ultimate failure of a website is to fail to provide the information users are looking for. Sometimes the answer is simply not there and a sale is lost because users assume your product or service doesn’t meet their needs, as there are no specifics. Other times the specifics are buried under a thick layer of marketese and bland slogans. Since users don’t have time to read everything, such hidden info might almost as well not be there.
The worst example of not answering users’ questions is to avoid listing the price of products and services.
