Written By: admin on February 15th, 2011
Welcome to Website Design Wednesday. It’s a new thing, I’m hoping it catches on. Today’s topic: what is a good website redesign? I know a lot of people wonder about this subject. Well, I do at least. Here’s some things that a great website redesign should get right:
Don’t screw up your audience’s expectations.
Oh, sure. I bet you were thinking I’d talk about CSS or web standards. We’ll get to those, someday. But first, you need to keep your audience in mind. If they’ve gotten used to using your site one way, you better have a very good reason for making huge changes to that experience. I’m not saying you shouldn’t make wholesale changes to your site architecture. But if you do make huge changes, you should really make them with your audience in mind. Anticipate their needs. How can you do this? By spending a bit of time with your Google Analytics or whatever website stats app you use. Learn how your audience is using your site today, before making changes that could mess them up.
Simple is good.
Many times in a web redesign project, we’re asked to have a billion huge buttons screaming and competing for attention. That’s just nutso. Don’t fill up the pages with billions of competing messages. Settle on a few key actions you want people to do when they visit your site. If you do that, I’ll stop exaggerating. Truth is, we’re not asked for billions of huge, competing buttons. It’s usually in the low millions at most.
Consistency is better.
Websites that don’t work the way you think they should ruin the experience and make customers hate you. A consistent user interface throughout the site is best. But it’s not just the UI I’m talking about, here. A certain consistency in the tone of the written and visual content of your website goes a long way towards a successful website redesign.
Make sure the new design fits your brand’s image.
Every once in a while, a potential client will tell us they want a website that’s nothing like any of their marketing or advertising materials. Something that doesn’t truthfully reflect the company. This is almost always a mistake. Your brand is something that needs to be nurtured and carefully protected. It’s OK to extend your brand or identity by stepping out a little with your website. But the best websites are readily identifiable as representing the brands and organizations they were created for. There’s a reason for this.
That’s all for today- happy Website Design Wednesday!
Written By: Heather on February 3rd, 2011
Los Angeles Digital and Interactive Agency PatrickOrtman, Inc. Completes the Website Redesign for the Muslim Public Affairs Council (MPAC)
LOS ANGELES, Calif., Jan. 19, 2011 /PRNewswire/ — The Muslim Public Affairs Council (MPAC) proudly announces that digital agency PatrickOrtman, Inc. has completed an extensive redesign of the nonprofit’s website.
“We’re very proud of the new website design, and it couldn’t have happened without PatrickOrtman, Inc. It’s a much friendlier and accurate reflection of our organization as we have grown,” says Hasnain Syed, Communications Designer at MPAC.
The new website was designed to give policy makers, members of the Muslim American community, and the citizenry at large the resources and information needed to help make better decisions that impact the Muslim American community and our nation.
“Working with MPAC was a great experience, and not just because it’s always nice to work with people who want to make the world a better place,” says agency founder Patrick Ortman. “They also listened to our expertise, as we listened to their needs, and that really helped the project succeed. The website redesign was a true partnership.”
Created in 1988, MPAC is an American institution which informs and shapes public opinion and policy by serving as a trusted resource to decision makers in government, media and policy institutions. MPAC is also committed to developing leaders with the purpose of enhancing the political and civic participation of American Muslims. Their website is at www.mpac.org.
PatrickOrtman, Inc. is a digital agency based in Los Angeles, California. They’ve designed websites and created video and interactive projects for 8 Fortune 500 clients and hundreds of smaller organizations. Their website is at www.patrickortman.com.
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Written By: Patrick on January 13th, 2011
Jeffrey Zeldman over at Happy Cog wrote a post recently about how it’s our responsibility to design websites that are better than good. As he wraps up, he asks an interesting question:
“Engaging sites and apps have that extra something that commands our loyalty without demanding our constant attention. It isn’t a showy opulence, and it isn’t a technology—bragging that your site is built with HTML5 and expecting users to care is like Certs hawking Retsyn. So how do we set our sites and apps apart? What ways of thinking and working lead to the details and touches that aren’t just special, but are special in a way people care about, and to which the right customers will respond?”
To me, it’s all about story. All the whizzy CSS3 and HTML5 stuff, all the killer layouts and so forth don’t mean a thing without it. If you’re designing a website and have a solid understanding of your client’s story, you’ll be inclined to make design decisions that enhance and support that story. Sort of like how Zeldman’s ceiling moldings and sweet hardwood floor enhance, support, and define the space that is his NYC apartment.
The best stories are true. Certs hawking Retsyn feels weak, and possibly untrue. I mean, I’ve never seen that drop of Retsyn, and it really feels like an artificial device created by a copywriter. However, Altoids do indeed feel curiously strong to me. That story resonates, because it feels true. Curiously enough, Altoids’ marketing (online and broadcast) is decently well designed to support and enhance their core story. Certs doesn’t even have a website, anymore.
Now, yes, we do a lot of video over here, and I do live in Hollywood so I’m a little inclined to want to yell “story!” like a psycho wants to yell “fire!” in a theater. But most of the website redesign projects we’ve undertaken need a lot more than a new design. They need a real rethinking of the project from the ground up. Done right, that starts with a clear and solid understanding of your client’s story.
Without it, all the whizzy stuff just doesn’t matter.
Written By: Patrick on January 12th, 2011
We just got our copy of The FabJob Guide to Becoming a Web Designer from the publisher, and we’re in it!
Author Barbara Lightner quotes me in a few places, as I talk about my experiences starting out as a website designer back in 1993, and how cutting edge website design has changed in the past 17 years. The book is a good, fast read, and probably a great introduction to the business of web design.
This is the second book that’s come out recently which talks about our expertise in designing and building successful websites.
Written By: Patrick on December 27th, 2010
About a year and a half ago, I wrote an article on how to choose a digital agency. Back then, a lot of people really didn’t have much of an idea about what a digital agency actually was, and our transition towards defining ourselves as a digital agency was a somewhat risky thing to do. Now, it’s 2011 and digital agencies have gone mainstream.
Back in 2009, I defined a digital agency as being composed not only of great technologists, but also of excellent creative storytellers and problem solvers. I said that a great digital agency “rises above the noise by insisting on a creative partnership with its clients, and is constantly thinking up ways that its clients can take advantage of online technology to better reach their customers”. Since then, as the role of digital agencies in client successes has expanded, we believe in that statement more than ever.
These past years, we’ve aggressively grown our digital agency, making serious inroads into high-end video production, social media, and of course keeping up with the latest trends and techniques in website design. All of this effort was (more…)
Written By: David on December 27th, 2010
We’re often asked, ‘What makes a great website design?’ It’s a great question. A great website…
Is Well-Planned
Successful companies understand that, to the world, their website is their business. That’s one reason why we don’t work with clients who demand design mockups during the proposal phase—a great website design is created through a great partnership, between agency and client, and requires a deep understanding of your business. If you skimp on the planning phase, you decimate your chances for success.
Is Easy To Use
The best website designs appear simple and clean, and are deceptively difficult to create, but are a joy to use. They combine right-brained artistic sensibilities & left-brained technology in a way that makes the most of both, and elevates your business.
Uses Flash Wisely
We love Flash, and it can add to a user’s experience online. But too many companies build full-Flash websites for their clients, and those aren’t easy to update and don’t give a very good search engine ranking.
Embraces Web Standards
Websites that follow web standards serve more people on a wider variety of devices. A company website design that uses web standards also helps with search engine optimization (SEO), and is easier to update and maintain. Many of our nonprofit and government website design clients are legally required to embrace web standards, but it’s the right thing to do no matter what kind of business or organization you are. Luckily for you, we know how to make web standards based websites rock.
Provides Measurable Results
Too many businesses have no idea if their website is helping their bottom line. Our clients know that their website redesign efforts are paying off, because we work with our clients to determine measurable goals, and we implement the online tools needed to help measure the website’s success over time.
Written By: Patrick on December 22nd, 2010
Sorry, clients- this post is for all the other digital/interactive agencies who read our blog on a regular basis.
Well, 2010 is pretty much over. I hope it was a great one for your company, and I’d like to share a few articles that we really enjoyed over here at PatrickOrtman, Inc. Without any further ado:
The Designer’s Cross Training Toolkit . There’s a lot of articles every year that talk about how designers- for the web, video, whatever- should work to expose their brains to different creative venues. I’ve certainly written a few articles about that, over the years. This article from Smashing is a nice update to the idea that as designers do their best work when we’re not in a rut.
Persuasion Triggers in Web Design. If you’d like your clients to be more successful, I highly recommend reading this article about how to design websites with an eye towards driving user behavior. Like the author says, a lot of successful web designers use many of these techniques intuitively, but it’s nice to have these things written down.
Web Design Questionnaires. OK, the truth is we get a lot of prospects who come to us looking for a website redesign, a video production, whatever. But we don’t want to work with everyone, we’re somewhat picky in the clients we accept, and I bet you are, too. Without a good set of new client worksheets, questionnaires, etc., you may find your staff spending more time screening leads than doing the work that pays the bills. Last year I implemented a series of new client worksheets, and it’s saved us a ton of time. It’s the end of the year, so now’s a great time to revisit how your company screens and qualifies potential clients.
That’s it. Three little articles. They should only take you ten minutes to read, and hopefully you’ll learn a few new things from them!
Thanks again for reading our blog, and Happy Merry to all.
(neato image by Marc Theile)
