Smiling lady working on web design in her office.

It is no longer enough to just have a website, it must also be well designed, engaging for the user and represent the business in the best possible way. Arouse emotions and create action. It is a leadership responsibility.

Here you will find tips for creating web designs that stand out from the crowd, but first we will go over the basics.

Basic elements of website design

When creating a website, there are some basic things that must always be in place. We won't go into detail, but we will point out some elements that you should always make sure are in place.

Responsive design: As a rule, at least half of the traffic to a website comes from mobile, so a website should adapt to the device it is viewed on. And it must look good on all screen sizes. This ensures that the user gets an optimal experience regardless of whether they visit the website from a mobile phone, tablet or PC.
Navigation structure: The website should have clear and easy-to-understand navigation, so that users can easily find what they are looking for regardless of whether they land on the front page or deep down in the structure.
Usability: It's all about everything from fast loading times to clear, easy-to-understand messages. The rule of thumb is that the harder something is to use, the less it's used. Pretty simple, really, but also one of the hardest things to get 100% right.
Consistent design style: A consistent style and color palette creates security. Good web design also creates a brand, so avoid using design elements that are confusing. This will quickly get you rejected.
Search engine friendliness: Google and other search engines must be able to find, understand and index your web pages. If not, Google cannot show your web pages to its users. Then there are some technologies you need to be a little careful with. (Javascript, Flash, iframe++)

How to get a website design with that little something extra

To really stand out from the crowd and create a website that captures the attention of users, you need to take it a few steps further. And those steps should really be taken before you even start thinking about website design.

Brand strategy is the foundation of good web design

Brand strategy is the starting point. That's where you work out the gold and anchor the marketing work with the company's strategy. It is in this strategy work that you create a culture and a common understanding of what you are trying to achieve. A good, culture-creating strategy process gives the entire organization direction and makes all subsequent communication work much easier. Also web design and website development.

You can read more about brand strategy here , but let's highlight a few points that are particularly important to give your website design that little bit extra:

Insight work: To create something that creates emotion and action in customers and users, you need to understand what drives them and what problems they want to solve. It is in that work that we find what can differentiate your brand from the competition.
Goal setting: “What gets measured, gets done.” It’s a little easier to get there when you know where you’re going and how to find out if you’ve gotten there. Good goal setting at the brand level will also ensure that you create a website that contributes in the right direction.

But strategy must be brought down to earth so that it is easy to incorporate into everyday work. This is where brand identity comes in. Brand identity is about, among other things, the use of colors, typography, tone of voice and graphic design. Concrete choices. This is how it should look with us.

Often this involves putting in place what we call a design system. It's a template that makes it easy for everyone in the business to create marketing materials - and website designs - that are consistent and recognizable. It's about both making people confident in you as the sender, and minimizing time-consuming small talk about shape and color.

Concept, user experience and creativity

"Don't Make Me Think". “Keep it Simple”. A fundamental principle in web design is to make it as easy as possible for people to do what they came to the website to do. Simplicity can of course create good feelings, but if you are going to create lifetime value and build a brand , the websites must also be memorable. Create emotions!

So how can we keep it as simple as possible and at the same time be creative?

The insights from your brand strategy and the work that follows will help you give direction to your creativity, but you need good communication concepts. This is where you figure out what problems the website should solve and how you will solve them, and this is where the truly exciting websites find their magic.

Many people skip this phase because they are eager to get started implementing their brand strategy. Don't make that mistake. Set aside time for good minds to sit together and work out exciting concepts. Remember: The best ideas are often created not in a creative head, but between creative (and other) heads.

Here are some examples of creative techniques you can use to find good ideas and concepts:

Brainstorming: Gather a group of slightly different professionals and ask them to empty themselves of all ideas and thoughts around a topic. No ideas are rejected or criticized, and the goal is to generate as many ideas as possible in a short time. Afterwards, the ideas can be sorted and further developed.
Design thinking: This is a methodology we professionals like to use and is based on insight and empathy for the needs of customers/users. The process involves understanding the user's needs, defining the problem well, generating ideas, prototyping, testing and iteration.
Mind mapping: A technique used to organize and structure thoughts and ideas. You start with a main topic and create a mind map that connects different ideas and concepts around the topic. Often helpful when unstructured creative minds need to connect their ideas to the overall strategy.
Moodboard: This is a visual creative process that helps define a style or feel for a design project. It can be a collage of images, colors, and typography that provides inspiration and a shared vision for the team. Moodboards are often used in the development of a brand identity, but can also be useful to bring to bear in later processes.
SCAMPER: Substitute, Combine, Adapt, Modify, Put to other uses, Eliminate, Reverse. Substitute, Combine, Adapt, Modify, Put to other uses, Eliminate, Reverse. Often innovative ideas don't come out of nowhere, but by looking at existing ideas and challenging them. SCAMPER is a creative technique that helps you look at a challenge from different angles.

Read how artificial intelligence (AI) can transform the design industry.

Inspiration for good design

Good clients often produce good work (Snikskryt), so we think you should take a look at our projects . But there are many others who are doing big and small things that you can be inspired by. Here are some resources we like to use to get inspired:

Awwwards ( https://www.awwwards.com/ ) Awwwards honors and recognizes creative websites with awesome designs. Here you can find many inspiring websites from different categories and genres.

Behance ( https://www.behance.net/ ) This is a platform for creative professionals in design, illustration, photography, and more. Here you can discover many inspiring projects and portfolios with great design.
Designspiration ( https://www.designspiration.com/ ) Pretty self-explanatory: Inspiring design projects and ideas from various sources and genres.
Site inspire ( https://www.siteinspire.com/ ) Site inspire showcases the best in web and interactive design. They really highlight a variety of ways to use visuals in web design.

Ask us about web design

If you need help creating good, engaging websites, we are more than willing to help, as long as you are also willing to take the task seriously and give your customers and organization something they can be proud of.

Our strength lies in simplifying, highlighting and respecting what is unique.

Send us an email at hello@mission.no or call us at 24 10 35 00