Why creativity can lead you astray, and why boring web design could be the answer

• Nikolai is a Webflow web designer who has designed a variety of Webflow templates

• You can find Nikolai at nikolaibain.com or on youtube @nikolaibain

Problem #1: Dribbble exists, and the wrong work is being featured

• Dribbble is an example of really creative ideas, layouts for web design
• Dribbble design is created on a canvas, promotes creativity, but not necessarily usability
• Looking at a few examples:

• Too many call to actions
• Horizontal scroll, downward scrolling
• Hamburger menu on desktop - makes the site harder to use
• Ineffective layouts prioritise the wrong things - need to prioritise the way that users want to use the web - not creativity
• Creative websites may get replaced down the line with websites that are more effective

Takeaway #1: Sometimes “good” design is not sexy (sadly)

Problem #2: Beautiful sites are built, and then left to rot

• Solution: analytics!
• Looking at an example:

• Russel Brunson’s Marketing Secrets website
• Looks kind of ugly, but is very effective
• Copy and structure has been tested and adjusted to optimise for conversion

• Tools

• Hotjar - great for heatmaps to show you how users are using your site, great for understanding how people are trying to find information on your site, individual recordings for how users are using site, can help you pick up on when users are getting stuck/confused
• Google Analytics - informative to know what pages people spend time on
• User Testing - paid user testing to learn more about how people use the site and get more detailed information/testing feedback

Takeaway #2: Good design is optimised over time

Problem #3: Beautiful sites shift the focus to the wrong place

• Taking a look at a few examples:

• ‘Ever’ website: scrolling is not fixed, a lot of interactions that aren’t clear. Sets the focus on the design, not the SEO, not the pagespeed optimisation, not on usability, not on conversions
• #1 focus should be on how can we get the most users to reach out/convert? E.g. popups can be intrusive, but is giving users an effective chance to reach out
• Raygun website - loads fast, simple layout, works well
• Apples homepage - super simple, minimalist, goal is to get users to the right spot on the site so they can pitch new products to you

Takeaway #3: Good design focuses on usability, speed and SEO (which can make for boring web design!)

Questions to ask yourself about your web designs:

• Does the site load fast?
• Does it have good SEO to show up well on Google?
• Does it have clear CTAs to push users through the page?
• Can we improve the design over time with different analytics

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