One of the most important aspects of modern web-design, is visual consistency. What the heck is that? Let me explain.
As humans, we are visual. We learn through our senses, and most specifically, our sense of sight. Therefore, your site’s appearance has an effect on your visitors’ subconscious. When it comes to looking for information online, we use our sense of sight to process, assess and interpret the world around us. Most of us will be surprised to see just how heavily we rely on our eyes for interpreting, assessing and processing what goes on in the world around us.
So how does visual consistency impact on our web designs?
Minor lapses in consistency may not be picked up consciously, but they have an influence on the results we get from our online presence.
Making First Impressions Last
Did you know that it takes 50 milliseconds for a user to judge your site?
Visual interactions are potent in decision-making and that’s why you should put your best foot forward when designing the upper fold of your website.
Enhancing Visual Flow
A clean site with good visual consistency will put your users at ease and help them to feel in control, subconsciously at the very least. When you’re designing your site for interaction, it is important to know enough about eye-pattern strategies to manipulate your visitors’ visual flow. It’s all about creating a rhythm that is broken up with smart variations that capture the user’s interest.
Creating Intuitive Learn-ability
Every time someone visits a new website, he has to learn a new system. Creating a user interface that is easy to understand can make your site quick and easy to understand, and visual consistency is an important factor in doing just that.
Giving your site an intuitive flow will make a user feel as though he or she has used it before. It is one of the most powerful tricks of the trade that forges an easy connection with your users.
Visual consistency is created by creating repetitive, yet attractive patterns, and interspersing it with insightful content. Minimalistic designs are clean, simple, and easy to keep consistent. Users find familiar websites simpler, and when designs become more complex, they find the sites less beautiful. A simple site with an unfamiliar design is also judged as less attractive. Therefore, you should create sites with designs that are consistent with other familiar sites in order to make your visitors feel more at ease using it.