By Sy Kamal, LCI

The attention span of an average human has dropped to eight seconds which is why website design should capture the user’s attention quickly. Once a website has loaded, the user takes half a second to make up their mind about certain aspects of the website. The speed of website visitors’ comprehension and decision-making has left website owners with very little room for experimentation and an immense need to “up their game” frequently.

Does this mean redesigning your whole website for changing times? Let’s look at some notable brands that have recently had a complete overhaul. IKEA revamped its website to improve customer experience, LinkedIn dropped its decade-old design, Twitter organized its clutter, YouTube went for a darker look and the Apple Store chose a modular layout, all in the name of staying abreast with changing times. Redesigning without putting your unique visitors’ interest at heart can be costly and prove detrimental for the business.

Are you thinking about redesigning your website? Here are some tips to help.

Avoid convoluted navigations.

Steer clear of a menu with too many dropdowns. Most users will not go through the whole menu but prefer to scroll down the website to skim for information instead.

Research user behavior.

In the year 2021, a website redesign is futile without an in-depth analysis of user behavior. How a user interacts with your website tells you everything you need to know about revamping your website. The New York Times’ new overhaul speaks volumes about their users’ behavior. They allow the user to customize news layouts with pictures or video materials and sync messages with screenshots in social media – a common practice by many New York Times readers.

Win hearts with minimalism and clean design.

A clean design favors minimalism over a chaos of words. Website visitors appreciate the time savings by getting the information they need quickly. Even though it is tricky to capture attention with an image alone, if there is an enticing image with a call-to-action, decision-making becomes easier.

Use new font combinations.

All website users will second the movement to retire fonts like Helvetica, Times New Roman and Ariel. Cursive fonts are also a big no-no for web redesign in 2021. Instead, use font combinations that display your brand’s message. Applying modern fonts that are experimental but do not have readability issues on different screens is a must.

Think mobile from the get-go.

When you gather ideas for a website redesign, you should always consider how the design will look on mobile. It is not a mere screen size adjustment. Make this a part of your initial brainstorming session to avoid issues further down the road.

I hope these tips will help set the pace for your website’s redesign.