. It is here where consumers will learn more about your brand, dig deeper into your products and services and reach out to buy or learn more. Therefore, it’s absolutely critical that your website offers a great experience.
When building your website, don’t rush through the process of look and feel development. This important stage ensures that your website will properly represent your brand, be consistent with your other assets and provide a top-quality customer experience.
What is look and feel development?
Before a website is actually programmed in the back end, its initial front-end design is created as a blueprint. This design stage is what is called the look and feel development.
This process outlines the “look”—the visual design—and the “feel”—the movement and navigation components—of your website. Essentially, it includes anything a visitor will see or experience while browsing the site.
These components are much more important than you might initially realize. The “look” includes things like
color, imagery and typography, but it also takes spacing and layout into consideration. Together, these items shape the aesthetics of a website.
The “feel” components concern movement and interaction. These include things like drop-down menus and navigation buttons, galleries, forms, sound effects, motion graphics and videos. These elements determine how a user experiences the site.
How look and feel improves the customer experience
The look and feel of a website offer subtle messages that help visitors form an opinion about a brand. Ultimately, you want the look and feel to represent your company while meeting your customers’ expectations.
Something as simple as the speed and manner in which a drop-down menu appears can speak volumes about a brand’s personality. The organization of elements on a page, the way color is used to draw the eye or form a palette, the use of shapes and textures—every one of these pieces helps your customers understand more about your brand.
When browsing a website, you might not think consciously about its look and feel. However, you’re likely cataloging the impressions these elements make in the back of your mind. That is, unless you are stuck by a particularly intriguing—or a particularly frustrating—element.
Great look and feel development can maximize the customer experience by sending consistent and accurate messages about your brand. Lackluster look and feel development, on the other hand, can send mixed messages,
reduce consumer trust
and—worst of all—make the user experience frustrating. If a website is difficult to navigate because of its layout and interaction, visitors are more likely to click away and generate a negative image of your brand as a whole.
Look and feel development usually encompasses numerous redrafts and changes to ensure the website looks and feels just right. It’s important not to rush through this process. Do research, try new things and tweak elements as necessary to find the perfect result that represents your brand.
Look and feel development is just one component of many during the branding process. If you’re in need of a creative partner to help bring your brand vision to life,
say hello
to Spin Creative.
About Us
Spin Creative is a video production company and creative agency helping marketers create winning video and creative strategies that engage, inspire and activate targeted audiences. Spin is headquartered in Seattle with offices in San Francisco and London, serving brands around the globe.
