Web design encompasses a variety of disciplines and skills in the creation and maintenance of web sites. These web sites typically include business information, product or service descriptions, media releases, and other interactive material. The various fields of web design cover web graphic design; web user interface design; visual communication design; authoring, which includes proprietary software and standardised codes; and search engine optimisation. It is through the processes of web design that an organisation can make its presence felt online.
In addition to the skills and knowledge needed to design web sites, it is also essential to have an understanding of human usability. This is especially important in an environment where forms of communication are used to share information, products, and services. The practice of user experience design seeks to maximise the effectiveness of these interactions and to ensure the users do not experience any form of frustration or discomfort while using a website.
Human usability is an area of study that is inclusive of interaction design, visual design, psychology, and sociocultural studies. Social media professionals are engaged in collecting and utilising consumer research to inform the process of web design work. This research can provide social media professionals with the information they need to incorporate social media features into their web design work. Examples of such information are user ratings and feedback, search engines rankings, and user demographics.
When soliciting ideas for the web design process, designers will need to think about how people will interact with the site. For instance, will the visitor be able to scan the website for content or will they need to click on links in order to find what they are looking for? Where will the visitor see the layout of the site? These questions and more are the reason why the process of web design is known as a ‘design process’.
Designers often take on the challenge of incorporating new technologies and software into web design. Some web designers are proficient in using technology and creating websites while others are not so skilled. The job of the web designer who is not so proficient is to communicate the creative side of the web design into something that is aesthetically appealing. In addition, this person needs to have knowledge about the technical aspects of the technology. Sometimes this person may even need to liaise with the technical staff to make sure that everything runs smoothly. This person then takes on the additional task of assisting the clients in the implementation of the website as well as providing ongoing support.
It can be difficult for a person who does not have a great web design portfolio to stand out from the crowd. For this reason, many people will outsource their web design work to freelance designers. Hiring a freelance designer to create a good web design portfolio can be a great way to get an effective web design project handled. There are some things to keep in mind when you are hiring freelancers to do web design work for you though. First of all, it is important to make sure that you screen all the potential candidates to ensure that they have a good design portfolio to show you and they understand what they are doing.