Emotion in Web Design
What role does emotion play in web design, and successful online marketing?
How does your web design make people feel? What emotions does it stir? Will it attract, persuade and motivate? Indeed, the ability of web design to touch emotions is more important than the artistry behind it. Every web design generates an emotional response in the viewer, ranging from boredom to excitement. The key, is skillfully using design elements that touch the heart in a way that forms an emotional bond to your product or service.
Emotion is overlooked by many web designers, who focus on web technology fads or trends. The current buzzphrase is ‘web design 2.0,’ a series of trendy design elements that give all web sites adopting them a similar look. The ‘web 2.0 look,’ started as a widely adopted approach to blog design, and migrated to general web design. It has a distinct set of design tricks and visual cues. ‘Web 2.0′ designers have coined phrases such as ‘spanky corners,’ ‘spiffy boxes,’ and ’2.0 badges,’ to describe its visual fads and tricks. Its all very trendy, cute, and overdone.
The negative result is this: All ’2.0′ web design not only looks the same, it has the same emotional value. Rather than creating an emotional effect apropos to your product or service, the design simply mimics a creative fad that cannot stir the emotions of your market. On the other hand, the shrewd web designer focuses on the what is appealing to your product’s market, not other designers.
How do I want the visitor to feel about my clients product or service? That question should be the driving force behind web design created for your business. Forget the design fads, the popular colors of the day, etc., Focus on the emotional connection made to your audience.
I created the web design featured on this page for a travel marketer. He provides the sort of destination planning demanded by discerning customers. How will they feel when visiting his website? This web page design speaks of the desirability of the destination. It communicates to the heart of its intended audience. The colors evoke a sense of wanderlust in the viewer. The design is tasteful, never shouting or garish. Yet it has subtle details that touch the heart, creating a yearning in the viewer. Those quiet details affect feelings, and evokes the emotional response our client seeks.
Emotional web design is never indifferent or perfunctory. It touches the heart, and forms an emotional bond. That emotional reaction is often the prime factor motivating a potential customer to choose your business. I have built a web design consultancy for more than ten years by helping businesses like yours form emotional connections with their customers. Discover more emotional web design in my web design portfolio.
Tags: web designers
