One of the things we enjoy doing is taking a look at all the creative website designs that are out there. Folks like Siteinspire and Awwwards do a great job of showcasing the latest creative innovations designers are taking with websites, and they’re fun to see.

What we don’t do is look at them for inspiration.

Creative design is all well and good if you’re trying to show off your design chops; but if you’re attempting to actually help a business accomplish its goal, it’s the worst thing in the world.

Animations, parallax scrolling, random typography – these are all great little design tricks guaranteed to catch the eye; but what they don’t do is help users accomplish their goals on your site.

Oftentimes, these sites have ungodly loading times, impossible to find navigation, and no clear call to action. In short, from a UX perspective, they are unusable.

Whenever we take on a new project, the first question we ask (well… ONE of the first questions, anyway) is “What do you want your site visitors to be able to do?” Once that question has been answered, every single aspect of the design that follows should lead to that goal.

A lot of creatives will argue that innovative design is all a part of a company’s branding, but unless you want confusion to be a part of your brand, it shouldn’t be.

No one would claim Amazon hasn’t built a strong brand, yet their website is plain by “creative” standards. There are no fancy animations, no “innovative” design features – what there IS, is a clear and concise way for users to find what they’re looking for… to accomplish the ultimate site goal, which is to make a sale (or 12… don’t look at our front porch!).

Creativity is fun to look at, but if you want your site visitors to become customers, you need to save it for other areas of marketing. Your website should be clean, and provide a clear way for your visitors to accomplish their goal – whether that’s lead generation, sales, or something else entirely.

Are your customers able to find what they need on YOUR site? Contact us today about a UX Audit, and discover how to turn visitors into buyers.