Last Monday, I taught a class on website redesign to a group of great nonprofit folks at the Center for Social Innovation. After combing the web for resources to share with my students as follow-up, it hit me: there is a crazy amount of material out there related to web design. How do you dig through and find the stuff that is really valuable, the stuff that will truly make your website great?
Here’s a sampling of resources to consider checking in with before you embark on the journey of a redesign:
1. IA Bible: This guide to creating information architecture and content rules. Thinking about your content is one of the toughest, most laborious parts of your entire web redesign process. This guide walks you through it all, from defining stakeholder goals to creating wireframes.
2. Accessibility Checklist: The accessibility of your website might not be at the top of your priority list, but it should be. You want everyone to be able to access it, right? Here’s 10 principles to guide your thought process when thinking about accessibility, and standards to get you started on why it matters and how to implement.
- Also, check out:
- This list of best practices, tips and tricks;
- A comprehensive, searchable archive for browser compatibility;
- A quick and dirty live browser testing tool;
- And, a fun gadget to check your color contrast.
2. Design Best Practices: Browsing the web, you’ll see lots of beautiful sites (and some not so beautiful ones). This web design best practice guide breaks down the process simply and offers reviews and suggestions for making your dream site a reality.
- Check out this web design primer that does a good job talking about the basics;
- Use these resources (fonts, themes, photos + more) to implement your ideas;
- Find design pattern ideas here and here;
- And, here’s a great collection of those small, but delightful details that add personality.
Plus, a pro-tip! We know that lots of sites use them, but we’re not sure why or who decided that was a good idea. This site explains why you should think twice about adding a carousel to your homepage.
Later this month we’ll be talking about designing for mobile-first and behavioral economics for UX design. Check back in!