WDD 131 | Web Design Principles

W03 Learning Activity: Design Principles

Overview

Good design principles are essential in web design to create a positive and engaging user experience. One goal of this course is to provide a strong foundation in effective web design. These principles should be understood, practiced, and continuously applied. Improving your skills takes practice and actively seeking constructive feedback from others.

"Effective web design and art are not the same. But many psychological and design principles apply to websites. You can design a great website by applying the relevant aspects of those laws to your layout, typography, and images. Design for the user and your business objectives." – Peep Laja – CXL

Prepare

Typography: Use two or three fonts at a maximum. If you need variation, use a variation of the font. Remember to use a font that is easy to read and visually appealing. When using Google Fonts, be sure to include only the weights that you need. Here is an example of only including Roboto's regular (400) and bold (700) versions..
```
<link href="https://fonts.googleapis.com/css2?family=Roboto:wght@400;700&display=swap" rel="stylesheet">
```
Colors: Use a color scheme that is visually appealing and conveys the desired mood or message. Limit the color palette to five hues or less. Test color contrast to ensure readability for all users.
Clarity: Keep the design clean and uncluttered. Use ample whitespace to guide the user's focus and avoid overwhelming them with too much information at once. Do not be wordy, use visuals to help communicate your message.
Consistency: Maintain a consistent visual language throughout the design. This includes using consistent typography, color schemes, and layout patterns across different pages or sections of your design.
Visual Hierarchy: Establish a clear hierarchy of information to help users understand the relative importance of different elements on the page. Use techniques like size, color, and typography to emphasize important content.
Accessibility: Ensure that your design is accessible to all users, including those with disabilities. This may involve considerations such as providing alternative text for images, using sufficient color contrast, and implementing keyboard navigation. You can test your design for accessibility using tools like a WAVE, Axe, or Lighthouse.
Feedback: Provide clear feedback to users when they interact with elements on the page. This could include visual cues such as button states or animations to indicate that an action has been successfully completed.
User-Centric Design: Design with the needs and preferences of your target audience in mind. Conduct user research to understand their goals, behaviors, and pain points, and tailor your design accordingly.
Visual Appeal: Use visually appealing elements such as high-quality images, engaging animations, and attractive typography to capture the user's attention and create a memorable experience.

As an active learner, leverage the resources of the internet and AI to help you apply these principles in your own design and development.

Activity Instructions

File and Folder Setup

Create a folder named "week03" in the wdd131 directory.
Add a new file named "design.html" to the week03 folder.
Add a "styles" folder to the week03 folder.
Add a new file named "design.css" to the styles folder.

HTML

In the design.html file, provide the basic HTML structure to the file.

Remember that Emmet notation built into VS Code provides shortcuts to code snippets. For example, type html5 and then the TAB key to build a basic HTML5 structure.

User defined custom snippets can also be used: VS Code Snippets.
Link the external design.css file.
Add the given HTML content to the <body> of the document provided in this CodePen ☼ – WDD Design Principles Start.

CSS

In the design.css file, copy over the starter CSS code provided in the CodePen.
Fix the padding issues on the div.callout container.
Fix the <h2> alignment justification to be left aligned instead of centered.
Check the color contrast by using the CSS Overview tool in the browser's DevTools.

How to enable and use CSS Overview: Identify potential CSS improvements
Enter the foreground and background colors given in the div.callout container into the Contrast Ratio tool.

Using the contrast ratio tool, what is the ratio of the two colors? Is that good or bad?

The contrast ratio was 2.14 for colors of #777 and #702963. This is not good. Specifically, it fails WCAG 2.0 and 2.1 (Web Content Accessibility Guidelines)
Fix the contrast issues in the div.callout and check to make sure it passes both the AA level and AAA level.
Layout the <main> element content to use two columns for the article and list.
- Do not add any additional HTML.
- Use the grid-template-columns property to create the two columns.
- The <h2> heading within this <main> container will need to span the two columns.
  
  How do you do that?
  
  Use the grid-column property on this <h2> to span the two columns.
Delete the marquee and replace it with an <div class="banner"> stationary area as shown in the figure.

Why delete the marquee? The marquee element is not supported in HTML5 and is considered deprecated (obsolete or being phased out) even though it may be rendered by most browsers. In terms of design and usability, the marquee is not good because it is unpredictable and distracting. It is also not accessible to users with disabilities.
Move the footer content to the left.

Check Your Understanding

Example Solution: CodePen ☼ – WDD Design Principles
What other improvements could be made?