We recently carried out some research for PoLR regarding the PoLR website and this blog. We noticed a theme of questioning kept coming up that reiterated to us just how important simple, straightforward wording is on a website and how clearly identifying navigation is.

The theme throughout the focus group was that the group were confused by what our blog was and what it was for. This suprised us as we’ve never had any problem explaining to customers etc what a blog is and so assumed the case would be the same online. Read more…

Web Design blogging, Web Design

We have blogged before on this site about why a validated* website is important. I’m not going to go over the post again but I was looking over it the other day and it made me want to to find out some stats on how many websites are validated. We all know about it and talk about it but do we all do it? While researching, I came across a survey from late last year that had just what I was looking for. Read more…

Web Design accessibility, Web Design

I’m a massive fan of the Apprentice and Sr’Allan and I watch with glee every week to see whether the contestants will attempt to sell cheese to France or E-numbered up lollies to kids or anything else that would be deemed car-crash TV. It’s fun to watch and to imagine you’d do it differently.

This week however, took the biscuit. Read more…

Client Articles, Web Design Branding, Web Design

Over the years we have been asked many a time to create a few mock-up/speculative website designs to present during sale time (and pre sign-up). In the past (and previous positions) we were always made to do it, being told that it could be the deal clincher. I have always had a problem with these for reasons I will go into in a minute but first let me reinforce that when I say mock-ups I actually mean non-charged for/free work (an important point in my argument). Read more…

Web Design design meeting, speculative design, Web Design

We all know what it’s like to live with something and being to get tired of after a while – it’s why my first flat was re-painted 6 times in three years and why I’ve never been able to grow anything from seed (I get bored before the seedlings have even emerged!).

Recently we wrote an article on why it was not always necessary to rebrand or completely redesign your online presence and it led to this post. Obviously there are some reasons why a complete overhaul is necessary for example:

• Website technology is out of date
• Website is not user friendly
• Website is not converting visitors
• Maybe your corporate identity is being re-developed Read more…

Branding, Web Design accessible website design, website design

It can be a hard decision to decide to completely redesign your company website. Sometimes there are several decision makers all vying for their say, maybe your web designers are pushing for a redesign or maybe you just know it’s a little outdated but are unsure whether it’s outdated enough to warrant a new design.

We’ve written a previous post on how to evaluate whether your site needs a facelift and so we won’t go into that again so soon. What we do want to talk about is the difference between a redesign and a revamp, the positives and negatives of each option and a few points to think about to help you evaluate the best option for you (to give you food for thought before your website consultation). Read more…

Web Design accessible web design, Web Design