Navneet Panchariya - Web Designer | UI Designer | Front End Developer

Over the past few years, web design has been rocked by various trends that have come and gone. One of the trends that has staying power, is minimalism, simply because it's a timeless concept that has been popular in various mediums throughout the ages. So why not in web design? One of the things about minimalism is that it also enhances the user experience, besides looking nice. A complaint of many a user over the years has been that some websites are just too complicated to navigate. There's just too much stuff going on there that makes the user experience less than what it should or could be. The old adage that "less is more" still rings true, especially when it comes to design in the 21st century. Embrace Flat Design We all know that flat design is essentially the design world's answer to skeuomorphism, which has fallen out of favor in a big way recently, with Apple being a prime example of this sea change. Flat design is notably characteriz...

The term white space is sometimes used interchangeably with negative space, and the concept is the same. Though the term refers to "white" space in particular, the area in question does not have to be white at all. It's just the empty space around the elements of a webpage layout. Space like this can come in many different forms, such as the space in between images and graphics, gutters, margins, columns and even lines of type. While it seems to be made of "nothing"-only in that no other design element occupies the space-white space should not be treated in that manner. Treating it as "nothing" can lead to missed opportunities in designing something truly aesthetic and appealing. White space, done right, can actually provide a good amount of benefit to web design. Instead of reducing white space in web design, go against the grain and make sure to increase white space on a webpage. Some well-known and popular brands are already moving in th...

The Web has evolved a lot from being a simple document repository, and we now have browsers capable of rich visual interactions on desktop as well as mobile. Because I'd like to talk about where the Web is headed in this article, many of the features I'll cover may have limited support, so it is important to use resources like caniuse.com which has a robust list of features and charts specifying where they are supported. Let's take a dive into the four ways you can enhance your site UX: CSS CSS is the styling language for our documents, we tend to think of this in simple terms like changing font size or color, but it is becoming increasingly powerful with features like transforms and animations. We're also getting new features to make it even more powerful. If you've used Vector Masks in tools like Photoshop, you should be familiar with the idea behind CSS Clip Paths. This feature allows you to define a shape in CSS that defines the transpare...

Designing in the browser used to scare me. Not because it seemed hard but because I thought I would end up with a design made up of a lot of little boxes, something that was so generic and bland I would end up redoing it in Photoshop. That fear turned out to be completely unwarranted. Not only did my designs become more focused, I also completed them faster and got clients involved earlier in the process through interaction and discussion. It's not as tough as you think Design is design. It doesn't matter if it's being done in a software program or being written in code. Designing in the browser isn't any harder than designing in Photoshop. Like any tool you need to use it to learn it and eventually master it. Design is an iterative process, one that is made more difficult by working for clients. It's hard sometimes for clients to picture exactly what you are describing; designing in the browser can get them involved throughout the process rather...

You've built your startup from the ground up. You're ready to see your sales really start to take off. There's just one challenge left to tackle: building a compelling website. You may have tons of great ideas, but unless you incorporate all the right elements and engage the right audience, your online presence will sink, not soar. Ready to build a powerful startup website? Here are 4 essential elements you won't want to forget... Focus on the function of your website Is your site meant to inform? To sell your products? To encourage visitors to try your service? If your startup involves selling products online, you'll need a software solution designed for e-commerce like Shopify, Magento, OpenCart or WooCommerce (just to name a few). If your site involves just information, consider using WordPress or a similar open-source content management system like Drupal to get your site up and running. Whatever functionality you need, make sure you buil...

Infinite scrolling has became a common design pattern in recent years. With many high profile social networks adopting the solution, it's come to be one of the most widely adopted patterns out there. Though however popular, every design pattern always has its own unique strengths and weaknesses we have to plan for. Done badly, and infinite scrolling will wreck your UX and guarantee total failure as users desert you in droves. Get it right, and you'll have an intuitive, popular and successful site. Understanding why infinite scrolling drives engagement When implementing a design pattern, it's always critical to evaluate the pros and cons for each unique scenario. What resulted in more user engagement for someone else, may actually result in less user engagement from your own users. For infinite scrolling in particular, it's all about the type of content users are interacting with. Being able to determine what type of content goals you have for...

We all know intuitively what makes a website look bad: overused bevel effects, corny clip art, overcrowded layouts. These annoyances are easily corrected by developing with design fundamentals in mind-the same principles used by professional designers and artists alike. Great websites bring together form and function. In fact, well-designed websites are seen as more credible, according to a Stanford study and are actually easier to use (as studied by researcher Don Norman). So here are five fundamentals to help you keep quality design at the forefront of your practice. Follow the rules... mostly In design school, they'll give you a list of principles to abide by that assign rules to beauty-elements like layout, order and symmetry. But as you advance, you're then told to break the rules a bit to create places for a viewer's eyes to look by employing elements like variety, tension or contrast. Use imagery and icons to communicate when possible There ar...