{"id":1806,"date":"2015-06-30T16:23:14","date_gmt":"2015-06-30T15:23:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.kent.ac.uk\/webdev\/?p=1806"},"modified":"2015-12-04T13:23:05","modified_gmt":"2015-12-04T13:23:05","slug":"design-principles-for-a-new-website","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.kent.ac.uk\/webdev\/2015\/06\/30\/design-principles-for-a-new-website\/","title":{"rendered":"Design principles for a new website"},"content":{"rendered":"<blockquote><p>User-focussed content: simpler, clearer, less.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<h2>Visual language<\/h2>\n<p>We aim to support our\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.kent.ac.uk\/brand\">brand identity<\/a>\u00a0by using a simpler, lighter design aesthetic which emphasises:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/blogs.kent.ac.uk\/webdev\/2014\/06\/02\/a-breath-of-fresh-air-simplicity-and-space-in-website-design\/\">space<\/a>,<\/li>\n<li>bold, high quality imagery,<\/li>\n<li>clear <a href=\"https:\/\/blogs.kent.ac.uk\/webdev\/2014\/06\/17\/grids-and-typography\/\">typography<\/a>,<\/li>\n<li>plain English,<\/li>\n<li>and simple, content-rich layouts.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>User experience<\/h2>\n<p>A user-centred design process will\u00a0help us <strong>create content relevant to our users<\/strong> based on these principles:<\/p>\n<ol>\n<li><a href=\"#focus\">Focus on user needs<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"#inspire\">Inspire<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"#resources\">Resources wherever you are<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"#design\">Design for inclusivity<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"#simple\">Keep content simple<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"#efficient\">Keep it efficient<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<h3 id=\"focus\">Focus on user needs<\/h3>\n<p>Understanding what our users need is at the heart of creating effective content.<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>\u201cThe more content you give people that they want, the more time they will spend on content that matters to you.\u201d Prof. John Lavine, Media Management Centre, Northwestern University.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>Research user needs through means such as analytics, <a href=\"https:\/\/blogs.kent.ac.uk\/webdev\/2015\/05\/13\/personas-helping-you-design-goal-directed-content\/\">personas<\/a>, interviews, competitive analysis and user testing.<\/p>\n<h3 id=\"inspire\">Inspire<\/h3>\n<p>Aim for quality where strategic content shows that we are an innovative and confident institution.<\/p>\n<h3 id=\"resources\">Resources wherever you are<\/h3>\n<p>Design around context of the user in a multi-screen, multi-device world.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.lukew.com\/ff\/entry.asp?933\">Mobile first<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3 id=\"design\">Design for inclusivity<\/h3>\n<p>By default, digital services should be open, accessible and culturally engaging to all.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>We follow the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.gov.uk\/service-manual\/user-centred-design\/accessibility\">recommended government standard<\/a> for accessible web content (WCAG 2.0 AA).<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3 id=\"simple\">Keep content simple<\/h3>\n<p>Relevant content which is clear and focussed. Be brutal.<\/p>\n<h3 id=\"efficient\">Keep it efficient<\/h3>\n<p>Content should be consistent, unified and maintainable.<br \/>\nServices must be robust and standards compliant.<br \/>\nLean\/agile processes help reduce waste.<\/p>\n<h2>Learn more<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/blogs.kent.ac.uk\/webdev\/2014\/06\/02\/a-breath-of-fresh-air-simplicity-and-space-in-website-design\/\">A breath of fresh air, simplicity and space in website design<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/blogs.kent.ac.uk\/webdev\/2014\/07\/29\/exploring-our-visual-language\/\">Exploring our visual language<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/blogs.kent.ac.uk\/webdev\/2015\/05\/13\/personas-helping-you-design-goal-directed-content\/\">Personas \u2013 helping you design goal-directed content<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/blogs.kent.ac.uk\/webdev\/2014\/12\/11\/a-website-for-the-future\/\">A website for the future<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/bradfrost.com\/blog\/post\/perform\/\">Brad Frost manifesto<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>User-focussed content: simpler, clearer, less. Visual language We aim to support our\u00a0brand identity\u00a0by using a simpler, lighter design aesthetic which emphasises: space, bold, high quality &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/blogs.kent.ac.uk\/webdev\/2015\/06\/30\/design-principles-for-a-new-website\/\">Read&nbsp;more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":17235,"featured_media":2016,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[79447,79443,79421,79439],"tags":[79469,79463],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.kent.ac.uk\/webdev\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1806"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.kent.ac.uk\/webdev\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.kent.ac.uk\/webdev\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.kent.ac.uk\/webdev\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/17235"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.kent.ac.uk\/webdev\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1806"}],"version-history":[{"count":21,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.kent.ac.uk\/webdev\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1806\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2017,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.kent.ac.uk\/webdev\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1806\/revisions\/2017"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.kent.ac.uk\/webdev\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2016"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.kent.ac.uk\/webdev\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1806"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.kent.ac.uk\/webdev\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1806"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.kent.ac.uk\/webdev\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1806"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}