If done correctly, minimalist design is one of the best and most effective approaches to creating beautiful websites. Not only is the target audience subjected to less clutter and noise, but you can use colors, textures, and fonts to create a very simple yet very memorable experience for the person viewing your site.

Of course, switching to a minimalist design will mean that you only have a select few pages of information, but the result is desirable on multiple levels. Creating a mobile-friendly site will become loads easier, your audience will find your content easier to read, and your site will look more professional.

Read on to learn more about why minimalism works, and how to apply this beautiful approach to your designs.

Why it works

Less is more

This famous saying by Ludwig Mies van der Rohe is the ultimate representation of minimalism. These three words of wisdom really get the message across, while being concise and to-the point.

Likewise, a de-cluttered website can get your point across more efficiently. Many designers/developers use this ideology and “prune” their content, effectively cutting away useless, less visited, and unimportant pages, leaving sites left with higher quality content.

Not only will your website look clean, it will also be higher-quality and more refined.

Subconsciously sensible 

Subconsciously we are growing more and more defensive to clutter and distractions. Every day, we receive dozens, if not hundreds, of business advertisements through spam, mail, newspaper inserts, internet ads, radio and TV commercials and more. This surge in advertising has caused people to learn how to avoid annoying ads.

Flipping channels during commercial breaks or clicking the “Back” button from an ad-filled website has never been easier. As web designers, we should keep in mind that not only is extra ad clutter on our websites distracting to users, it is also bad for SEO.

Responsive

All good minimalist websites have a unique wireframe and a really good grid system. If utilized correctly, both of these can translate to a painless and easy transition to the responsive and mobile world.

With less content, fewer blocks and design elements, and a whole lot of whitespace, it won’t be hard to move things around for mobile device screens.   

Furthermore, mobile users tend to have less patience. They are busy people who are either on-the-go, limited by data plans, working a hectic schedule, or all of the above. Getting concise, clear, and useful information as fast as possible is usually their expectation, so why not give it to them?

Lighter is better

Having only a few pages with a minimal amount of text will mean a lighter website. Not only can this make the task of updating, and maintenance easier, it will also speed up your site.

The less content, widgets, and design elements you use, the less data has to be transferred, making a faster, lighter, and hence more enjoyable, user experience. And it helps with the data limits issues for mobile devices.

How to convert to minimalism

It’s no secret that implementing a minimalist style is much easier if you already have a pretty good foundation of design itself. A solid understanding of grids and layouts, and an expertise and finesse in applying that understanding can go a long way when designing minimalist websites, however a lack of these things should not stop you from learning this beautiful style.

If you are interested in adopting a minimalist approach for your designs, there are a few simple guidelines to follow.

First of all, you must minimize your content. Throw away as much as you possibly can. If you can remove it and it doesn’t significantly undermine the main message you are trying to get across, it’s probably junk.

One good piece of advice for those attached to their content is: Temporarily hide the content for 30 days. Don’t go back and read that content or remind yourself about it. After 30 days if your life is not in a state of absolute crisis, you are free to throw the content away. 

One way to go about getting rid of and/or simplifying content is to review the usual culprits of lower-quality content:

• Second and third level navigation pages : you realistically shouldn’t need more than 4 or 5 pages (unless we’re talking about an e-commerce site or some sort of technical site). 
• Recent feeds, Popular feeds, Comment feeds, Facebook and Twitter feeds: Anything that ends with “feeds” is almost definitely unnecessary. Help your readers focus on what’s important.
• Any sort of counters: Social ‘like’ counters for your main page, ‘Total visits’ counters…really? No need to become anti-Social Media, but a few simple buttons should suffice.  
• Extra graphics: One small to medium sized graphic element per page is enough. Keep in mind, however, your graphic should neither overwhelm your content nor take too much attention away from it.  

Finally, when your content is minimized and you have stripped your site to the bare minimum, you must style it. Remember, minimalism is not about looking plain or boring, it’s about focusing your attention on the essentials. Having an attention-grabbing and consistent layout is key. The proper colors, typography, textures, and whitespace are also essential to your minimalist goals. 

Textures, colors, and fonts

Converting to minimalism doesn’t have to be a chore. Think of it as a way to give your site a fresh look with new textures, interesting colors, and captivating fonts. After all, with less content to worry about, you’ll have more time to tone and master the look and feel that will attract an audience, and keep them.

Textures

Using textures in web design is the greatest thing since sliced bread. When used in conjunction with appropriate colors, fonts, and a simple layout, textures can really make your website shine.

If you are completely new to textures, it would definitely be worth your time to read up on how to create them in Adobe Photoshop, how to apply them, and the different types of textures. 

Colors

Similarly, colors present an invaluable medium to present your website. Take caution, though, as colors and their associations can vary from culture to culture. Yellow, for example, may represent mourning when used in Egypt, while it may represent courage when used in Japan. With minimalist type designs, or any design really, having only 2 or 3 colors on your website is a good idea as this provides a consistent and simple experience for the user. 

Fonts

Finally, good fonts are truly vital when using a minimalist design.

Of course you don’t have to splurge on dozens of fonts; you could consider creating your very own fonts. Some designers even go to the extreme of having the typography become the sole visual effect of their website. While this is an interesting trend, it can be harder to pull off as it requires a complete mastery of typography.  

Summary

This article has only scratched the surface when it comes to the principle of minimalism and its uses and benefits in respect to web design. I hope it has caused interest for those who are still not applying some of these techniques.

Although minimalism doesn’t work for all websites, the principles of discarding low-quality and or less valuable features of your website can be useful for all web designers and developers. Less really is more.

Do you take a minimal approach to design? Do you find minimal sites cold? Let us know in the comments.

Featured image/thumbnail, minimalism image via Shutterstock.

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If done correctly, minimalist design is one of the best and most effective approaches to creating beautiful websites. Not only is the target audience subjected to less clutter and noise, but you can use colors, textures, and fonts to create a very simple yet very memorable experience for the person viewing your site.

Of course, switching to a minimalist design will mean that you only have a select few pages of information, but the result is desirable on multiple levels. Creating a mobile-friendly site will become loads easier, your audience will find your content easier to read, and your site will look more professional.

Read on to learn more about why minimalism works, and how to apply this beautiful approach to your designs.

Why it works

Less is more

This famous saying by Ludwig Mies van der Rohe is the ultimate representation of minimalism. These three words of wisdom really get the message across, while being concise and to-the point.

Likewise, a de-cluttered website can get your point across more efficiently. Many designers/developers use this ideology and “prune” their content, effectively cutting away useless, less visited, and unimportant pages, leaving sites left with higher quality content.

Not only will your website look clean, it will also be higher-quality and more refined.

Subconsciously sensible 

Subconsciously we are growing more and more defensive to clutter and distractions. Every day, we receive dozens, if not hundreds, of business advertisements through spam, mail, newspaper inserts, internet ads, radio and TV commercials and more. This surge in advertising has caused people to learn how to avoid annoying ads.

Flipping channels during commercial breaks or clicking the “Back” button from an ad-filled website has never been easier. As web designers, we should keep in mind that not only is extra ad clutter on our websites distracting to users, it is also bad for SEO.

Responsive

All good minimalist websites have a unique wireframe and a really good grid system. If utilized correctly, both of these can translate to a painless and easy transition to the responsive and mobile world.

With less content, fewer blocks and design elements, and a whole lot of whitespace, it won’t be hard to move things around for mobile device screens.   

Furthermore, mobile users tend to have less patience. They are busy people who are either on-the-go, limited by data plans, working a hectic schedule, or all of the above. Getting concise, clear, and useful information as fast as possible is usually their expectation, so why not give it to them?

Lighter is better

Having only a few pages with a minimal amount of text will mean a lighter website. Not only can this make the task of updating, and maintenance easier, it will also speed up your site.

The less content, widgets, and design elements you use, the less data has to be transferred, making a faster, lighter, and hence more enjoyable, user experience. And it helps with the data limits issues for mobile devices.

How to convert to minimalism

It’s no secret that implementing a minimalist style is much easier if you already have a pretty good foundation of design itself. A solid understanding of grids and layouts, and an expertise and finesse in applying that understanding can go a long way when designing minimalist websites, however a lack of these things should not stop you from learning this beautiful style.

If you are interested in adopting a minimalist approach for your designs, there are a few simple guidelines to follow.

First of all, you must minimize your content. Throw away as much as you possibly can. If you can remove it and it doesn’t significantly undermine the main message you are trying to get across, it’s probably junk.

One good piece of advice for those attached to their content is: Temporarily hide the content for 30 days. Don’t go back and read that content or remind yourself about it. After 30 days if your life is not in a state of absolute crisis, you are free to throw the content away. 

One way to go about getting rid of and/or simplifying content is to review the usual culprits of lower-quality content:

• Second and third level navigation pages : you realistically shouldn’t need more than 4 or 5 pages (unless we’re talking about an e-commerce site or some sort of technical site). 
• Recent feeds, Popular feeds, Comment feeds, Facebook and Twitter feeds: Anything that ends with “feeds” is almost definitely unnecessary. Help your readers focus on what’s important.
• Any sort of counters: Social ‘like’ counters for your main page, ‘Total visits’ counters…really? No need to become anti-Social Media, but a few simple buttons should suffice.  
• Extra graphics: One small to medium sized graphic element per page is enough. Keep in mind, however, your graphic should neither overwhelm your content nor take too much attention away from it.  

Finally, when your content is minimized and you have stripped your site to the bare minimum, you must style it. Remember, minimalism is not about looking plain or boring, it’s about focusing your attention on the essentials. Having an attention-grabbing and consistent layout is key. The proper colors, typography, textures, and whitespace are also essential to your minimalist goals. 

Textures, colors, and fonts

Converting to minimalism doesn’t have to be a chore. Think of it as a way to give your site a fresh look with new textures, interesting colors, and captivating fonts. After all, with less content to worry about, you’ll have more time to tone and master the look and feel that will attract an audience, and keep them.

Textures

Using textures in web design is the greatest thing since sliced bread. When used in conjunction with appropriate colors, fonts, and a simple layout, textures can really make your website shine.

If you are completely new to textures, it would definitely be worth your time to read up on how to create them in Adobe Photoshop, how to apply them, and the different types of textures. 

Colors

Similarly, colors present an invaluable medium to present your website. Take caution, though, as colors and their associations can vary from culture to culture. Yellow, for example, may represent mourning when used in Egypt, while it may represent courage when used in Japan. With minimalist type designs, or any design really, having only 2 or 3 colors on your website is a good idea as this provides a consistent and simple experience for the user. 

Fonts

Finally, good fonts are truly vital when using a minimalist design.

Of course you don’t have to splurge on dozens of fonts; you could consider creating your very own fonts. Some designers even go to the extreme of having the typography become the sole visual effect of their website. While this is an interesting trend, it can be harder to pull off as it requires a complete mastery of typography.  

Summary

This article has only scratched the surface when it comes to the principle of minimalism and its uses and benefits in respect to web design. I hope it has caused interest for those who are still not applying some of these techniques.

Although minimalism doesn’t work for all websites, the principles of discarding low-quality and or less valuable features of your website can be useful for all web designers and developers. Less really is more.

Do you take a minimal approach to design? Do you find minimal sites cold? Let us know in the comments.

Featured image/thumbnail, minimalism image via Shutterstock.

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The first few things you do after a potential client contacts you about a web design project are the most important. In fact, these initial steps can spell the difference between a good or bad project.

There’s plenty of information out there on how to identify bad clients and manage difficult situations. You may even have your own client horror stories of your own.

While it’s true that bad client situations sometimes can’t be avoided — it’s an inherent part of working with other people, after all — many of these situations are just simply the result of lack of communication and understanding.

Fortunately, if you create a good, thorough project scope statement, it will surely improve communication with your clients as well as eliminate many website production problems.

The Importance Project Scope

One of the important initial project tasks we need to do is defining the project scope.

A poorly crafted project scope statement results in miscommunication and wasted project time.

Project scope, in essence, defines what the deliverables for the project are going to be.

A good project scope should clearly and unambiguously state the client’s expectations, and it should describe how you have agreed to meet those expectations.

Evidence of Bad Project Scope

When something is added to a project’s scope, we call it scope creep.

Too much scope creep results in lots of unnecessary work.

Many web designers and developers are too casual about project scope. They fail to get the whole scope of the project before they start working on it, and this can mean lots of reworking and retooling all throughout the span of the project.

"Introducing ‘Feature Creep’, the nefarious designer arch-enemy." Source: blog.fueledbycoffee.com

A lot of scope creep means the project scope wasn’t properly defined and clearly stated at the beginning of the project.

Common Mistakes Made When Defining Project Scope

Here are three common mistakes web designers make when they define scope:

Not getting the agreement in writing.

Scope should be included in a written agreement between you and the client. Scope should be reviewed and signed by both parties before you start the project.

Not asking enough questions.

Often, scope is incomplete and the web designer/developer didn’t ask the client for enough information to really understand the project requirements.

Making too many assumptions.

Assumptions are like guesses; sometimes they’re right, but often they’re wrong. A good project scope statement eliminates any assumptions.

The best way to develop a good project scope is to ask the right questions.

8 Key Questions That Will Help You Define Project Scope

Here are some questions you can ask your clients during initial discussions that will help you produce a solid project scope.

Question #1: What type of website will I be building for you?

A landing page, a blog, and an e-commerce site all need good web design but your strategy, production process, planning process, project requirements, project time, techniques, and so forth will change depending on the type of site you’re creating.

Question #2: When do you need to have this website completed?

Misunderstandings about the deadline can be a big source of client unhappiness. Make sure you have enough time to do the work they want you to do.

Question #3: What is your budget for the project?

This question tells you what the client can afford to spend on this project, as well as if they are a serious prospect for your web design business.

Budget affects the size and features that will be defined in the project scope.

Determine the Constraints of the Project

The three questions above will help you determine the three primary constraints — scope, schedule, and cost — of the project management triangle model that will cooperatively determine the quality of the results.

Here are the not-so-obvious questions that you might forget to ask:

Question #4: Who is the typical user of your website?

A website that works well for one audience will not necessarily work well for another audience. The target audience will significantly influence the website’s architecture.

Question #5: What goals do you want to achieve with this project?

Is the client trying to use the website for sales, to generate publicity, or to build an online community?

Website goals make a big difference in how you will proceed with the website’s design.

Question #6: What types of content will be used in this website?

Content strategy should not be an afterthought. Content strategy should be an integral part of your web design process.

If your client hasn’t planned for their website’s content yet, at the very least, you should get them thinking about it right at the start of the project.

This question also clarifies who’s going to be in charge of content, and you should document this area of responsibility in your project agreement.

Question #7: Can you show me examples of websites you like and don’t like?

Examples can speak volumes. Pay close attention to why the client likes some sites while disliking others.

Question #8: What’s the message you’re trying to convey with your website?

The website’s message needs to be clearly communicated through the site’s look-and-feel.

The answer to this question also affects the website features that you need to implement.

Ask More Questions as Needed!

Of course, the list of eight questions above is just a starting place to help you define project scope; they cover the fundamentals that you absolutely must know before beginning the project.

If you still feel like you don’t fully understand what the client wants after asking these questions, you need to ask more questions until you’re confident that you comprehend their desired outcomes in full.

Don’t Forget About Negative Scope

What’s negative scope? In a project’s scope, negative scope are items that won’t be a part of the project.

Discussing and documenting negative scope items can eliminate a lot of confusion and misunderstandings.

Negative scope could include these things:

• Items you and client discussed, but have decided not to include as deliverables in the project.
• Items that are often done for projects of this sort, but that the client didn’t want.
• Other elements of websites that aren’t going to be part of your project agreement but that you anticipate the client might need, such as web hosting, social media marketing, SEO, and so forth.

By specifically bringing up negative scope items, you reduce the likelihood of the client assuming that these items are included in the project and of them claiming that the negative scope items were part of your agreement.

Negative scope brings more clarity to your project scope agreement, which is what we want.

Documenting the Project Scope

Even if you asked all the right questions, you could still get into trouble if you don’t have a good record of the discussions that you and the client agreed upon.

Maybe you discussed the project in a series of phone conversations with the client. Maybe you met with the client in person.

Do you rely solely on your memory of what you and the client agreed on? If you do, you’re taking a huge risk.

Our memories can be faulty. Our recollection of conversations can be different from that of the client’s.

The best way to eliminate disagreements about project scope is to get it in writing and to get the client to sign off on it.

Fortunately, there are some good tools and resources out there to help you document project scope well.

There are, for example, project scope document templates that can be found on the Web. Here’s one example of a project scope template that you can download on another website:

You could also check out my web app, Osmosis, which incorporates project scope into the work agreement.

Find more tips on freelance web design contracts here.

Once you have the client’s acknowledgement on the work agreement, keep the information with your project files.

How Do You Deal with Project Scope?

How do you define your web design project scope? What are some key questions you ask your clients that help you define the project scope? Share your experiences in the comments below.

Related Content

• Avoiding Unscoped Work from Unreasonable Clients
• Tips for Building Trust with Your Clients
• Client vs. Designer: Four Lessons to Win the Battle
• Related categories: Project Management and Productivity

About the Author

Dominic St-Pierre is the owner and founder of Osmosis, an innovative web-based tool to help web designers, web developers, and other freelancers gather project requirements and create proposals. He has over thirteen years of experience as a web developer and entrepreneur. Connect with him on Twitter at @getosmosis.

The post Improve Your Web Design Projects with a Good Project Scope appeared first on Six Revisions.