Web design that seduces and engages

Whether they land on your website coincidentally or on purpose, visitors who don’t experience instant gratification will immediately hit the return button. Hence, there is no underestimating the role web design plays in your brand’s overall success. It’s also why Onlyhumans never settles for less than the perfect mix of “WOAH!” and “how can I help you?” when it comes to web design. Our tools? The right skills, a clever strategy and ditto approach, applied with all the latest trends in mind. Feel free to take an indiscreet peek in our web design kitchen!

Web design with a vision

Before your online project goes live, it is preceded by an extensive and structured process. To ensure your website is optimally visible – and retrievable – our web designers and interaction specialists start this process with a clear vision in mind. Their tools: a results-oriented and effective online strategy, a fresh web design, strong content and smart development skills. Their objective: to deliver a website that is completely in line with your brand’s identity and values.

From idea over wireframe to design

Our experts collect as much information as possible at the start of each project. To structure it properly, they rely on a solid information architecture. In a next step, basing themselves on all the input they receive, our experts devise an attractive online concept that is bound to work. First, they make up some rough sketches and a schematic interaction design. The sketches are then brought to life in the form of what we call wireframes. Keeping an optimal user experience and likewise interaction in mind, the wireframes are finally translated into a strong design for desktop, mobile and tablet. Buttons, fonts, colors, responsiveness, … No pixel escapes our attention.

Stunning looks and flawless performance

Our websites are downright multitaskers. They score with visitors as well as search engines thanks to their clever structure and because they feel right at home on all sorts of screens and devices. On top of that, they always look as stunning as any visual brand ambassador should.

The need for technical speed

Site speed is crucial for both visitors and search engines. That’s why we feel our websites not only must achieve (technical) perfection, but also be incredibly speedy and offer easy navigation, ensuring visitors find answers to their questions in the blink of an eye.

Usability: user-friendliness BAE

We never settle for less than the top score in terms of user-friendliness – just check out the website we made for Doctors Without Borders. The user is therefore always central to our design. Well-chosen labels, an intuitive navigation structure, a smart user-centric design, … They’re just a few of the ingredients we use to offer visitors the ultimate user experience.

Nudging, a gentle push in the right direction

An intuitive website that performs optimally in terms of usability contributes to achieving the necessary objectives and converts better. To boost the desired user behavior, you can also apply nudging. That means gently pushing visitors in the right direction without taking away their freedom of choice.

Web design trendwatching

Constantly evolving, web design these days is first and foremost about creativity. But all visuals and other bells and whistles aside, looks should never interfere with user-friendliness. Some trends to bear in mind:

 

  • Designers for president!
    Increasingly aware of the power of a cleverly designed digital appearance, brands and companies give designers more and more creative freedom. After all, a stunning design that fits in well with the overall strategy and brand promise creates added value for any brand, no matter the sector.
  • Thumbs as BFFs
    Smartphone users want to be able to use their device with one hand. Thumb-friendly navigation is therefore crucial. In other words, be sure to put all important buttons in the ‘thumb-friendly zones’ of the screen.
  • All the colors of the rainbow
    Dutch orange, Chiquita yellow or lime green? Why not! Popping colors, from CTA buttons to full screen experiences, splash off the screen. Even so, soft, harmonizing tone combos can do the trick just as well. Just make sure the color mix you use remains tasteful.
  • XL headlines, big body copy 
    The bigger, the better? Why, yes! Website visitors’ attention spans continue to decrease with each day. Striking headlines and large, bold fonts are vital ingredients to attract and retain the attention of your target audience.
  • Serif versus sans-serif
    For the sake of readability, serif fonts used to be limited to offline texts. Because monitors have an increasingly high resolution, however, sans-serif is no longer the sole king of the screen.
  • Wacko typo combos 
    Another typographical taboo that’s disappearing slowly but surely is mixing sans and sans-serif Provided they’re a good match, of course, which is something you can easily check using Type Connection.
  • Dare to be bold: say no to balance
    To counter the uniformization of web designs – which would benefit both SEO and UX – asymmetrical and disruptive designs are taking center stage. Still, make sure you’ve mastered all the rules before throwing them overboard!
  • Off grid: coloring outside the lines
    Innovative techniques enable you to work ‘off grid’ – by which we mean deviating from the standard webshop blocks – and still create a great responsive website.
  • Out of stock 
    Stock photos have become so mainstream that it’s hard to stand out with them. Unique, home-brewed visuals are the way to go.
  • Personalized landing pages as an entry point
    Yesterday’s static homepages are making way for more dynamic entry points. Personalized landing pages based on collected data about visitors are the future.
  • Video headers 
    Video headers are all the rage right now, especially home-made videos that tell convincing stories. Particle backgrounds are also increasingly used, arguably because they load much faster than the average heavy video file.
  • Animations, illustrations and videos
    Animations, illustrations and videos make your story more attractive visually and reinforce the transfer of information as well. Square and vertical video formats are on the rise, especially on social media. Websites and apps will follow soon.

One page vs. multi page

One-pagers (websites that consist of only one page) are incredibly popular right now and ideal for mobile devices. Next to counteracting the so-called ‘fat finger syndrome’ (consumers tapping the wrong button), they also load much faster than multi-page websites – a win-win in terms of search engine optimization as well as user-friendliness.

Furthermore, a one-pager enables you to better determine what visitors get to see and in which order. If you want to focus primarily on content or on bringing in new leads via search engines, however, a multi-page website is more appropriate. This will also allow you to rank for more keywords.

Design a listening ear

The rise of touch and voice navigation as well as VR, AR and 3D/4D brings customer stories to the forefront of the marketing plan, making the supportive role of design all the more important.

Designers are becoming ‘designers of conversations’. That requires some serious listening skills.

With technological evolutions ceaselessly adding to consumers’ and brands’ opportunities for interaction, users expect their online interactions with brands to be increasingly intuitive.

Social storydoing

More and more brands are incorporating social issues into their ‘brand being’. Brand values are more important than ever and consumers identify more with those values each day – or not, depending on the efforts a brand makes. As the relationship between consumers and brands becomes more personal, what used to be storytelling is now evolving into storydoing.