Web users are bombarded with information on a daily basis, and it’s been shown that the way users read on a computer is completely different to how they read offline. Skimming content is the name of the game, and if the user doesn’t immediately see what he or she wants to see in a few seconds, off they’ll go into the internight to find what they want.

That’s right, website designers and website owners: most people who come to your site will hit & run.

This revelation can be a harsh one, and especially tough for designers to inform clients of. Clients all too frequently get caught up in the excitement of launching a new site, which can lead to major scope creep and feature bloat on a site; all of a sudden, a simple site has turned into a 75-page monolith, despite the designer/developer’s requests to keep it in the tracks.

But increasingly often, these monolithic sites aren’t required – in fact, they may prove a detriment as unless they are superbly designed, chances are it will be difficult for the user to find what they want within a few clicks, leading to a higher bounce rate than desired. It’s important to remember that a lot – I may even say “most” – viewers aren’t going to be nearly as interested in the website, or the business in general, as the website designer or the business owner. With that in mind, it’s important to embrace brevity, clear information hierarchy and structure in a web design. One (increasingly popular) way to do this is via the one page website.

One-pagers won’t work for all sites, obviously, but they can work for more than you imagine. The benefits to a well-designed one page website include

• potentially lower cost to the client
• high usability
• information brevity
• increased conversions
• opportunity for unique design decisions and more.

Let’s explore these  benefits a bit more deeply.

Lower Cost

One page websites are a great option to present to your clients who may have a lower budget, or those who only need a basic web presence. Because there is only one page, there is no need to create an in-depth site map in the planning stage (instead, I recommend a page map, which can sometimes be a simpler process); there may not be a need to create a navigation system; there may not be a need for other various time-consuming, and thus cost-increasing, website features.

Of course, this can go the complete other direction as well. Just because a site only technically has “one page” doesn’t mean it’s simple or cheaper to produce; there may be a few forms, a navigation system built around some page scrolling, and other in-depth features that can bring the cost right back up to that of a standard, larger website. It’s important to articulate this to the client, but my point remains: a one-page website can be a very simple solution to your client’s needs – and the simpler the solution, the less time and less cost to them.

High Usability

A well-designed one page website can be more user friendly (and of course, a poorly designed one can have the opposite effect). Right off the bat, a one page site eliminates the potential for confusing mega drop-down navigation systems. Instead, all the information is laid out on one page for the user to see, and if the designer does his/her job properly the user’s sight line will flow through the page, allowing the user to find the information they want quickly and efficiently.

Information Brevity

Because information has to be contained to one page (although this page can scroll infinitely), one page websites naturally promote more concise information. For those clients and small businesses who don’t have/want to get a copywriter, this sort of restriction is welcome. It forces the author to get to the point quickly while not taking up too much space; this, coupled with proper information design and hierarchy, aids the many web users who scan instead of read thoroughly. People want to get the point quickly; one page websites can help that.

Increased Conversions

If a one-pager has high usability as well as concise & sound information architecture, there is a very good chance for increased conversions on the site. Whether your goal is to have the client call you, set up an appointment online, or buy something, it’s been proven time & again that strong usability and information architecture directly affects these conversion rates. Because well-designed one-pagers naturally lean towards high usability & brevity, there is an higher probability of increased conversions.

Unique Design Opportunities

Finally, one-page websites provide problems to designers. Good problems; what I’m getting at is that they provide us with opportunities to come up with creative solutions. Some more obvious ones are using jQuery overlays (for photo galleries, videos, sign up forms and the like). Perhaps we can consolidate what would normally have been pages of content into a horizontal slider – or perhaps a whole page slider. These are just examples off of the top of my head, but it only takes a few minutes of checking out sites on one-page design galleries like OnePageLove to see some brilliant, creative solutions to the issues that one-page websites can bring.

When & When Not to Use One Pagers

Some of the clients I’ve found one pagers great for include:

• musicians (a recent one we built is for Daniel Moir, a singer-songwriter)
• artists & photographers
• clients with a low budget
• small businesses who want a basic web presence
• online applications with one sole purpose (like ToDoTweet)

Of course, one page websites are definitely not a one-size-fits-all solution. Be sure not to force a one-pager on a client with a ton of content, or a client whose clientele will expect a standard web browsing experience.

How to Design an Effective One Page Website

This could be a whole post on its own, but for now I’ll just touch on the basics steps that we take when designing a one page website for our clients.

First, we look at their goals, content & clients to ensure a one page site is the correct solution. As mentioned above, don’t try and force it on a site that needs to be bigger and more robust.

Next, we figure out a basic page map (or wireframe). This will be a little different than a standard wireframe, of course, because all the information for the whole site will fit on this one page. This wireframe will take into account the goals of the site; what the viewers should see first, where they should go next, and what the end goal of the website should be. For example, Daniel Moir’s site below had a hierarchy of new album promotion -> gallery ->  songs -> mailing list, updates and shows. You can see how that hierarchy manifested itself in the final design.

As we’re laying out the wireframe, we discuss solutions to issues that come up. Perhaps there is only a 240px by 240px area designated for the photos, but the client has a dozen photos they want shown. One solution to this may be a call to action with a button that launches a gallery of the images in a jQuery overlay. Another example might be a client who wants all main information areas displayed “above the fold” of the average user’s screen. Perhaps then we can bring in a vertical accordion using jQuery Tools. These are just some of the problems and solutions that may come up in a one page website build.

Finally, it’s into design & development stage. We design with the goals, content & wireframe in mind to create a unique, aesthetic and effective design. Next, we take into account how the client will manage their content. Do they want to manage their content? If so, do they need a simple solution like Perch, LightCMS or CushyCMS? Or do they need something more in-depth, like a full-on WordPress install? Once these questions are asked, we can begin the development stage, carry it through testing and into launch.

Conclusion

One page websites are growing in popularity, and it’s easy to see why. Thanks to various easy-to-implement jQuery solutions along with the ever-shortening attention span of the web user, it’s important to know when, why & how to recommend, design & develop a one page website for your clients. It’s always important to make sure you’re going through with a one-pager because it’s the proper solution and not just because it’s a growing trend; do your research, make an informed decision, and roll out a great product. Your clients will be impressed, and with good reason.

No doubt, whether you design for an agency or whether you design as a freelancer, you have had to deal with the aggravation of “rush” work. Usually, rush work is a product of a client’s poor time management, over-eagerness, or lack of understanding of what exactly goes in to a proper design job. It could also be the fault of the novice designer, promising completed work by an unrealistic date. Regardless of what effects caused the “need” for this rush work, one staple remains true in pretty much all rush work cases: the end result will be, at best, average.

Rush Work Equals Rushed Planning & Research

When you have an overly cramped timeline to complete a design project, corners have to be cut. One of the first to be cut is the planning & research stage: essentially, the foundation of the project. Good design is effective design, and discovering what will be effective is a product of logical planning and research – both of which take time.

When we cut corners on the planning & research stage, we are laying a foundation that is already weak.

Rush Work Equals Fewer Concepts

Generally speaking, if a project’s deadline is too soon, fewer concepts will be explored by the designer & other project members. It’s a simple time issue; there really isn’t enough time to fill up your artboard with various concepts, playing around with some, fleshing some out, and so on. The designer’s process, which he or she has honed over the years if they are an effective designer, will be compromised. When compromising the process, we compromise the result.

While I’m not a proponent of quantity over quality, I do believe that some of the best ideas come later in the drafting process. I know I’ve been multiple hours deep in a logo design project, with multiple design concepts that aren’t quite there yet, only to finally come across the winner much later. Had these projects been on an overly tight timeline, chances are I would never have gotten to that point – leading to a final design that isn’t quite what it could have been.

Hit the jump for the rest!

Rush Work Leads to Errors

When everyone’s rushed, the members of the project are constantly dividing their time between their true responsibilities – be that project management, design, or other – and clock-watching. When we’re constantly diverting our attention, we are much more prone to errors. Simple things like missing kerning errors you normally would have caught, or missing a dead link on a website, become the norm in rush jobs. Not only does this ultimately slow down the project and create more rework, it put us designers in poor light. Multiple errors are not the hallmark of the professional designer, but they are near impossible to avoid when rushing to complete a job.

These errors compound, too, because rush work also leads to little or no testing time. This is mainly when we’re designing in an interactive medium, like a website. All of a sudden, that time you normally have slotted into your project management workflow is cut short, and next thing you know you’re launching a site with dead links, incorrect paths and the like. All these things should be caught in the testing phase; however, if the testing phase is cut short in order to meet a deadline, chances are they’ll be missed.

All this – less planning & research time, less time to explore concepts, more errors – will inevitably lead to an average design (if you’re lucky). A lot of the time, it leads to below average work; it is rare that the rush project ever results in a great design. Remember, great design is a process that requires thought; time for thought is usually the first thing to go in a rush job.

And the absolute worst thing about rush work and the subpar results? It’s rare that the client recognizes if they were the cause; more often than not, you will be the one to blame for the subpar work (and this isn’t great for client-designer relationships, either). And perhaps that’s fair; it’s up to you to refuse rush work if you feel the end result will not be up to your standards. Remember, the proof is in the pudding: if you start releasing a bunch of average to below average work, your reputation will take on that light. That’s poison for your career.

How to Avoid Rush Work

If you want to have a solid portfolio, a long career and all of your hair, it’s best to learn how & when to avoid rush work. First off, most designers will tell you that most work that clients deem “rush” does not actually need to be rushed. It might be an issue where your client is getting pressure from their boss; it might be an issue where they are just really excited to launch a new website; it might be an issue where they just have no idea how long it takes to complete the project they are commissioning you for.

If this is the case, put on your communicator’s hat (which should always be on, really) and let them know that their deadline does not need to be so tight. Let them know the downfalls of rushed design work; in the end, the work will be there for a long time, so the quality will be remembered far more than the fact that it was completed in 8 days.

If your client refuses to budge on the deadline, you have two options: take on the job, or pass on it. If you take it on, make sure you communicate very clearly to the client that corners will have to be cut. They will get fewer revisions and fewer concepts. If you have other projects on the go, which I imagine you do, consider a rush fee. You have multiple clients you have to keep happy, and taking on a rush job will bump their project down the ladder and risk upsetting your client- some think that it’s reasonable to demand a higher cost in order to take this risk, but that’s in your hands.

If you refuse the job – and saying no isn’t a bad thing – let them know why. When Paper Leaf refuses rush work, we let the client know that we’d love to work on their project, but not under the circumstances outlined. We want our work to be strong & memorable, and rush jobs generally don’t allow for that.

Keep in mind: the payment for a rush job is immediate, but the effects of a below-average design with your name on it are much longer lasting and wider-reaching. What are your experiences with rush jobs?

Simple but true: the best designs are born from the best client-designer relationships. They aren’t born from relationships where the designer calls all the shots; the best designs aren’t born from when the client tries to play designer. No, the best designs are born from a client-designer relationship that follows these three steps: clear role definition, honest & open communication, and trust.

If you’re a freelance designer, chances are  you end up playing creative director with a lot of your clients – project manager with some too, I bet. I know this is the case for Paper Leaf. With that in mind, to adhere to the above-mentioned three steps, you might have to be the one that gets the ball rolling; the one that starts the discussion about roles; the one that practices open & honest communication; the one that embraces the idea of trust. If you are a designer who works with a creative director or a project manager, hopefully they understand the importance of these three steps. If not, you may have to tread carefully and, again, be the one who gets the ball rolling.

All this said, why do these three steps matter? Let me explain.

Role Definition

In the simplest of projects, the roles can be broken down into the following: client & designer. The client is the one needs design services for their business; the designer is the one who learns about this business and offers their design services. Seems very simple, doesn’t it? However, any designer will tell you that these lines can soon become blurry – usually in the form of a complaint from the designer that their client “wants to play designer” or that their client has demoted them to “pixel pusher” status. This happens, and it’s unfortunate. However, the reason it happens is largely due to the fact that the roles in the project were never clearly defined at the outset.

The client is in the role of the client, or business owner. But what does this role entail? Well, designers rely on clients to provide in-depth knowledge about their business, their target market, and their competitors. The client needs to offer design problems; not design solutions. If this role is defined and understood by both parties, then you are one step closer to a great design.

The reason I mention that the client needs to offer design problems, not solutions, is because it is easy to get the two confused. A design solution is, for example, “make the logo bigger” or “use Copperplate Gothic Bold” (shudder). A design problem, on the other hand, is “the branding isn’t quite strong enough on this poster” (a problem, whereas “make the logo bigger” is a solution – a bad one, usually – to this problem). Another design problem might be “the poster doesn’t seem aggressive enough” (where the client-proposed solution is “use Copperplate Gothic Bold”).

When the client starts making design solution suggestions, as opposed to design problem suggestions, two things usually happen: a subpar design is settled on, and the relationship is soured. Why does this happen? Because, in the example above, if the designer just does as the client asks, the end result will be a poster with an oversized logo set in a poor font. If the client had known to suggest design problems – and, on the flipside, if the designer had coaxed the problem out of the client, as opposed to just accepting their solution – the end result could have solved the problems properly and aesthetically without resulting to poor design decisions made by someone not necessarily well-versed in design.

On the other side of the coin, the designer needs to realize & respect the fact that the client knows their business and knows their clients – just like we expect clients to respect the fact that we know design, we know user tendencies and such. If the client has an issue with a design draft because they don’t feel it will effectively speak to their target market, we as designers need to listen to that, respect it, and see how we can improve our work. When both the client and the designer respect and understand one another’s role, it opens the door for effective, honest & open communication – the second step to improving client/designer relationships.

Honest & Open Communication

Once roles have been defined & understood, the next step is to embrace honest & open communication. So many designs have fallen short of their potential because either the designer or the client has been too reluctant to speak openly about the work. This is a fine art; there is a thin line between openness & honesty and cruel, blunt speaking. Be sure to tread that line carefully.

Why is this so important? Because, to be frank, nothing ever reaches its full potential if people involved aren’t speaking plainly. If you think your client’s idea is absolutely harebrained and will result in the equivalent of burning a small pile of cash, tell them openly. Don’t hint at it. Don’t just do the work, even though it may be an easier path to a paycheck. Think long term – if you know that this concept will not be effective, the client will not be happy down the road when their marketing campaign falls flat; in fact, they just might blame you. That’s a lot of future work lost because you, as the designer with the knowledge of effective design, were too reluctant to speak honestly. It might not be pleasant at the time to speak so plainly, but down the road when your hard work pays off & you have a design to be proud of along with a happy client, you won’t even remember the rough patch.

Likewise, encourage your client to be honest & open about their feelings when it comes to design concepts & drafts. Be careful to know the boundaries of one another’s roles, as mentioned above, but a client who feels they can speak openly will be a satisfied client (unless you fly into a chair-smashing rage whenever you hear something you don’t like – if that’s the case, you should probably change professions). Sometimes we designers can get really caught up in a design concept and lose our “fresh eyes” – when showing the concept to your fresh-eyed client, their honest feedback might very well be the key to catching an ineffective concept.

Learning to have an open & honest communication pipeline between client & designer will not only lead to better designs – it will lead to building trust.

Trust

Trust is the single most important part of a designer/client relationship. Trust is the also the hardest element in the relationship to earn, and rightfully so. However, if both you & your client understand one another’s roles and practice open & honest communication, you can build trust. Once you’ve gained your clients trust – and they yours – you will be able to design freely. Your client will trust your judgement because they know you respect their knowledge about their business; they know they can speak honestly to you about the project and you will respond in a professional manner.

Designing for a client who trusts you is pretty much the holy grail of design – when you & your client reach this stage, hold on to this client & don’t let go. Chances are this relationship will be a fruitful one for both parties: the client delivering to you lots of work, and you delivering to the client effective design that helps their business.

Strive for trust; this is the end goal and the final step to improving client/designer relationships. I know that we have some clients in whom we trust and that share the same feeling; I also know that these are the clients we love to work for. How about you?

We’re going to take a quick break today from our regularly scheduled, design-informing programming to jump on the Self-Involved Train and talk about ourselves for a minute. Why? Because this month Paper Leaf Design is featured in Parlour Magazine. This Edmonton-produced design, lifestyle and fashion magazine is available in Edmonton, Calgary and Vancouver, and is noted for its great design, photography, and content.

We’re honored to have been mentioned (and so kindly!) in their favorites section – judging by the quality of the other talent featured in the section, it’s no small feat. So thanks to Parlour for mentioning us, and if you see Parlour in your city, pick it up! It’s free and the content is awesome – for example, this issue features articles on the Bouncing Souls and Metric, as well as highlights of up & coming fashion for the season. If you’re not in Edmonton, Vancouver or Calgary, read the new issue online here. Also, much thanks to Leah Rae Photography – she took the photo of us that appears in the ‘zine (and on our About Us page).

Here’s some shots of the inside of the magazine (we’re the big photo, where Andy is threatening me with physical harm).

Alright, enough about us. Back to dropping design science in our next post!

“Social media” is everywhere. Everyone’s talking about it – news anchors, journalists, your mom, your bowling team. And while social media – Twitter, blogging, Facebook, etc – is hugely popular and has great potential for you and your business, the method in which most businesses use social media is largely ineffective. Let’s face it – nobody, especially your clients, cares about your inside jokes and how you burnt your toast. In our time as Paper Leaf Design, we’ve managed to use social media to help our business presence grow and attract new clients. In this article, I’ll share tips and guidelines on how you can successfully use social media for your business;  I’ll also talk about what not to do.

Who is Your Audience?

Right off the bat, just like most everything else related to business, you should think about your audience first. Tailor your social media content towards them. Are you a marketing consultant who provides your services to small local businesses? Perhaps you should put yourself in the shoes of the small local business owner, then; what would they want to hear you talk about on your blog? What sort of Tweets would they want to read? Be honest, be blunt, and use the answers to these questions steer your social media content.

Hit the jump for the entire article!

People Want Useful, Relevant & Valuable Info

This is the single most important point of this article: people want useful, relevant and valuable information. When I was working as an instructional designer, my target audience was the adult learner. With that in mind, I took some PD courses on adult learning theory. The point that stuck with me the most was this: adults will commit and respond to information that is realistic, important, and applicable. If the information provided is applicable to the learner’s personal and professional needs, there is a much greater chance of having a committed learner (source). While this point deals with adult learners, it is also applicable to social media. Social media is used to share information as well as for communication. As a business, you’re dealing with adults – adults who are using social media to share information. Thus, we can safely assume that adult social media users will be more interested in content that is useful to them.

A roundabout way to a seemingly obvious answer to some, but one that needs to be mentioned regardless. Provide useful content to your audience, and your audience will grow. Provide unrelated and useless content to your audience, and the opposite happens.

For example, this fictional marketing consultant I mentioned earlier will see more success by sharing tips and pointers on small business marketing & promotion, as they are providing useful content that is of value to their audience. If they constantly tweet to complain about customer service at the GAP or tweet random quotes from LOST, their audience will disappear – despite the awesomeness that is LOST.

Social Media Is Not About You

Another very common mistake businesses make when utilizing social media is to talk about themselves… and only themselves. For example, a furniture store who only uses social media to promote their product, their monthly sales, or other information about their business is a business that is making this mistake. The problem is that social media isn’t all about you. It’s about building relationships and connections. It’s about the collective, and the collective doesn’t want to hear you talking about yourself all day.

Think of it like this: you go to a party and are introduced to a friend of a friend. Let’s name him Tex. Immediately upon your introduction, Tex proceeds to talk nonstop about himself for the entire evening. You can’t get a word in edge-wise, and while you may get a nugget of semi-useful information here and there, you’re not exactly going to grab Tex’s email address so you can pursue this friendship.

If you’re using social media as a means to talk about your business 100% of the time, you are the Tex of social media. It comes back to the first couple of questions I posed: who is your audience, and what do they want to hear you talk about? If you think your audience wants to hear  you talk about yourself all day, please don’t sit next to me the next time we’re at a social gathering.

Of course, if you’re famous like Shaquille O’Neal or Britney Spears, you can get away with using social media to talk about yourself all the time. However, I don’t think the rich & famous read the Paper Leaf blog, so I’m not expanding on this point.

80/20 Rule

The 80/20 Rule, also known as the Pareto Principle, states that about 80% of the effects come from 20% of the causes. This principle shows up in a variety of manners; for instance, the old saying that 80% of your business will come from 20% of your clients. For social media purposes, I like to take this rule and use it as a guideline for the content I share.

What I mean by this, in the simplest form, is that 80% of the time I use social media to share useful, relevant and valuable content with my audience – essentially following the guidelines of this article. The other 20% of the time I allow myself to get off-topic and break these guidelines – for instance, in my Twitter feed, 8 tweets of every 10 will be about design in some way, shape or form while the other 2 might be about LOST and how much I hate Microsoft Word. Of course, this number isn’t exact, but I use it as a means to keep myself on topic 80% of the time.

Why not stay on topic 100% of the time? Well, I think one of the greatest things about social media is that it allows for a more direct connection between people that normally wouldn’t connect at all. It’s important to remember that we’re all people, and that there is a person/persons behind each business. By getting off topic occasionally and posting something humorous or random, I think we remind our audience that we’re people too. This helps social media stay as social media, and not slowly turn into another, more faceless form of media.

How Can Social Media Help Your Business?

So, if you’re dishing out all this valuable content to your audience… well, how does that help your business? Well, for most, social media doesn’t provide a direct source of income unless you have a huge following and are selling ad space on your website or something. However, it does help in a few long-term areas of your business.

Social media can be used to build consumer/client confidence in your business by helping establish you as an expert; it can help foster relationships with current and potential clients; it can provide more avenues for potential clients to find out about your business. These are but a few, but definitely worth mentioning. Think of social media almost like a loss-leader; you give away content and expert knowledge in order to “get people in the door” of your business, just like electronics shops sell BluRay players below cost on Boxing Day to get you in the door so they can sell you a ginormous television.

In summary, there are a few golden rules to stick to when it comes to social media and your business. One, know your audience. Two, share useful and valuable content that is relevant to that audience. Three, don’t just talk about your business all day – don’t be a Tex. Four, follow the 80/20 in order to stay on topic but still be personable. If you follow these four guidelines, you will be well on your way to becoming a business that effectively utilizes social media.