Jan
2012
Let Your Website Design Age with its Audience
Poisted by : WebGuru Under : Website Design, Website Design Company, Website Designing No CommentsThe internet is used by millions of people from various age groups and demographics. To be successful in today’s tough world wide web, a website design company needs to grasp the concept of variation, to provide audience-specific website designing solutions to its clients.
Age is crucial in determining a website’s target market for a lot of reasons, such as accessibility, psychology and user-friendliness. While there are other aspects that play a major role in the success of website design, we will discuss the importance of age.
In this era, the difference that age groups play in using the net is more evident than ever before. Conduct a research on the age groups that use the net for something very similar to what your website offers or will offer. This would help you determine your user base and design your website accordingly. But keep one thing in mind, you just cannot take anything for granted so be careful when you begin your website designing process.
Divide your target users in 4 age groups – children, adolescents, adults and senior citizens.
♦ Children: Today’s children experience the most intense impact of the internet. Even a few years
ago, kids had limited computer skills but now, they are as familiar with computers and internet as can be, thanks to early exposure both at home and at school. But as far as dealing with errors is concerned, children are less patient than adults
Website design for children poses less challenges than website design for adults because children do not have anything specific in mind when they surf the net. They just want entertainment and that gives the designer the freedom to create entertaining, educational and interactive websites.
When you create a website for children – keep the site as clean as possible, use bright colors, use sound and animation, offer educational games, use iconography, create content that’s relevant to the fictional characters children are familiar with and avoid integrated advertisements. They would distract children very quickly and easily.
♦ Adolescents: They are more fluent with computers and more patient with errors than children.
They use technology to be in touch with their friends through social networks. They are not very adventurous when it comes to exploration. They prefer to go to websites that they know rather than discovering new websites. According to studies, the difference between adults and adolescents is that the latter are more concerned about their social interactions rather than working towards a set goal on the web.
When designing for adolescents – pay more attention to graphics than text, use sound and animation but not as much as you would use for children. Provide a clean interface and keep the content simple, but not so simple that it seems kiddish.
♦ Adults: This is the age group many web designers target for testing their website’s usability.
Considered to be the average internet users, adults, though not always computer literate, possess some knowledge of the computers and internet. They are the most skilled and comfortable web users. They know what they want and they are focused. Though accessibility and usability are two factors with adults, you have to keep in mind that they are not dependent on instructions. Which is why, website designing for adults is simple but at the same time challenging.
♦ Senior Citizens: As they are more accustomed to a world without internet, the senior citizens appear to be the ignored part of the demographic when it comes to website design.
They lack fluency in computer skills, plus their health condition becomes an obstacle in their being active on the net. But they are definitely more patient and more focused on the reason why they use the web. They like to research, read and engage into activities with like-minded people. Which is why, they are likely to be a part of communities more than any other age group.
When designing a website for senior citizens – Upload the text content in large fonts, put as little animation or any other distraction is possible, make the navigation easy and create easily noticeable websites wherein links are easy-to-click. Keep away anything that can create confusion and promote social interaction.
No matter which age group you are targeting, your website will be perceived and used differently by different age groups. Usability is one of the key factors of website designing and you can’t ignore the fact that you can’t cater to everyone, but you have to offer something for everyone. Every web user is unique, but a wide audience may be looking for what you are offering.















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