Complex designs - can they work?

[Obelix]

Most web designers I have spoken to so far have recommended to keep my websites' design simple.

Do you think a complex website design can work and attract visitors, or should designers focus on simple and efficient layouts ? By complex, I mean using a lot of elements, a combination of many colors, buttons, flash elements and other stuff like that...

 

[easyhostmedia]

Most web designers I have spoken to so far have recommended to keep my websites' design simple.

Do you think a complex website design can work and attract visitors, or should designers focus on simple and efficient layouts ? By complex, I mean using a lot of elements, a combination of many colors, buttons, flash elements and other stuff like that...

the more elements that you add to a website will make it slower to load which will turn some users away.

a website should be fresh, understandable and quick to load. you dont need all the flash stuff etc.

 

[Amit_Tutishost]

i am completely Agree with "easyhostmedia".If your sites take more time to load then they will not prefer your site.... It will make them more annoyed towards your website..... Lets take example of Facebook its simple and faster to load.... The only thing which bring traffic to your website first time is advertisement and the rest time is the content of your website.....

 

[CanSpace]

Definitely keep it simple - when I go to sites that look cluttered I tend to go elsewhere.

 

[WebNet Host]

Keep it simple. Use as few elements as possible, make it easy to navigate on(with max.3-4 clicks reach every section of the site), just a few colors, the minimum different type of font.

 

[jmoran]

Busy sites are annoying, keep it as simple as you can.

 

[concerto49]

It needs to be easy for visitors to navigate. Think about your target audience and where this is going. If you have highly technical

 

[Jon N]

Simple, but not too simple. You still want to have nice features on your site but limit it to probably one or two flash elements and a few colors.

 

[GeekGhost]

Not only do complex designs take longer to load, it can often look too cluttered and might be too hard for the user to find the information they are looking for. That can frustrate the user and turn away business. You dont have to be too simplistic in your design though. With the right Web Designer you can get an easy to use, yet attractive Website. I wouldn't necessarily turn away from using any Flash. A few small elements wont hurt your site.

 

[HostingKing]

Remember that what a first user wants most of all is to find the information they are looking for, or if they are visiting your front page, to quickly discover what your site is about. Having too complex of a layout will simply distract them. Most users only give a few seconds for the site to pull them in, and then they leave.

I think there definitely has to be a balance. My site has a lot of sidebar blocks, but no one has ever complained that it detracts from the main content of the site, and generally those blocks are simply links to other articles, blogs, forum posts, and so forth on the site.

 

[marengo]

Take a look at FWA sites, they are complex and so nice. I don't like complex navigation, but I like gfx heavy designs ))

 

[paradiseweb]

I teach web design and finding that precarious position between overly complicated and too simple can be difficult. Usually designers unfortunately jump to the too complicated because they want to show how good they can do stuff and what all they know. Not always the best plan, slow sites and difficult to navigate will make folks leave in an instant.

 

[Dedicatedslots]

Busy site take Load timing so much and Clean and Simple Site load very fast thats why everybody prefer clean and simple site.

 

[vanixhosting]

Think about the user, keeping it simple is always the way to go, especially now a days, people just want to click and order and read info about the product, no jam to much on the site as it will cause slowness and clutter and make your bounce rate much higher.