Only Noobs Build Beautiful Websites

Summary

This script emphasizes the importance of functionality over aesthetics in web design. It argues that while beauty in design is appreciated, the primary goal should be to solve problems and serve a purpose. Successful websites like Google and Amazon prioritize user experience and simplicity, which leads to profitability. The video provides practical tips on creating user-friendly websites, focusing on layout, typography, color, imagery, and most importantly, content. It concludes that continuous iteration based on user feedback is key to a successful website.

Takeaways

• 🎨 **Design vs. Art**: Design is not art; it's about solving problems and serving a purpose, not just looking beautiful.
• 🌐 **Functional Over Aesthetic**: Websites should be functional to generate traffic, sales, or subscriptions, rather than just being visually impressive.
• 🏆 **Practicality of Award-Winning Designs**: While design awards recognize beauty, the most successful websites focus on functionality and user experience.
• 🔍 **User Expectations**: Users visit websites for specific purposes, valuing simplicity, straightforwardness, and ease of use over aesthetic appeal.
• 📈 **Metrics Over Appearance**: Designers and developers prioritize metrics and profitability over the visual appeal of a website, as their careers depend on it.
• 📱 **Responsiveness Challenge**: Beautiful designs can be challenging to make responsive, leading to a poor user experience on different devices.
• 🛠️ **Building User-Friendly Websites**: Focus on layout, typography, colors, images, and content to create a user-friendly website.
• 📐 **Layout Structure**: Use rows and columns for a flexible layout that adapts to various screen sizes, enhancing user experience.
• 🔢 **Consistency in Design**: Consistency in layout, typography, and color schemes helps in creating a coherent and recognizable user experience.
• 🎨 **Simplicity in Color Use**: Limit the color palette to maintain a clean, focused design that doesn't overwhelm the user.
• 📝 **Content is King**: Regardless of design, it's the content that drives traffic and engagement; prioritize quality and relevance.
• 🔧 **Iterative Process**: Building a website is an ongoing process of trial and error, requiring continuous feedback and improvement.

Q & A

What is the primary purpose of design according to the script?

The primary purpose of design is to solve a problem and serve a purpose, not necessarily to look beautiful but to work effectively.

Why might a beautifully designed website not be the best choice for generating traffic, sales, or subscriptions?

A beautifully designed website might not be the best choice because it could prioritize aesthetics over functionality, which is crucial for generating traffic, sales, or subscriptions.

What are some examples of websites that are known for their functionality rather than their beauty?

Examples of functional websites include Google, Facebook, YouTube, and Amazon, which prioritize user experience and serve a specific purpose over visual appeal.

Why do big companies with the budget for top designers often opt for simpler designs?

Big companies opt for simpler designs because they focus on building profitable websites that are user-friendly and prioritize metrics over visual appeal.

What is the main challenge with making a beautiful website also profitable?

The main challenge is that beautiful websites often take longer to load, may not respond well to different screen sizes, and can complicate the user experience, which is detrimental to profitability.

What are the five pillars of building a user-friendly website as mentioned in the script?

The five pillars are layout, typography, colors, images, and content.

How does the script suggest organizing content on a website to ensure it adapts to different screen sizes?

The script suggests organizing content into rows and columns, and using CSS properties like flexbox to ensure it adapts responsively to different screen sizes.

What is the significance of the number four in relation to size and spacing on a website?

The number four is significant because any size or space used on a website should be divisible by four, such as 8, 20, 100, etc., to maintain consistency and harmony in design.

How does the script define 'good' layout for a website?

A 'good' layout is defined as user-friendly, not necessarily beautiful. It should be consistent, adapt well to different screen sizes, and be easy for users to navigate.

What is the importance of consistency in typography, colors, and layout when building a website?

Consistency in typography, colors, and layout is important because it helps create a cohesive user experience, makes the website look more professional, and aids in brand recognition.

Why is content considered the most important pillar in building a user-friendly website?

Content is the most important pillar because it is the primary reason users visit a website. High-quality, relevant content will keep users engaged and drive the desired outcomes like traffic, sales, or subscriptions.

What is the script's advice on building a website for a beginner who might be tempted by the allure of beautiful designs?

The script advises beginners to focus on building user-friendly websites with a main focus on content and users, rather than just on aesthetics. It emphasizes the importance of functionality and meeting the users' needs.

What is the script's view on the role of personal projects versus professional websites in a designer's portfolio?

The script suggests that personal projects, often showcased on platforms like Dribbble and Instagram, are more about creativity and personal expression, whereas professional websites are about meeting specific business objectives and user needs.

How does the script describe the process of building a website that is both beautiful and profitable?

The script implies that building a website that is both beautiful and profitable is challenging because it requires balancing aesthetics with functionality and user experience. It suggests that professionals prioritize user-friendly designs that focus on content and users.

What is the script's stance on the importance of website responsiveness?

The script emphasizes that a responsive website, which automatically adjusts for different screen sizes, is crucial for providing a good user experience across all devices.

How does the script suggest using images and icons in website design?

The script suggests using crisp, clean images and icons that complement the content and make the website easier to understand. It also advises optimizing images to avoid slowing down the website.

What is the script's advice on the use of colors in website design?

The script advises using a limited color palette, primarily black and white, with an accent color for buttons, icons, and other graphics. It also recommends using a darker shade of the accent color for hover states to enhance user interaction.

How does the script define a successful website layout?

A successful website layout is defined by the script as one that is consistent, user-friendly, and adaptable to different screen sizes through the use of rows and columns.

Outlines

00:00

🎨 The Purpose of Design Over Aesthetics

This paragraph emphasizes the functional aspect of design over its aesthetic appeal, particularly in the context of website creation. It argues that while designs on platforms like Dribbble and Instagram may win awards, they are not necessarily the most effective for business purposes. The primary goal of a website should be to serve its intended purpose, such as generating traffic, sales, or subscriptions, rather than merely impressing with beauty. The text provides examples of high-traffic websites that prioritize functionality and user experience over visual appeal, suggesting that even though they may appear simple or 'boring,' their design effectiveness is proven by their profitability and user engagement.

05:01

🛠️ Building a User-Friendly Website with Practical Tips

The second paragraph focuses on the practical steps to create a user-friendly website, emphasizing the importance of layout, typography, colors, images, and content. It explains the significance of a responsive layout that adapts to different screen sizes using rows and columns, and the use of a consistent size and spacing approach, such as multiples of four, to ensure visual harmony. The paragraph also touches on the use of CSS properties like flexbox for layout management. It advises on the selection of fonts and colors, recommending a limited color palette and a types scale for readability and consistency, and highlights the role of component-based design in streamlining the development process.

10:01

🖌️ The Role of Typography, Colors, and Visuals in Web Design

This paragraph delves into the specifics of typography, colors, and visual elements in web design. It discusses the importance of type scales for maintaining font consistency and hierarchy, suggesting the use of a single font family for a cohesive look. The text advises on color selection, advocating for a primary color, a secondary or background color, and an accent color used sparingly to add vibrancy. It also covers the use of icons, images, and illustrations to enhance user understanding and engagement, stressing the need for high-quality, optimized visuals that complement the content rather than merely filling space.

15:01

📝 Prioritizing Content and User Experience in Web Design

The final paragraph underscores the paramount importance of content and user experience in web design. It argues that while aesthetics may attract initial attention, it is the content that drives traffic and engagement. The text uses Craigslist as an example of a site with high traffic despite its lack of aesthetic appeal, attributing its success to fulfilling user needs. It encourages designers to gather user feedback and iterate on their designs, acknowledging that no version of a website will be perfect from the start. The paragraph concludes by advising against the common trap of prioritizing beauty over functionality, especially for businesses, and stresses that professionals focus on creating user-friendly websites with a strong emphasis on content.

Keywords

💡Design

Design in the context of the video refers to the visual and functional aspects of creating a website. It is not merely an art form but a problem-solving process that serves a specific purpose. The video emphasizes that while design can be aesthetically pleasing, its primary role is to be functional and serve the website's intended purpose, such as generating traffic or sales.

💡User Experience (UX)

User Experience is a core concept in the video, highlighting the importance of a website's ability to provide a simple, straightforward, and efficient interaction for its users. It is defined by how users perceive their interaction with a website, and the video argues that a good UX is more critical than a visually stunning design for the success of a website.

💡Responsive Design

Responsive design is a technique used in web development to ensure that a website's layout adjusts to different screen sizes, making it accessible and user-friendly on various devices. The video points out that beautiful designs can sometimes compromise responsiveness, leading to a poor user experience on mobile devices.

💡Functionality

Functionality pertains to the practical features and capabilities of a website. The video stresses that a website's design should prioritize functionality over beauty, as it directly impacts the site's ability to meet its objectives, such as selling products or retaining readers.

💡Metrics

In the video, metrics refer to the quantitative measures used to assess a website's performance, such as traffic, sales, or user engagement. Designers and developers are encouraged to focus on these metrics rather than purely on aesthetics, as they directly reflect the website's success.

💡Typography

Typography is the art and technique of arranging type to make written language legible and appealing when displayed. The video explains that typography is a critical component of web design, affecting readability and the overall user experience, with recommendations to use a consistent type scale and clean, easy-to-read fonts.

💡Color Palette

A color palette in web design is a set of colors used consistently throughout a website to create a cohesive look and feel. The video suggests using a limited color palette, primarily black and white with an accent color, to maintain simplicity and focus on user experience.

💡Images and Illustrations

Images and illustrations are visual elements used to enhance the content and appeal of a website. The video advises using high-quality, optimized images that complement the content, cautioning against using random images just for the sake of filling space.

💡Content

Content is the most important aspect of a website, as it is the primary reason users visit and stay on a site. The video emphasizes that regardless of design principles, it is the quality and relevance of the content that drives traffic, sales, and user engagement.

💡Consistency

Consistency in web design refers to the uniform application of design elements such as layout, typography, and color scheme throughout a website. The video illustrates how consistency helps in creating a coherent user experience and makes navigation intuitive for users.

💡Component-Based Design

Component-Based Design is an approach where a website is built using reusable components or modules. The video uses this concept to explain how to efficiently create a consistent design by copying and pasting design elements while only changing the content, which is a common practice in the industry.

💡Feedback

Feedback in the context of the video refers to the user input and data collected to improve the website over time. It is a crucial part of the iterative process of website development, where designers and developers make adjustments based on user responses to enhance the site's performance and user satisfaction.

Highlights

Design should solve problems and serve a purpose, not just look beautiful.

Functional websites that generate traffic, sales, or subscriptions are more important than design awards.

The best websites in the world serve a specific purpose, like selling courses or keeping readers engaged.

Websites like Google, Facebook, YouTube, and Amazon prioritize functionality over beauty.

Designers and developers focus on building profitable websites rather than just beautiful ones.

Beautiful designs on platforms like Dribbble and Instagram are often personal projects, not practical for business.

Implementing impractical designs can lead to financial loss and job loss for designers.

A beautiful website that is also profitable is ideal but often unattainable due to practical constraints.

Users visit websites for specific purposes, valuing simplicity and ease of use over aesthetics.

In the attention economy, user experience is key, and simplicity helps retain users' time and money.

Responsive design is crucial for websites to function well on all devices, which beautiful designs often fail to achieve.

Beautiful websites can take longer to load and may not be user-friendly, negatively impacting user experience.

A website should be built on five pillars: layout, typography, colors, images, and content.

Layout should be user-friendly, adapting to different screen sizes through rows and columns.

Consistency in layout, typography, and color schemes is essential for a cohesive user experience.

Typography, or font choices, should be clean, readable, and consistent across the website.

Color schemes should be simple, with an accent color used sparingly for buttons and graphics.

Images and illustrations should complement the content and be optimized for fast loading.

Content is the most important aspect of a website, driving traffic and user engagement.

Building a website is an iterative process; gather feedback and make continuous improvements.

Professionals prioritize user-friendly websites focused on content and user experience over beauty.

Transcripts

yeah you read the title right only noobs

design beautiful

websites this is what I mean by

beautiful the designs you see on dribble

behance and Instagram few of them get

Design Awards as well let me clarify

something design is not art design

solves a problem it serves a purpose

it's objective so it doesn't suppos to

look beautiful it just have to

work if you are building a website to

impress your art teacher or win a design

award then go for it design the most

beautiful website you can but if you

want to create a website that generate

traffic sales or subscriptions you need

a functional website that serves that

specific

purpose look at the best websites in the

world they serve a purpose a course

website needs to sell courses a Blog

website requires a lot of readers and

then keeps them reading for a long

period of time an e-commerce site sells

a lot of products and a social media

site wants you to stay there all day

long do you find websites like Google

Facebook YouTube and Amazon

beautiful let's look at some of the best

websites across

Industries here is zero 25 million

visits in a month blogger 157 million

visits in a month Indian railways 132

million Mercury 150 million Chase 193

million fragrantica a beauty it 50

million visits in a month I can keep

going just go to semrush and check top

websites in any category you will not

find a single beautiful

website you must be thinking these big

companies can hire the best designers

and developers then why their design is

so simple and sometimes

boring the answer lies in the question

itself they do hire the best designers

and developers and they cost a lot of

money so naturally the priority is to

build a profitable website and not a

beautiful

website the designers don't bother

creating beautiful websites because

their job promotion and career revolve

around metrics and not on how the site

looks the beautiful designs you see on

dribble and Instagram are just personal

projects if companies Implement those

designs they will lose money and in turn

the designer will lose their job now let

me explain why can't we build a

beautiful website that is also

profitable

I mean that would be

ideal actually you already know the

answer you just don't realize it when

you are the one building the

website as a user why do you visit a

website to learn something order a

product watch videos or browse social

media there is always a

purpose when you visit YouTube you want

to see video recommendation that suits

your style then you want easy access to

all the buttons and options you just

want things simple straightforward and

easy to use you want to do your thing

and get out after all you have a lot of

things to do and the last thing you want

is a website that is complicated and

wastes your

time when you search something you want

results quickly and in front of you in a

simple layout most of the time you don't

even see on your screen you just ask

Google and it tells you the

answer very soon you will see AI

products where you will tell the AI to

order something or book a reservation

for you you wouldn't even have to look

at your

screen do you see a pattern

yet people want things simple and easy

to use companies know that because they

do their

research so they want to keep things

very simple and user

friendly in the attention economy user

is the king that means the websites that

provides the best user experience win

users and their precious time and money

you don't care about how beautiful

Amazon looks you just want to go there

find what you are looking for read

reviews see product images and then

order you want to spent as little time

as

possible one more thing you want Amazon

to work on any device you

own just imagine a world where Amazon is

a beautiful e-commerce website whenever

you open it on your computer it looks

better than most of the websites out

there

but one day you open it on your

smartphone to track your order and the

Beautiful website you saw on a big

screen looks so complicated and hard to

navigate on your phone will you not get

angry and that's the biggest drawback of

a beautiful website making them

responsive is

impossible your responsive website

automatically adjusts for different

sized screens with a responsive website

someone can browse your website from any

device and and it will still look and

function

perfectly simple or beautiful every

website you see is built by HDML CSS and

JavaScript now this code runs on your

browser good designers design websites

keeping this thing in mind they know the

limitations of

browsers beautiful websites take longer

to load because of all the images and

fluff they have then they don't work on

small screens because of how things are

positioned it's a big mess for the

browser and for the users also they are

a bit harder to code that's not a big

problem but there is no benefit in

writing a lot of CSS if the browsers and

users are not

happy so in short beautiful websites

take longer to load and don't respond to

screen

sizes that is bad user experience and

that's the last thing you

want so now the question is what should

you do

build userfriendly

website I am going to give you some very

practical tips that you can use to build

an userfriendly

website a website stand on these five

pillars layout typography colors images

and last but not the least

content if you get these five things

right you are set for Success so let's

go over them one by

one a website's layout is the first

thing the user sees layout means the

overall structure of the website within

seconds a user can feel if a layout is

good or bad remember good doesn't mean

beautiful it means userfriendly layout

is the first thing you should think of

when building a website because at this

point you will think how this website

will adapt to different screen

sizes to do that break your content into

rows and columns and then arrange them

on the screen here is an example we have

these six cards on this website but you

can see we have three headings as well

and each heading is connected to two

cards now how can we arrange them so

that they respond to different screen

sizes I mean we want these cards to

correspond to their heading but we need

to adjust their position on tablet and

then on smartphone as

well the easy solution is to move last

column to the next row on tablets and

then move the second column to the next

row on

smartphone so on laptop we have one row

and three columns but on smartphone we

have three rows and one

column we have a CSS property called

flexbox that will take care of these

things for you but you just need to

start thinking in terms of rows and

columns let me show you one more example

as well here we have two columns column

one has a heading and some text and

column two has an

image this is pretty common and

successful layout for few years now on a

bigger screen we we can fit both of

these columns in a single row but on

smartphones it makes sense to move the

second column to the next

row one more very important part of

layout is size and spacing new designers

and developers struggle a lot with

that let me introduce you to the number

four this is the number that will help

you in all of your size and spacing

problems here is how it

works any size or space you use on your

website must be divisible ible by four

so numbers like 8 20 100 and so

on don't ask me why because that could

be a separate video for now just stay

with

me need width for a button try 100

pixels didn't look good try 200 try 160

try a number that is divisible by

four how much padding inside that button

try eight

pixels didn't look good try 12 try 16

try

20 how much spacing between two

columns try 20 pixels try 28 try 36 but

don't try 30 as it is not divisible by

four this brings me to consistency your

layout have to be

consistent if you gave 20 pixels gap

between two columns keep the same Gap

across your website don't put 24 or 28

pixels on other columns

good design repeat

itself time for more

examples check out the left sidebar we

have an icon and text then they repeat

and they all have equal spacing between

them see the header the space between

these three columns are the

same I bet you didn't notice the column

layout till

now now you will see them everywhere

every single website is built by rows

and columns

this box have a thumbnail profile

picture title channel name views and

date

published now this box will repeat

itself if I change the screen size it

will change the layout and columns will

move to the next row you will find these

basic design principles in all the

websites out

there let's look at some

more here is Google keep an eye on how

design will repeat itself the

autocomplete Tabs are also in rows and

columns layout did you notice the same

Gap and

design same things with the results icon

title and URL then a clickable link as

heading and then a small

paragraph the beauty lies in making

things simple and easy to use users can

skim through a lot of links and decide

which one to

click while building a website layout

think how your users will navigate

through

it humans are pattern recognition

machines we expect things to repeat so

just as we repeat the layout we also

repeat the same fonts colors and overall

Vibe consistency is the key

[Music]

here let me show you the example of

Netflix Netflix cares a lot about good

design notice how they only use three

colors in the whole website black white

anded red and that's a real example of

less is

more black background white text and red

buttons they could have added blue

orange and all kind of colors but they

didn't it's all about repeating the same

colors over and

over let me show you one more design

pattern look at this section we have two

columns column one has a heading and a

paragraph with a corresponding image in

column two

section two three and four are also have

the same

design imagine you building this website

from scratch you build section one and

then just copy paste it three times then

you just have to replace the content

inside this is called component-based

design and it's quite common in the

industry work smarter not

harder with that being said let's move

to pillar number two of building a

userfriendly website

typography it's a fancy way of saying

fonts let's stay on Netflix for now see

how it have different font sizes now how

will you know which size to use and

we this is called types scale and we

have a very handy website that will help

you in generating type

scales just enter the body font it's the

default font size for your paragraphs

and then it will give you all the other

sizes based on your

need

once you have your headings and

paragraph sizes make all the font the

same size as your body font then ask

yourself what is the most important part

of the

website my guess is

headings so give headings their size

then move on to the next important

things keep a lot of things the body

font size and make the least relevant

Parts smaller and most important parts

bigger it's that

simple try to use clean and easy to read

font if possible just use one font

throughout the website the more fonts

you use the more chances of messing

up here are my five go to fonts for

websites but feel free to experiment and

that is true for our next pillar as well

that is

colors same as fonts the less color you

use the

better stick with black and white for

most of the things and throw in an

accent color to add some personality if

you have images on the website those

images will add some character

anyway here is how you can create a

color palette for your website visit

this website and choose a palette you

like now decide which will be the

primary

color your primary is your default color

most of the website will have that color

then choose your secondary or background

color if you chose a darker color like

black as your primary color choose a

light color like white as your secondary

color then select a color as your accent

color you will use that color 5 or 10%

of

time accent color will be used in

styling your buttons icons and other

graphics on the

website have another shade of that

accent color to use on Hover state for

example if you chose orange as your

accent color use dark orange as your

accent too so if the user hover over the

button it should change color this makes

the website more alive and userfriendly

and nothing makes a website More Alive

than icons images and illustrations it's

the fourth pillar in building

userfriendly website icons can make

things easier to

understand use these websites for

copyright free icons and

images use crisp and clean images but

you should optimize them before putting

them on your

website this website will help you with

that each image on your page will slow

down your website but people prefer to

just skim through the Page by looking at

images and headings so keep few powerful

images that complement your content

don't just download and upload random

images to fill space you can't be lazy

here use images that speaks to the

user and that brings me to the final and

most important pillar of the website

content content is everything people

will visit and stay on your site even if

you ignore all the design principles

just look at Craigslist it's slow and

ugly but receive around 10 million visit

every single day yes 10 million in one

freaking

day why because people are there for a

purpose and the listings fulfills that

purpose so if you are building a course

website have the best course in the

market if you are building a Blog

website write good

blogs if you are building an e-commerce

site be transparent show the users the

images reviews and all the info they

need to make an informed

purchase overall if you are building a

website first ask

yourself why do you need a

website ask your users if they like a

website if they say yes ask them what

they want to see up there and then just

deliver of course try to make a

good-look website as well but your

content will drive traffic sales and

anything you could possibly want from a

website one last tip building a website

is a trial and error process your

website will evolve overtime keep

Gathering user feedback and other

important data and make changes to your

website so if you are building a brand

new website just make it good enough and

publish your version one will never be

perfect and neither will version 10

but it will be better than what you had

before these things might sound obvious

to you but usually first timers try to

build a beautiful website they fell in

the Trap of dribble and Instagram and

lose

focus they think building a website is

like creating some kind of art it's

absolutely not maybe if you are an

artist you can build something

extraordinary but for regular businesses

it just doesn't

work so here is the key

takeaway only noobs build beautiful

websites professionals build

userfriendly website with main focus on

content and

users