Complex Web Design vs Simplistic Web Design

Wonderful video! My client's websites are … VERY simplistic, to the point where I need to add some interactions to them. This video helps with how far I should go with them for my current and future client websites!

There's an art in simplifying websites. It almost becomes a challenge to see how "simple" you can make everything. That doesn't mean making them ugly, but every element on a webpage should serve a purpose.

I think both types of websites have a very different purpose. The 2 Awwwards sites might be a bit much, but I also think that the first website is more of a showcase and the main visitors will be other designers looking for a creative developer to work with them. So as a designer I would expect a website like that, that shows their developing skills and that they have no boundaries when it comes to creating crazy layouts, animations, etc.

Your 3 personal websites are, in my opinion, basically 'template' websites. If you take the wireframes you can barely tell them apart. But again, that's the purpose of those websites. Those 3 businesses won't get any sales if they have crazy websites. It's also much more about the correct SEO tactics and content than it is about the design.

Also I think there are 2 different types of webdevelopers/designers at the moment. 
You have people that have a businesmind and are often very good at sales, they want to start a business and saw an opportunity in webdevelopment. And than there are the creatives, they want to design and build beautiful websites but don't want to work for a company so they start there own. There is a third type but there aren't many people like that, that can do both, someone like Chris Do who can be extremely creative but also knows exactly how to sell things and how to run a busines.
Those 2 people will think very different about what's important, but they will also work for completely different companies.
Most creatives will work for companies that care very much about how recognizable they are, how there designs will still look good in 5 years, they care more about how their brand makes their customers feel.
The more business type of developers will work for companies that need to start selling right away, that need to rank on Google higher, they need more new customers instead of keep their existing ones, they don't mind that if you strip their logo from the website it could be anyone's website.

I think there is a very thin line between both types of websites you showed. One side is way too much and the others where not recognizable enough.

Around 80% of the websites I see on awards I don't really like. They maybe look good, but the UX ist for the most part bad. They have often too many animations and you don't know where to look due to lack of visual hierarchy. And the most frustrating part is when you are forced to interact in a certain way with the website, e.g. scrolling or scroll snapping 100x times before you actually get "somewhere". But I understand those websites aren't there to have a good UX or UX, there are there just too look good and "wow" the user.

you are right, you described it very well "there are many websites that simply want demonstrate their design skills to others" when the important thing is to think about the user and how they interact with the site

I noticed this issue some time ago as well. I never expected that it might be hard to find great "normal" webdesigns

I think animation it totally useless, what purpose does it serve?

Great video Payton, you are smashing such great content at the moment. Great to have you back.

Yep, completely agreed. A lot of designers seem to be stuck in the 90's design mindset, and they can't move away from it because they've positioned themselves as someone who makes fancy looking products, instead of focusing on results. Minimalism is the future

As obnoxious as some of these awwwards sites are, they play a vital role in the growth of Web design, code and UX by pushing boundaries. They're like the crazy experimental fanatics and as they keep pushing the boundaries, designers and developers steal ideas and then process them into digestible user experiences for the general population. Stripe's website is a good example of this. While retaining a high standard of accessblity, it has some clever architecture and interactions that would have been classed as over the top a few years back (looking at you interactive globe). So while I understand the hate awwwards sites get, these pretentious sites do provide a net positive for the industry.

Agreed. Primitive sites work the best for conversions.

thanks for the video! I agree with you when you say that sites with too many animations do not convert well, but I wanted to ask you if you had any reports or surveys to confirm this?

Coming from a print design background, putting all the effects one could find in one design was a mark of novices.

As one grew in design, one learnt to simplify. Most people hide behind complexity to prove expertise. The opposite is true. Only when one has mastered (or started mastering) the art of design, can they be able to simplify – and that, is the mark of an expert.

Clear is better than clever
Simple is better than smart
Quality is better than quantity
Profitable is better than perfect

This so true! My best performing website is very simple! I think new designers are discouraged thinking they need the best looking website to be a designer but it’s not true! Great video

I like the simplicity of color choice with the insurance site. You could do a video about how to pick contrasting colors and not letting it get too busy. Whenever I am incorporating a color of clients choice it can be hard make the other colors match and not overwhelm!

I look at these kind of like the fashion shows in NY or Paris. The styles there are outlandish, impractical, and are mostly attempts to steer the market trends. If these are designs for design’s sake, then great. If a business client actually spent thousands (or tens of thousands) for these websites to actually attract customers… we’ll, I certainly hope that they understand their target demographic.

Thanks for this video Payton, this really cleared a lot of my doubts about how far should I go with interactions and animations.

Hey Payton, I always appreciate the content that you put on, but I got to disagree with you on this one. The pages that you called too complex are amazing, and they probably convert pretty good for their targeted audiences. For example the first website shows amazing skills, anyone looking for a premium developer will hire that studio or developer, now if all you want is a template then obviously that page is not for you. The second one DECEM, was so cool, it almost wanted me to buy one of their bottles, the website did a great job conveying the experience of the brand. Again, I know that design is subjective, but to say that their design is not going to convert well, I think is wrong, I bet they convert really well with their target audiences.

Is the Venteur website a Pait creation? If so, great job. If not, great job. Thank you for the awesome video today. Cheers 😊

This is so true! I can understand why people do some fancy/complex websites, as it can work as a reference of the limits or limitless in creativity they can achieve, which is nice, but at the end of the day, those websites work great on powerful computers, and not necessarily every user that will visit the website has a computer powerful enough. So it goes from a wonderful visual experience to a very bad, laggy and really slow experience.

Hello and thank you for this video ^^ . So true the "award wining websites" or impressive website are the ones that you left in 2s. When I see start-ups or business that need clearly communicate value and/sales, I am sad about how it is dramatic for their business to have an "artistic website" more than an efficient website.

This is so wholesome. I see all this fancy websites and get caught up in wanting to build fancy websites like that. I really like how you were able to differentiate between simplistic websites and the award winning websites. I am really good at designing and building simplistic websites that drive sales and improve upon ctr for my clients. But I must admit whenever I see those big fancy award winning websites I get intimidated/overwhelmed and feel like my design skills or webflow development skills aren't good enough. Your video just made me understand the differences between the two. Now I don't have to feel intimidated anymore nor will i try to do too much just to gain the approval of other designers. Thanks a lot paitdigital, you are one of a kind.