Design

A positive first impression is key to building relationships. People want trust and integrity, and once they find it they expect subsequent meetings to reinforce that impression. The same principles apply to web and mobile design. As the first place many people go for info, site design can critically affect how people perceive a business.

When a site is both visually pleasing and easy to navigate, visitors get a positive impression. Yet when a site is just passable, it could annoy customers, leave a bad impression, and worst of all, deject the potential sale.

Like most well-designed things, good web and mobile design comes from a combination of usefulness, usability and meaning. “Useful” in that they answer a need through the right set of functionality at the right time; “usable” without requiring a lot of bothersome clicking or learning-curves; and “meaningful” through visual appeal, emotional connection and personal insights.

Here’s how we roll:

We know web design is only as good as it is usable.

Web and mobile sectors are flooded with raw artistic talent that can create “beautiful” sites. Yet in many business cases “beauty” can become a hindrance. Property management is one sector where __. Here we design such that beauty is an accessory to good usability. It is meant to connect with the user emotionally—while improving, enhancing, and driving the user experience.

Nevertheless, our stuff looks great.

Usable beauty? Well, we’re no Apple, but we’re still pretty good-looking in our special way (e.g. self storage).

We think about sales.

We consider our audiences’ biases and figure out how to exploit them in site design. By using proven visual techniques that influence the behavior of web and mobile users, we help guide them to take action. That means converting site visitors to paying customers through one or a series of carefully structured calls-to-action.

We think about the future.

With everything we build, we consider future expansion in our design process. That’s not easy to do considering the speed at which technology and search algorithms change. It’s a matter of mocking up numerous page options with scalable content areas.

We design other stuff too.

Our focus is mostly on web and mobile platforms, requiring aptitude for usability. Yet we are hardly limited. With “content” being so critical to online success, our designers cover a broad spectrum of artistry including photography, video and animation, and also veer into many types of brand development and print work.

We know the value of good photography.

Photos communicate. There is no substitute for quality [non-stock] photos of staff, storefront, products or services.

We strive to be receptive advisors.

Tension can arise between trained designers and project stakeholders (developers, business people, clients, their spouses… eh-hem). Our designers are different—oddly expert at maintaining a good attitude while accepting feedback and providing advice. That said, Red Nova Labs makes money by getting results, not by nodding and smiling. Every project is different, and we’re great listeners, but our best practices are best practices for a reason.

Our design dictum.

If you kick it around enough, it starts to look like a ball.