With all of us using web-connected devices all day, good website design and development are critical to a business’ success now more than ever. According to Adobe, 38% of users will stop engaging with a website if the content or layout is unattractive. Google found that it takes just 50 milliseconds for users to form a first impression of a website. Making a good first impression is critical, as another study found that 88% of online visitors/consumers are less likely to return to a site after a bad experience. Furthermore, it’s been found that a website user’s first impressions are 94% design-related.
With the demand for web designers and developers expected to grow 13% over the next decade, getting a bachelor’s degree in internet and web development or graphic information technology will allow you to gain knowledge of website elements and apply the skills essential to web design and development. These areas of study may also give you an advantage in the job market and the opportunity to display your creative and technical talents to a variety of audiences.
Web design vs web development: What’s the difference?
While web designers work on the visual and user-facing elements of a website, a web developer builds and maintains the behind-the-scenes architecture of a website.
Web designers will come up with the idea and look of a website, creating a mockup based on visual, UX, and UI elements. Web developers are then the ones to determine whether the concept is financially and technically plausible, and then are responsible to program and code the site.
What's a web designer and what do they do?
Web designers are responsible for creating the visual look, layout, and features of websites. A web designer needs to have a solid understanding of both computer programming and graphic design.
A web designer’s duties include coding websites or pages for maximum visual and user impact, meeting with clients to review websites or refine their designs, and running tests to preview layouts and website features. Web designers also work closely with the development team to plan updates for the website and prioritize tasks.
Web designers turn a client’s vision for a website into reality. A web designer needs to understand the user experience and design a site that is easy to understand and navigate, as well as visually appealing. Web designers should be well versed in front-end web development languages such as CSS, HTML, JavaScript, and JQuery.
In addition to technical skills, web designers should also have soft skills, such as good verbal communication, written communication, and strong presentation abilities. A web designer needs to be able to effectively communicate with clients and stakeholders in addition to the development team about the goals of projects they are working on.
Web design careers
- UX Designer
UX (user experience) designers combine critical analysis and logic to understand and plan for the end-user’s interaction with products, systems, and services. This includes the usability, design, navigation, and impression of a web site. The goal of a UX designer is to create a visually interesting and usable web design for users.
- UI Designer
UI (user interface) designers are responsible for how an app or web page looks and feels. Using colors, fonts, patterns, textures, icons, and buttons, user interface designers work with UX designers to improve websites.
- Visual Designer
Visual designers work with the fundamental elements and principals of visual design such as line, shape, color, and volume to make the overall aesthetics and appearance of a website consistent and visually appealing.