Since the visitor of your website is the only person who clicks the mouse and therefore decides everything, user-centric design has become a standard approach for successful and profit-oriented web design.

In order to design a successful website, we first need to understand how users think and how they interact with websites.

• Users want the message to be clear. The website should be obvious and self-explanatory.  A clear structure, moderate visual clues and easily recognizable links can help users understand the context of your site, to see if they fit.

• Users don’t read, they scan. Users search for fixed points or anchors, which guide them through the content of your site.

• Users want to be guided (without being guided). Sites that work are intuitive enough and forward thinking enough to provide a path for the user to follow. It’s about predictive user experience.

• Web users are impatient and insist on instant gratification.  If a website isn’t able to meet users’ expectations, the more willing are users to leave the website and search for alternatives.

• Users don’t make optimal choices. Users don’t scan a website in a linear fashion. Instead users satisfice, they choose the first reasonable option. As soon as they find a link that seems like it might lead to the goal, there is a very good chance that it will be immediately clicked.