Websites are designed based on the idea that no two users are the same, and should be accessible to visitors of varying backgrounds, education and technical prowess. As a web designer, I’m tasked with creating such accessible web platforms, while preserving the integrity and quality of the work, decidedly not catering to what many clients describe as the “lowest common denominator.”
This means I need to avoid making the site foolproof. Doing so leads to unnecessary content and counter-intuitive device and design choices. But it’s difficult for many clients to let go of these crutches, so I think it’s time to retire two key web concepts.
First: It is no longer necessary to describe buttons and links on a web page with a “Click here to…” prefix. Look around your office, home and car and try to find a single device with a button or call to action that starts with “Click here to ______.” Our office coffee maker has a big button that reads “Brew,” not “Click here to brew a cup of coffee.” Despite what would seem like a lack of direction for the lowest common denominator, it is pretty simple to figure out how to make yourself a cup. Today, users can easily identify interactive items without being told how to interact with them. Buttons and links are concepts that all users are familiar with.
Websites are not newspapers and they do not fold. Generally publishers will try and fit as much pertinent content above the fold of the front page in order to sell newspapers based on content. Websites, by a product of the devices that display them, dot not fold, they scroll. Whether by a swipe of the finger, a scroll of the mouse or a drag of the scroll bar, website content has never been limited by screen size. While it is important to have a clear and concise message at the top of a webpage, it has never been necessary to communicate everything in the first five inches of a screen. Users understand how to scroll a website as it’s built into the devices they interact with. You can feel safe in providing content below the fold.
Many of these rules and tricks that we safeguard in web design come from repeated use. But as technology continues to govern our daily lives and as the majority of people become more familiar with it, certain tricks become irrelevant. The lowest common denominator is not stagnant; it learns and grows just like the rest of the technology-savvy world.