Web design on its own can be a very complex process especially when the webmaster is not very experienced or well versed with basic web design skills. It can be such a headache when you are trying to run a website and you cannot understand everything about it. If you thought it was hectic for the webmaster, think about the visitor who has never been to a computer programming or web design class trying to navigate through a complex site. Even the most aesthetically appealing design will turn away visitors if it is complex. The human nature has a tendency of being drawn to simple things and no one likes cracking their heads over something they cannot figure out when they have other options like navigating away from your site and looking for simpler ones.

The biggest paradox is that creating a simple website is usually not possible without compromising on the aesthetic appeal. Maintaining simplicity means having to give up on some of the complex graphics as well as flash and heavy images. This could translate to losing most of the aesthetic appeal which may in turn lead to loss of customers. A simple page layout on the other hand is very difficult to beautify even if it loads faster. Here are some of the strategies you can implement on your site to maintain simplicity while not losing aesthetic appeal totally.

Modal windows are one of the ways in which you can simplify a site. One of the nuisances of animations was the pop-up windows that would appear on the main browser window of some sites. Thank the heavens for the founder of pop – up blockers who saved the internet world from these annoying animations. Modal window is a modified and less annoying version of the pop – up window that does not open a new browser window but instead appears within the current window just above the content. It is usually small and has dark sides that obliterate the content below it to focus the visitor’s attention on the window. The only advantage of this window is that it does not open a new browser window as opposed to pop – up windows.

Hiding controls is another great way of simplifying the user interface. Usually, a website in its default design will have very many controls most of which are not really used by the visitor. The extra and irrelevant controls only serve to confuse the visitor more and make it harder for them to navigate through the site. Controls can be hidden by the use of hover panels or JavaScript.  Hover panels allow you to hide the extra controls that are not needed under a panel. Once you hover the mouse over the panel, the controls appear and the visitor can choose the one they want to use. JavaScript hides controls from the default view and leaves only a few controls. The controls are revealed on clicking a button and they can then be used by the visitor at will.