Consistency is More Important than Creativity

What Really Matters for Credit Union Websites: REVISITED - Part Four

OK, now we are getting down to the nitty gritty of website design for credit unions. Just a pre-cursor to this article... I'm never one to discourage creativity, but always enforce how it is used on a website. The original article speaks for itself and is just as relevant now as it was when written.

The only thing that was changed for this post is the information related to screen resolution (item number 10). Enjoy!

The web is a wonderful place to get creative, unless you are a credit union. Let your brand developer get creative, and then translate your brand to the web using proven and traditional methods. Consistency intrinsically creates clarity in presentation. Here are a few basic suggestions for implementing consistency across the website:

1. Make sure the main navigation is on every page and always in view without having to scroll. Do not provide more than eight main navigation items. If you have to then your site content is not well organized.
   
2. Provide the same header design on every standard page. Always keep elements that should be shown on every page (like the search box and top navigation) in the header. The homepage may have a unique header used as an identifier and to inflate the initial impact of the brand elements, but it should be similar to the standard header and contain the same elements.
3. Display your logo in the upper left hand corner of every page as part of the page header. Make it link to your homepage.
   
   

   
   The header of the NPR.org website is a good simple example of what's touched on in items one through three.

4. Make sure that every standard page has a page title above the main content area and that all page titles look the same. Use subtitles to separate the sub-content so it’s easy to skim through the text and still know what it is about.
   

   
   This is a good example of proper use of page titles and subtitles on one of New England Federal Credit Union's pages.

5. Provide sub-navigation for every section of your site in the same place, and with the same look. Never use more than 2 levels of sub-navigation.
   
6. Name the navigation items exactly the same as the page titles of the pages they link to unless there is a really good reason not to.
7. Use one font style for body text; use one font style for headlines and one for subheads. Always make body text the same size with comfortable line spacing. Never make body text any color other than black or dark gray. If you have to make it white because your background is dark, then your design is overpowering your content.
8. Design all of your forms the same way with the same colors, fonts, layouts, and assistive content.
9. Display all of your pages in the same window unless they are not a web page. Always link to third party websites in a new window. Indicate if a link is to a PDF or other type of file that will load some other software by showing an icon next to it. Don’t use popups unless there is a really good reason. Popup windows annoy people and remove them from the main experience. Modal windows are a better implementation and keep the user within the browser window.
10. REVISED: Make sure the site fits within a 1024 pixel wide window. On average we have discovered that about 30% of credit union website visitors are using a 1024x768 display. Below are the stats from a large credit union website that gets about 100,000 hits a month. Notice that 800 x 600 is only 2% of visitors, where it used to be the top slot just a couple years ago.
    
    
    
     
    
11. Lastly, never make pages in your site different sizes. All page layouts should be the same width.

I hope you are finding this series helpful. Please comment, I love to hear from Cloud 9 readers. Check out the next part in the "What Matters for Credit Union Websites" series, "Crucial Content Elements – what most members look for first", coming soon.