Form vs. Function (Which shall prevail?)
 by: Maricon Williams

Form and function is both vital to a web design. Form is one base and function is another. Function without form is boring. Nonetheless, even if the form is impressive yet not functional it will be disappointing. Thus, there must be a symbiotic relationship between the two in order to give life to the site.

If a site is more of a marketing tool, it must incorporate visual and multimedia images to keep its form accurate. On the other hand, it must also offer helpful content in order to convey its marketability purpose.

The first thing that designers must do is to attain a good balance. In other words, function must first be known before its form can be developed. The equilibrium is always hard to achieve. In fact, some web designers are spending several years in order to perfect the form and function.

Equilibrium between balance and form is a must. However, the usual key problem is that sites often do not balance form and function. What are we to do then?

When this happen, do not put form over function. Always make function a priority. Then, create an attractive form to create it. What is the reason behind the choice? Basically, visitors come to the site in order to quench a need or expectation. If you put form before function, you will be sacrificing the visitor’s best interest. Aside from that, visitors also have a short attention span. They have no patience. If you make things complicated and not functional, it will just create a domino effect that will make them leave the site in a matter of five seconds. This will mean no sales at all. Not profitable, therefore not good!

In designing we have to do away with the usual mistakes that sacrifice the site’s functionality. Here are some of its examples:

1. Using font color that is painful to the eyes and in contrast with the background.

2. Using fonts that are smaller than size 12.

3. Misplacing graphics and other elements.

4. Placing so many unnecessary images in the page making load slowly.

5. Using uncommon and hard to recognize links.

6. Making a totally graphical design that can make the visitors clueless and frustrated.

The key to an effective website lies not so much in how flashy its form is but how intimate can it answer the needs of the visitors in order to elicit their buying or subscribing potentials.

About The Author

Maricon Williams

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