Blog homeI have written about sub-optimal web design before (see my previous post). The principle is that we should be slowing down a user’s journey as they navigate around a website…… In the offline world - browsing around a bookstore can be fun - but browsing around Amazon isn’t so inspiring. Can the fun offline experience be replicated online?
A “meandering design” is the opposite of Undesign (see my previous post about Undesign). Undesign is where all gratuitous visual elements are removed from a website - cutting a design right back to what is fundamental for a customer to achieve their task. Undesign is suitable for transport type travel websites (air, rail etc) which are commodities….. Meandering design is suitable for leisure travel (in particular tour operators) where you are trying to make a user slow down and consider what you offer….
Here are a couple of examples of meandering design that I have seen “in the wild”:
This is one of my favourite travel websites and really shows the level that a small tour operator should be looking for in terms of website design and execution. A camping böd is a traditional Shetland building that provides a basic level of accommodation (The Shetland Islands are to the North of Scotland, UK).
My favourite Bod is Nesbister. The property description reads as follows:
- Sleeps 4 in bunk beds in 1 common room
- No electricity
- Chemical toilet
- Fire
- Cold water stand pipe outside
Having spent some time working at the luxury end of the hotel industry - this property description is about as different as it can get!
Anyway, what makes the site worth mentioning is that every bod has a hand drawn image. They are all wonderful images:
As a user you just have to click through all different properties on the website to be inspired by all the unique images. Lovely.
A slightly more conventional tour operator travel product.
This example is from their site is the About Us page. As long time readers will know, I believe that the “About Us” page on any website is one of the most important pages to get right. Potential customers attracted by online marketing (which is normally product focussed marketing) will, prior to booking, visit the About Us page for a quick look.
On the Gambia Experience page they have a photo gallery on the About Us page where you can flip through a few images. A conventional approach would be to put a photo gallery in a distinct section on a website - but I like how they have put small photo galleries dotted all around the site.
The photo gallery on the About Us page, for example, is mainly photos of staff undertaking various activities with clients - for example giving a briefing or making them welcome. This method of introducing a company probably works better than several paragraphs of text.
Is meandering design just bad navigation?
One of the difficulties of finding nice examples of meandering design is that often a website is considered meandering if the overall structure and navigation is difficult to understand. Therefore when defining meandering design it has to be something that is achieved on purpose - rather than by an accident of poor design.
Anyone got any other examples from your own sites that you would like to highlight?
If you want to be notified next time something is published sign up for email alerts or subscribe to the RSS feed. Thank you for reading!
