1) Overwhelming innovation

We get it – designers and developers are very creative people. However, it takes serious consideration of what interaction design (IxD) to put into a particular website otherwise it won’t be as interactive as it should be. Remember that a user craves for the familiarity of both design and navigation. Also, a user bails fast if he or she finds your site overwhelming enough to leave.

Here is an example of a too innovative a site. The site is fantastic, but there are so many things going on. It is not intuitive, leaving the users wondering what to do.

2) Confusing navigation

And innovative as they are, some developers even came up with not-so-ordinary names for the site’s pages without realizing its relevance. Such a practice is very effective in confusing the users. By not showing them what to expect from the site and what they should do while exploring it, you are telling them to get out of the site quick. Don’t do that.

Here’s a perfect example of a not so navigation-friendly website. There is some value to the site and what it wants to do. However, it failed at having clear calls to action in a big way.

3) Blurring contrast

Unfortunately, developers are aware of the virtue of using contrast, but some are awful at implementing such. Without clear contrast, it would be hard to establish visual hierarchy. In IxD, it is all about the right combination of colors, sizes, shapes and positions so that the site will succeed at drawing the user’s attention to the most important elements of the site.

Here is another poor example of a site with blurry contrast to think that this site is offering free and premium WordPress themes. It uses black and white and yet its background image is gray, drawing prominence away from the calls to action.

4) Neglecting form

Form style and design are basic to IxD. However, although the developers are not to be blamed for this, some website owners still ask for too much information from their users. This bores the users and is a good motivation so the user leave your site. Again, we all know that a website always has a purpose including generating leads. However, if you are going to utilize the default form, don’t expect that your users will easily and willingly signup.

Here is an example of a site that asks a lot from its users including their Twitter names. While it is good to ask, still, there is no clear reason why the site is asking for such.

5) Unappealing clutter

All of these are considered ‘noise’ that ruins the momentum and makes them very unappealing at the aesthetic and experience level. These can be considered as clutters aside from the actual clutter, that is. These websites tend to have a busy above-the-fold that borders confusing and annoying.

An example of a cluttered website is the below. In fact, this website was featured as one of the World’s Worst Websites, and for good reasons.

Web designers and developers, listen. As a final advice, don’t forget to test until you reach the optimal design for your website. Testing should not constrain your creativity because, in the first place, you are designing a website with the users in mind, right? Such a cliché but this cliché holds true today and, perhaps, for all the days to come.

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Developers should be using all the tools at their disposal to improve code and coding quality. This can be the only way to confidently release codes that can execute expectedly. The steps below ensure that the developers are releasing the highest quality codes possible and thereby improving the quality of the JavaScript project itself.

Note: The steps outlined below is a workflow in actuality that website and mobile app developers can follow. It is the aim of this workflow to reduce or eliminate errors that frustrate users.

Code

Invoke a strict mode in your functions by using the ‘use strict’ statement. Use module design patterns. Minimize the usage of global variables. You can simply sandbox separate code modules. Pass in external dependencies, keeping the modules clear and concise.

When using third party frameworks and libraries, make sure they are established and well-tested. Keep the functions small. Separate business data from the DOM manipulation.

For bigger projects involving multiple developers, follow the coding guidelines such as the JavaScript Style Guide. Since they need stronger rules for code management, they may include stricter dependency management like Asynchronous Module Definition (AMD). Also, use code storage repository systems, keeping the codes backed up in the cloud.

For much bigger projects, create code branches to implement different features before merging.

Document

Experiment with formats. Once you found the right format like the structured block comment format for the project, use it. With this, the developer may understand the purpose of the functions minus the need to study the codes thereby reducing misunderstanding.

Analyze

Run a tool such as a static-code analysis against the code on a regular basis. The practice checks any coding pitfalls and errors, the most common of which are forgetting ‘strict mode’ use, referencing undeclared variables and spotting missing semicolons or braces, etc.

Correct the issues that the tool you use flags up. Set up default options to enforce coding standards among the developers involved.

Test

Conduct unit tests for small standalone functions for the execution of one of the functions from the main codebase. The functions include specific inputs to confirm that they output the expected value. Use both expected and unexpected parameters for input.

Run the tests on multiple browsers across different operating systems. You can also use testing tools especially those that provide APIs that allow unit tests to be run automatically across the browsers simultaneously. The tools also feedback the results of the tests upon completion.

Measure

Code-coverage tools can be also used in measuring which lines of the codes are executed during the unit tests against the functions. Function complexity should be also measured. In simpler terms, the reduction in complexity scores means easier and much better understanding of the functions.

Further, there are tools online that not only measure complexity, but also generate JavaScript code complexity visualization. This helps in identifying which functions can be improved.

Automate

Use task runners in automating the processes from documenting down to measuring. The process increases the opportunity to address code quality issues as they arise.

At some points, the code will throw errors. Handle these runtime errors gracefully so their impact to the website’s behavior and usability will be limited. Use web services in logging runtime errors thrown by the codes. The log information can be used in adding new unit tests and thus improving the code and eradicating the errors.

These seven steps help our developers in producing the codes that we are really proud of. These steps lay great foundation for future use as well. Our developers are committed to using these steps in our projects in producing high quality JavaScript codes. Let’s work together in building and improving the web – one step at a time.

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