A Guide to Building a Website without a UI Designer
Creating a website without a UI designer. Just think about it for a moment; sounds absurd, right?
After all, how do you build a website without knowing how it will look and work? It’s like constructing a building without talking to the architect or seeing the blueprints or architectural design. How on earth does that even work?
Now, building a website without a UI designer might seem intimidating at first, but it’s not impossible. Also, if you’re short on budget, not hiring a UI designer might actually make sense.
If you hire a full-time UI designer, you’ll have to pay them an average salary of $107,438 per year. On a freelance basis, you have to pay them $47.71 per hour on average.
However, with today’s tools, it’s absolutely possible to craft something professional and functional on your own without a professional UI designer. You don’t even have to be a coding expert or a design wizard to pull this off. In fact, with a bit of patience, some creativity, and a few intelligent tools, you can bring your website vision to life.
Let’s see how you can make this happen, even without a UI designer on board.
Start with Your Vision and Goals
The first rule of building a website: knowing what you want.
Jot down why you need a website and what it’s meant to do. Will it serve as a blog? Maybe an online shop? Perhaps just a portfolio to showcase your work?
A clear vision is the first thing you need to decide your design choices, color schemes, and the kind of pages you’ll need.
Now that you have a clear purpose in mind, decide who your audience will be. Remember: a website for fitness fans will look very different from one meant for a local coffee shop.
Keep your audience in mind to create a site that’s easy to navigate and appealing to the people who matter most.
Tap into AI Website Builders for a Helping Hand
If we told you that AI can do the work of a UI designer, would you freak out? Probably not, since AI is already doing so much in various other fields. Hence, why not let an AI website builder help you out when you don’t have a UI designer working with you?
These AI website creators use algorithms to analyze your goals and generate website layouts, color schemes, and even basic content suggestions. Whether you need a sleek portfolio, an e-commerce site, or a blog, AI builders help turn your vision into a reality.
These tools also provide editing capabilities, allowing you to tweak layouts and styles until you’re happy with the outcome. And with more AI website generators appearing on the market, there’s a growing selection of platforms that can cater to your specific needs.
Using an AI website creator also saves time. According to Hocoos, it takes only a few minutes to generate a website using AI. Web developers, on the other hand, will take at least 10 weeks to do the same.
Also, the AI-based suggestions offer insights that can be especially useful if you’re unsure about layout and structure. Best of all, you don’t have to know a single line of code.
Prioritize Functionality Over Flash
A flashy website can be exciting, but you know what matters more than that? Practicality.
Also, if you’re not working with a UI designer, you might overdo the flashy part more than what’s necessary for your site. Hence, here’s a tip: don’t opt for flashy at all.
A good website prioritizes a smooth user experience. Think about the basic functions your audience will need, such as contact forms, search bars, and clear navigation. Make it easy for visitors to get where they want to go.
Test the flow of your website from the user’s perspective. Is it easy to find important information? Does each page load quickly? Pay attention to details like page speed, mobile responsiveness, and overall accessibility.
Fine Tune and Test for a Flawless Launch
All right; everything’s set for launching your website. Now, before you go live, test your site thoroughly.
Try browsing on different devices and browsers to ensure it looks consistent everywhere. Check each page for typos, make sure images load correctly, and give the overall design one last look. Invite friends or family members to explore the site and offer feedback. Sometimes, fresh eyes catch things you might overlook.
Testing a website is, without a doubt, tedious, but it’s crucial for delivering a polished, user-friendly website.
Embrace the Freedom of Building without a UI Designer
In the end, building a website on your own means you have full creative control. It’s a learning experience and a chance to shape every detail of your online presence.
Sure, UI designers are still in demand for web development projects. However, not hiring one won’t mean it’s the end of the world for you and your website. For this to work though, stick to the points we’ve discussed, and you’re all set to develop and launch the website all by yourself.