Web Designing Layouts (F & Z) Pattern
Here in Gurzu we believe that web design should focus on how the information is read and scanned on the screen by people. Visual hierarchy, F-pattern and Z-pattern are most important principles behind our effective web design that many people have adored.
Visual Hierarchy
A hierarchy is essentially an order of items, goals, ideas, and/or needs. Hierarchy in web design mainly about focusing a user to understand and embrace the principal goals of a website and interact with the material in the ideal order to facilitate a smooth and pleasant experience with the website.
Visual Hierarchy = Information Prioritization
How we make sense of what we see
Firstly, let’s understand what is visual communication
- We recognize similarities and differences.
- We look for patterns.
- We create relationships between the things we see.
How do we establish hierarchy in layout design?
- F pattern
- Z pattern
F-pattern
F-pattern is one of the most common eye-scanning patterns when we talk about the block of contents. It follows the shape of the letter ‘F’ as it refers to the user first scanning a horizontal line across the top of the screen i.e. Left to right.
General behavior pattern:
- Start in the upper left corner.
- Read/scan the first (head)line of the text.
- Scan down the left side of the column until you find something interesting.
- Read the interesting thing more carefully.
- Continue scanning down.
Heatmaps from user eye tracking studies of three websites. The areas where users looked the most are colored red; the yellow areas indicate fewer views, followed by the least-viewed blue areas. Gray areas didn’t attract any fixations.
Why F-Pattern Works
F-Pattern works as it allows readers to scan naturally! This layout is natural & feels it comfortable as we do prefer the reading top to bottom & left to right. There is a myriad website in the realm of web application development that are using this pattern. Most of the advertisements rely heavily on F-layout as it drives user-engagement in more natural & comfortable manner.
Redit
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Z-pattern
The Z layout is a design understanding that attempts to get ahead of the user, abstracting any distraction and presenting encouraged action as quickly as possible.\ It tackles the 4 of the big principles of an effective design for branding, call-to-action, structure and hierarchy.
Brand or Logo Recognition
- Relevant Links Related to the Page, Company or Product.
- Information gathering – What is the immediate benefit of this product or service?
- Action – Allow for the visitor to take immediate action related to the product being shown.
Why Z-Pattern Works
However, Z-pattern does not need to any final words. Since, it controls four major reasons for effective web designs as in:
- Hierarchy
- Branding
- A call-to-action
- Structure
The pattern actually works as in the readers scan the same way as they scan the book i.e. Top to bottom & left to right. The pattern urges simple foundation as in you can add multiple call-to-actions, compress and extend the height of the pattern and whatever you would like that makes sense.
Medium
