One of the fashionable expressions in modern marketing says: “Understand your customers.” Before you jump in the car of the latest trends, conduct your research: Will your trend be understood and well received by your customers? One of the dominant trends in modern web design is minimalism. And if you are one of the business owners that is considering it for your own website, let’s see whether minimalism is the best solution for your website.

Why is minimalism at its peak?

Modern minimalism is about 80 years old. Several decades of hyper-realism was replaced  bypostwar minimalist movement, which almost immediately became a mainstream trend. Let’s look at the most popular components of minimalism:

• Allow a minimum of graphic elements to tell the most about your promise (“less is more”).  The operator Cedric Vella  put this idea into practice by posting on the site only a name and regalia, three buttons, links and soothing background. Here is the first segment of its single-site.
  
• Get rid of all the distractions from the main idea. Leave only those elements without which the design will be meaningless.
• Make every detail complement the theme so that they carry the idea. Page designer Eleonora Zorzi  contains very few elements, but each complements the brand, making the design of structured and creative.
  
• This site has rarely used and carefully selected colors. Minimalistic design usually involves the use of one or two colors to highlight that attract the user’s attention.
• Ask the desired number of lines of attention with words. Divide the text into small paragraphs and distribute them on the layout in the desired order and direction to the user making the user go to the page the way you want.

All these components are there so that users can appreciate them, because it is much easier to use them. In addition, the lives of many people are so much cluttered that aesthetic minimalist design seems very refreshing.

Minimalism: Pros and Cons

As in any direction from the minimalism has its limitations. This is not a universal solution for all occasions. In some cases, you’ll need more visual content, or more intricate design, if required by the customer’s line of business. For example, minimalism is not suitable for sites like  Square Circle , Hard Rock Hotel  or  SensiSoft .

Reduction to the bare bones of the content will not play well in the case with the bold design Square Circle, site Hard Rock Hotel. They will look very different without the juicy details, and SensiSoft will lose its sense without illustrations. Minimalism can also seed uncertainty about whether you have enough content, or be too strict so that the sense will be incomprehensible to users.

However, the minimalism has a lot of advantages that will make your site better:

• Fast loading – a lot of pictures and videos do not slow down the loading of the page.
• Easy to navigate – it is difficult to get lost when you have limited choices as to where you need to navigate.
• Lack of advertising – especially appreciated by visitors who have no time.
• Less loading resources on the server.
• Focus on content – all distractions are excluded.
• Adaptability – the site is easily optimized for mobile devices.
• Aura importance – without cluttering the page, you give the site a reputable mystery.

Determination of the pros and cons of minimalism should build on your type of business. Beta testing among your regular customers should indicate whether this choice in your case.

How Minimalistic Design Can Affect the Business?

If you open an online store then minimalism can be a good solution. Fast loading and easy navigation features to buy, while, according to studies, four out of ten customers leave the pages that load slowly. Consistency in design, as well as a friendly, professional design will accommodate your visitors doing business with you. 76% of users find it very important to use intuitive interface, which means that minimalism can be safe option.

However, it is believed that since companies like Apple did minimalism standard for design, many have forgotten that there are other options you can use to make beautiful things. Many users that are middle-aged and older find minimalism to be less attractive. They appreciate the correct placement of details more than two pieces of furniture in the interior.

Conclusion

If you believe that minimalism will be understood by your audience and corresponds to the aesthetics of your business, use it, but be sure to do the following:

• Do enough preliminary tests before to make sure that the new look of your site is fully fit.
• Introduce changes gradually,  so it would be easier for your visitors to adopt innovations.
• Gratefully accept feedback. If you understand that innovation is not working as great as you’d expect, be ready to return the successful elements of the old design that appreciate your visitors.
• Do not attempt to replace a good design with minimalist design or any other when you already have a strong marketing or provide great customer service.