Website Design Principles: Evaluation Worksheet

This worksheet will help you evaluate how website design principles are used to create effective and
creative websites that meet client requirements.

Section 1: Understanding the Client's Needs

Before evaluating a website's design, it's crucial to understand the client's objectives. Answer the following
questions regarding the hypothetical or chosen website you are evaluating:

1.​ What is the primary purpose of the website? (e.g., e-commerce, information, portfolio, lead
generation)

YouTube- Its primary purpose is to inform and entertain users. It does this by allowing users to
upload, share and watch videos across various categories like entertainment, education, music,
news, tutorials etc. It also allows creators to monetise content through ads, memberships,
sponsorships, to make it a place for content consumption and creators income generation.

Microsoft

2.​ Who is the target audience? (Consider demographics, interests, tech savviness)
3.​ What are the client's specific requirements? (e.g., branding guidelines, desired functionality,
accessibility needs, budget, timeline)
4.​ What are the client's key performance indicators (KPIs)? (e.g., website traffic, conversion rates,
bounce rate, time on site)
5.​ What is the overall message or brand identity the client wants to convey?

Section 2: Evaluating Design Principles

Now, evaluate the website based on the following design principles. For each principle, provide specific
examples from the website to support your evaluation. If a principle is lacking, explain how it could be
improved.
 Design Principle Evaluation Justification & Examples Recommendation
(Excellent, Good, s for Improvement
Fair, Poor)

YouTube - Excellent YouTube- Excellent, The colours do not clash and YouTube- They should make
Visual Hierarchy:
it has a theme of Black, white and red. It allows the description and titles of the
MIcrosoft - Good
(Use of size, contrast, users to customise the website through dark and video bigger and the
light themes. Both of these themes are adapted to content/video thumbnails
color to guide the ensure they don't clash with writings. The size of smaller as theirs a significant
user's eye) the text differs in importance, text that helps contrast between them. They
navigate through the website are larger than text should also enhance dark
that describe the video/content, likewise with the mode by improving the
title of videos and their summaries. YouTube uses contrast of text against the
the font Roboto to ensure all the writings are dark wallpaper.
legible.
Microsoft- They Should try to
include more colours to the
Microsoft- Fair, the website doesn’t use many
website to make it more user
colours and has a professional feel, the font is
friendly and engaging, as well
rather small and it seems less engaging and bland.
as make the font size bigger to
The website is mostly in black and white which
help aid users who are visually
makes it friendly to those impaired to colours,
impaired.
however the small text strain those who are visually
impaired.

Balance & YouTube- Good YouTube: Well-structured homepage but YouTube: Reduce visual
Microsoft- Excellent can feel overwhelming with too many noise by decluttering
Alignment: elements (ads, suggested videos, playlists). excess recommendations.
(Distribution of visual Microsoft: Consistent use of grids and Microsoft: Maintain
alignment across Windows, Office, and consistency but improve UI
elements for stability
websites, ensuring professional and design in apps like
and order) organized layouts. Microsoft Teams.

Whitespace YouTube - Fair YouTube: The homepage and video pages YouTube: Increase
Microsoft - Good are dense with elements, leaving little spacing between elements
(Negative Space): breathing space. and reduce clutter.
(Use of empty space Microsoft: Uses white space effectively in Microsoft: Enhance
Office apps and Windows UI, but some spacing in business apps
to improve readability
interfaces (e.g., SharePoint, Teams) feel for better readability
and focus) crowded.

Typography: (Choice YouTube - Good YouTube: Uses clear and readable fonts but YouTube: Ensure
MIcrosoft - Excellent sometimes lacks consistency in ad consistency in font styles
of fonts, font sizes, placements and subtitles. across different sections.
and spacing for Microsoft: Consistent typography across Microsoft: Continue
products, improving readability in Word, refining font sizes and
readability and visual
Excel, and Windows UI
appeal)
 spacing for better
accessibility.

Color Palette: (Use of YouTube - Excellent YouTube: Uses red, white, and black YouTube: Continue
Microsoft - Good effectively to maintain brand recognition and reinforcing brand identity
colors that align with evoke urgency/excitement. but consider dark mode
the brand and evoke Microsoft: Uses a neutral color palette improvements.
across apps, ensuring professionalism but Microsoft: Introduce more
appropriate emotions)
sometimes lacking vibrancy. engaging colors in
business apps to improve
visual appeal.

Imagery & Graphics: YouTube - Excellent YouTube: High-quality thumbnails, dynamic YouTube: Encourage
Microsoft - Good video previews, and well-optimized visuals. higher-resolution
(Quality, relevance, Microsoft: Clean icons and well-optimized thumbnails for creators.
and optimization of graphics in Office and Windows, but some Microsoft: Update
outdated visuals in legacy apps graphics in older
visuals)
applications for
consistency.

Navigation & User YouTube - Good YouTube: Intuitive navigation, but cluttered YouTube: Improve
Microsoft - Excellent recommendations and autoplay can be organization of
Experience (UX): distracting. recommended videos for a
(Ease of use, intuitive Microsoft: Seamless experience across cleaner experience.
Windows, Office, and cloud services with a Microsoft: Keep refining
navigation, clear calls
consistent UI. UX in enterprise software
to action) for better efficiency.

Mobile YouTube - Excellent YouTube: Fully optimized mobile app with YouTube: Maintain
Microsoft - Good smooth transitions and adaptive UI. performance but optimize
Responsiveness: Microsoft: Works well on mobile, but some UI for smaller devices
(Adaptability of the Office tools (Excel, Outlook) feel less further.
user-friendly on small screens. Microsoft: Improve mobile
website to different
UI for complex tools like
screen sizes) Excel.

Accessibility: YouTube - Good YouTube: Offers captions, transcripts, and YouTube: Improve
Microsoft - Excellent dark mode but lacks full keyboard navigation keyboard navigation and
(Design support. alternative text support.
considerations for Microsoft: Strong commitment to WCAG Microsoft: Continue
guidelines with features like high contrast innovation in accessibility
users with disabilities -
modes, screen readers, and text-to-speech. features for all users.
WCAG guidelines)

Consistency: YouTube - Good YouTube: Consistent branding but minor YouTube: Standardize UI
Microsoft - Excellent inconsistencies in UI updates. updates across platforms.
(Maintaining a unified Microsoft: Unified design language across Microsoft: Maintain
design language Windows, Office, and web services. consistency, especially in
newer apps.
throughout the
website)

Performance: YouTube - Good YouTube: Fast-loading videos, but ad-heavy YouTube: Optimize ad
MIcrosoft - Excellent pages sometimes slow down browsing. placement to reduce
(Website speed, load Microsoft: Generally smooth performance, impact on loading speed.
time, and technical but occasional lags in cloud services like Microsoft: Improve cloud
OneDrive. service response times.
optimization)

Section 3: Creativity and Innovation

Section 4: Meeting Client Requirements

1.​ Based on your evaluation, how effectively does the website meet the client's requirements
outlined in Section 1?
2.​ Are there any areas where the website falls short of meeting the client's needs?
3.​ How could the website be improved to better align with the client's objectives?

Section 5: Overall Evaluation and Recommendations

Provide an overall evaluation of the website's design, considering all the factors discussed. Summarize
your key findings and offer specific recommendations for improvement.