Website Usability Guidelines

Website Usability Basics

Fluid Layout - The Fluid layout is the most traditional method, and allows the contents of a Web page to fill an entire window. In other words, it expands and contracts with the size of the window. The fluid layout is the simplest to implement, but is sometimes perceived by designers as being less modern. The Centered method allows users to focus on a narrower layout no matter what screen resolution they are using. The Left-justified method is usually slightly wider than the Centered layout, and is a popular method for text presentation, particularly with multi-column layouts.

Users reliably believed that the Fluid layout was best suited for reading and that it allowed them to find key information more easily. In addition, users reliably preferred the Fluid method.

Centered and Left-Justified Layouts - With both the Centered and the Left-justified layouts, users do not have to visually scan as far horizontally, but when used on a 1024 x 768 pixel resolution monitor, it may require more pages to be scrolled vertically. Also, the latter two layouts cause considerable white space to show when a site is designed to optimize a 800 x 600 pixel resolution, and then used on monitors that are set for a 1024 x 768 pixel resolution.

References

Bernard, M. and Larsen, L. (2001), What is the best layout for multiple column Web pages?