Interactive website elements are a great way to take your website to the next level and enhance your website’s user experience. These elements can include anything from highlighting important information when a user scrolls over a certain portion of the web page to integrating a contact form that automatically highlights any user errors. However, if your interactive website features aren’t well-planned, they can actually harm your website and your overall user experience. Below are some important considerations as you decide whether to add interactive website elements to your website. Have a Clear Goal in Mind for Your Interactive Website Features A common web design mistake is to add interactive website elements without thinking about its intended impact on the user. For example, some websites contain an automatic scroll bar, which takes navigation control away from the users and generally leads to less happy customers. Think about how your interactive website elements will lead to greater ease of use before you spend the time or money developing them. Keep Your Interactive Website Elements Simple and Sparse Having one or two well-executed, relevant interactive website features will lead to far greater user satisfaction than trying to add in too many interactive components. Overloading your site with interactive elements will slow your site down, confuse the user, and decrease trust in your product or service. Test Your Website Across Multiple Browsers Consider all the browsers and mediums from which your users will be visiting your website, and make sure your interactive website features are compatible. While this is an important rule of thumb in any form of web design, it is particularly imperative with regards to interactive elements. Flash, for example, will not work on mobile browsers. Consider all the browsers and mediums from which your users will be visiting your website, and make sure your interactive website features are compatible. Without taking this step, you could end up leaving your user with a website that barely functions. Speak to a Clarity web designer for more information about jQuery development and interactive elements. Find out more about Clarity VenturesSee our Enterprise Web portfolio