![[visual] Striking the right balance between great aesthetics and strong functionality is tricky when creating web applications. Web apps need to be responsive and highly functional so that users can achieve their goals—but, at the same time, they also need to look good. This article will walk you through 6 examples of successful web app design to inspire you and help you create user delight with your own product. See how users experience your web app with Contentsquare Contentsquare pinpoints what works and what doesn’t in your design—so you can iterate, optimize, and roll out your web app successfully. Sign up now Get inspired with these 6 fantastic web app design examples Make sure your users have a frictionless experience interacting with features and content on your web application by understanding how these companies created brilliant web app designs. 1. Vimcar Vimcar is Germany’s top fleet management platform, and they’ve now expanded into both Austria and the United Kingdom, giving fleet managers, owners, and business leaders a 360 view of what’s going on at all times, letting them keep track of drivers, vehicles, and costs. Vimcar anticipates potential questions on its homepage and takes the first steps to guide users through their customer journey. They have a great section on how their software benefits businesses, as well as a handy graphic that shows how the Vimcar setup process works. By placing this graphic on their homepage, Vimcar shows users how easy and frictionless their set-up process is Vimcar’s design is based on satisfying user needs. They pinpointed their target audience’s concerns and understood their pain points by using tools like session recordings and heatmaps to identify blockers and where users were getting lost on their site. Contentsquare’s Heatmaps capability lets you jump to related session replays to see users navigating your web app in real time 💡 Pro tip: make sure potential leads feel informed and empowered after navigating through your homepage. Identify questions your ideal customer persona (ICP) has with Contentsquare’s onsite or offsite Surveys and answer them within your web app design. Here are some example questions your ICP might have: Can I trust the data and insights this app provides? How easy is it to set up and start using this product? What kind of support is available if I run into issues? Can this app integrate with my existing tools and workflows? 2. Vinted Vinted is an online marketplace where you can buy and sell secondhand and vintage clothing and accessories. Their web app design does a great job of accounting for both of these user objectives without things getting confusing. They’ve got a great CTA above-the-fold that prompts visitors to either start selling or learn more about how their platform works. Both buyers and sellers use Vinted, so it’s important that their homepage accounts for both of their objectives When you scroll down, Vinted shows a selection of currently-for-sale items to engage customers who want to shop, grouping pieces by item popularity, brand, and seller for a more intuitive browsing experience. Vinted organizes their listings with filters and search functions so it’s easy for users to browse 💡Pro tip: keep your users’ different motivations in mind throughout your design. If you’re creating a web app where users have multiple possible objectives—whether they have to decide between buying and selling or something else altogether—be sure they can easily figure out how to accomplish their tasks. Use Contentsquare Heatmaps to uncover where users are clicking and play around with placement, image links, and button size to see what yields the best results—then go deeper by adding a Survey or Feedback Collection widget to key pages. Invite your users to share their thoughts with a feedback button that’s always visible 3. Reed Reed.co.uk is one of the largest online career marketplaces in the UK, connecting people with professional opportunities and offering courses and career advice for both recruiters and job seekers. Reed.co.uk’s homepage sets users up for an intuitive browsing experience, allowing them to search for jobs according to industry, location, and whether they’re trending or not. Great web app design is especially important for online marketplace platforms like Reed because of the sheer amount of options they contain The Reed.co.uk search results page that pops up next also has a great, clear design that gives job seekers comprehensive information on available positions. They can filter their results by most recent or most relevant, save or hide listings, sign up for alerts, filter search distance, and apply for jobs in just a few clicks. Reed.co.uk’s job marketplace layout makes it easy for users to browse even though they’ve got over 1000 listings to make their way through 💡Pro tip: one of the most important web app design best practices is clarity. If you’ve got a web app like a marketplace, streaming service, or ecommerce store that’s got a lot of interactive content, make sure you prioritize navigation and filter functions in your design so users can easily move through tasks. 4. Zencastr Zencastr is an online podcasting software that allows creators to record and edit their podcasts within the platform itself. It features a free plan, studio-quality sound, HD video recording, automatic post-production, and secured cloud backup. Zencastr’s web app design is fantastic because of its user accessibility and intuitive navigation. It’s clear where users have to click to start recording, choose a recording type, chat with other participants, and ask for support. It also plainly shows users how to navigate back to the initial dashboard in case they get lost. Zencastr’s recording interface is simple enough for those without any production experience to navigate Great web apps are designed to feel intuitive for their users. It’s best to assume your users have minimal expertise, especially with technical functions like video recording or audio editing. Make it easy for users to get started with minimal onboarding, and use design elements like buttons and information panels to guide them through their customer journey. 💡Pro tip: to make sure your app stays usable and relevant over time, conduct qualitative and quantitative user research regularly. Contentsquare helps you do this by combining data like click maps (showing where users click most) with exit-intent surveys (asking users about their experience). For example, if a heatmap shows users aren’t clicking a call-to-action button, a quick survey can tell you if they find it confusing or hard to access. By blending real-time user behavior with their direct feedback, you can make smarter decisions to keep improving the user experience. Contentsquare’s exit-intent survey helps you go deeper into each user’s experience 5. The Plum Guide The Plum Guide is a luxury vacation rental platform that curates the best of the best listings. Their search engine lets customers browse and book award-winning homes all around the world, also allowing hosts to promote and rent out their properties. The Plum Guide provides guests with top-quality properties—so naturally, their web app design should reflect the same high standards The Plum Guide reflects its high-quality standards with a seamless, highly interactive web app design by Including a positive testimonial about their app Showcasing recognizable publications where they’ve been featured like Conde Nast Traveler, The New York Times, and Forbes Mentioning that their listed holiday homes are ‘award-winning’ and the ‘world’s best' Explaining their rigorous vetting process The Plum Guide uses design elements like the quote and partner icons above to establish credibility with their users. Their dynamic listings also help deliver a great user experience. As well as describing usual rental information like rules and check-in times, users can browse interactive sections about property highlights and nearby can’t-miss experiences. This listing from The Plum Guide shows highlights that are unique to the property, like taking a swim in the rooftop pool 💡Pro tip: build credibility with fast loading times, great usability, professional branding, and trust signals like testimonials and partner pages, ensuring they align with your branding. Contentsquare’s Session Replay capability helps you identify which credibility-building elements, like trust signals or customer reviews, capture the most attention. For example, if your replays show users engaging more with testimonials near the checkout page, you can optimize that placement for higher conversion rates. Analyzing session replays helps you notice the most popular credibility-building elements so you can optimize their placement 6. Skyscanner Skyscanner is an online travel agency where people can search for and book flights, reserve hotel stays, and find car rentals. The platform is known for helping travelers find great deals, and its user-friendly interface makes it easy to do so. Skyscanner’s web app design is simple for users to toggle back and forth between currency and languages; their top menu is clear and easy to navigate; and Skyscanner’s main search bar is front and center. Skyscanner is a fantastic example of great web app design because of the platform’s simple interface that lets users do exactly what they want The app’s interface also looks great on mobile—it’s been optimized for the smaller screen by removing the background image, adding white space, and moving the top menu. These changes make it easier for users to interact with the interface so they can access the features they want. Skyscanner’s web app design is perfectly optimized for mobile, which is great for on-the-go travelers 💡Pro tip: design your web app to look great and work well on devices of all sizes. In 2023, there were 313% more visits on mobile compared to desktop. Your web app needs to function just as well on mobile as it does on desktop or you’ll be missing out on a serious number of customers and conversions. What makes a strong web app design? There’s no one way to create a strong web application because user needs vary and are sometimes unpredictable, but implementing the following principles will help you shape the process: Your app should be easy for first-time users to navigate: most web apps that have steep learning curves or require too much teaching simply aren’t designed well. Many new users won’t have the patience to learn how to use them and move on to something else. Make your web app intuitive and accessible, and conduct user testing to validate your ideas. Your overarching visual design has to be strong: keep the principles of visual consistency, functional consistency, and external consistency in mind and make sure all the different elements work together to create an ideal customer experience. Make sure your web app is highly responsive: users interact with web apps on different screens like mobile devices, tablets, laptops, and desktop computers. Optimize across multiple devices to create a seamless navigation and interaction experience for your users, and monitor core vitals to ensure your application is responding quickly and smoothly. Guide users through the navigation experience: new users will need help scrolling and clicking their way through your web app, and you can provide that with great design. A clear top menu, cleverly placed buttons, and usability testing with product experience insights tools like Hotjar will help users quickly get acquainted with your web app. Be creative, but don’t go overboard: excellent web app designs strike the perfect balance between novelty and simplicity. Provide users with a product they haven’t seen before but feels familiar and manageable at the same time. “‘Creativity’ in app design needs to be applied in clever and subtle ways. Too many colored and moving parts on your screens, and users could get distracted and confused. Keep it simple, work on removing rather than adding, and ask yourself, ‘Is this information/content really useful at this point in this journey?’” Marco d’Emilia, Product Design Lead @Hotjar Create an effective web app design for your business While you can draw inspiration and get ideas from the successful examples of web application designs given above, you need to tailor your product to your unique business and user goals. Understanding your users’ needs and iterating until you get it right is key. With Contentsquare, you can make that process smarter, helping you fine-tune your design based on real user behavior—no guessing required! See how users experience your web app with Contentsquare Contentsquare pinpoints what works and what doesn’t in your design—so you can iterate, optimize, and roll out your web app successfully. Sign up now Frequently asked questions about web app design examples What is web app design? Web app design is the process of shaping how a web app appears, responds, flows, and operates so it meets its users’ needs. It encompasses how a web app’s interface looks, but also goes a step further and extends to everything from usability to accessibility and content placement to functionality. What makes a good web app design? There’s no single quality that makes web app design good, but brilliantly designed web apps certainly have a few elements in common. Here are the most important ones: Looks great and works great: an excellent web app is equal parts high-quality aesthetics and optimal functionality Beginner-friendly: your web app design should be easy for first-time users to navigate without much training A balance between creativity and simplicity: include unique design elements that are specific to your brand in your web app, but don’t go overboard Responsiveness: people access web apps from all kinds of different devices, so be sure that yours is optimized to work seamlessly and speedily from mobile, tablet, and desktop Guides users through the web app journey: design elements like a clear top menu and buttons can help users orient themselves on your site What are some examples of great web design? When you’re using some of your favorite web apps, consider what works about its design, what doesn’t, and how it could be improved. Some of our top examples of web app design include Vimcar: they anticipate questions on their homepage to make sure users feel confident and informed from the get-go Vinted: their design encompasses all the objectives their users have when navigating their app, like buying and selling Reed.co.uk: they’ve masterfully designed their search results pages so that it delivers comprehensive information while being easy to filter through and interact with Zencastr: they designed a user-friendly recording interface that’s easy enough for anyone to get the hang of, even without previous experience The Plum Guide: their web app design is consistent with their company branding and values and establishes credibility right away Skyscanner: their web app interface lets users seamlessly accomplish their goals whether they’re on a mobile, tablet, or desktop](http://images.ctfassets.net/gwbpo1m641r7/6IPxbA8OkcoJkfU1MqVJQH/298b889c244b2c765ac4eee2f01e6642/pexels-mikhail-nilov-8871854.jpg?w=3840&q=100&fit=fill&fm=avif)
The homepage of a website or mobile application serves as a critical digital touchpoint, often being the very first interaction a user has with a brand. It is the gateway to digital experiences and plays a pivotal role in shaping user perception, guiding journeys, and ultimately driving business goals. A truly effective homepage is one that provides a seamless, intuitive, and accessible user experience for all visitors, supported by data-backed decisions.
The Core Pillars of Effective Homepage Design
Building a high-performing homepage rests on several fundamental design principles that prioritize the user and strategic content delivery.
1. User-Centricity and Accessibility
A primary objective of any digital experience is to cater to its diverse user base. This means ensuring clarity, ease of use, and accessibility for everyone, including individuals with visual impairments or neurodivergence. Key considerations include:
Legibility: Ensuring the correct color contrast ratio and accessible font sizes are used.
Clear Navigation: Structuring navigation menus and links clearly, especially for those using screen readers.
Alt Text: Utilizing descriptive alt text on images to convey essential details for screen readers.
Inclusive Language: Employing simple, easy-to-understand language and defining acronyms to cater to all users, including non-native English speakers.
Mobile Responsiveness: Designing homepages to adapt seamlessly across various devices, recognizing that mobile users have distinct expectations. This includes ensuring quick image loading, proper formatting, and smooth transitions between portrait and landscape modes. Contentsquare, for example, emphasizes WCAG 2.2 Accessibility Standards in its development processes.
2. Strategic Content Placement
The layout and presentation of content on a homepage significantly influence user engagement. It's crucial to:
Optimize "Above the Fold" Content: Ensure essential elements, such as menus, search bars, and primary calls-to-action (CTAs), are immediately visible without scrolling. Image tiles can be used to subtly encourage further scrolling. Contentsquare recommended moving product-related information above the fold to help increase conversion rates.
Prioritize High-Performing Content: Based on user behavior data, prominently feature content that resonates most with your audience and drives conversions.
3. Intuitive Navigation and Clear Calls-to-Action (CTAs)
Effective navigation is paramount for guiding users through the website. Global navigation bars should remain sticky and visible at all times. Furthermore, Calls-to-Action (CTAs) must be clear and specific, such as "Watch a quick tour" or "Request a demo", avoiding generic phrases like "Get started". The primary CTA should be immediately apparent to the user.
Driving Decisions with Digital Experience Analytics
While traditional analytics can tell you what is happening on your homepage, a deeper understanding comes from uncovering why it's happening. Digital Experience Analytics (DXA) provides the necessary insights to optimize homepage performance by offering a comprehensive view of user behavior.
Key tools leveraged for homepage optimization include:
Heatmaps: These visual tools provide insights into user interaction by showing clicks, taps, scrolls, and cursor movements. They help identify effective content, areas of confusion, non-clickable elements users attempt to interact with, and areas where users get distracted. Heatmaps can also be compared across desktop and mobile versions of a page to spot device-specific issues. Contentsquare's Heatmaps provide visualizations of app users’ on-screen interactions, helping identify high-activity zones and dead zones to prioritize content and CTAs.
Session Replay: This tool allows a deep dive into individual user sessions, revealing the precise steps leading to user struggles or successful actions. It helps in identifying 'missing' UI elements, understanding friction, and confirming bugs. Hotjar's Session Recordings can also be filtered by frustration and engagement scores to focus on valuable insights.
Journey Analysis: By visualizing how visitors progress through different screens and pages, Journey Analysis helps identify common user paths, repetitive "looping" behaviors, and unexpected drop-off points from the homepage.
Feedback Tools: Direct user feedback, collected through surveys and feedback widgets, is invaluable for understanding user needs, pain points, and overall satisfaction. Contentsquare's AI-powered surveys can even generate questions based on survey goals, cutting down setup time.
AI-Powered Insights (Sense): Platforms like Contentsquare offer AI-powered insights, such as Sense, to simplify complex data analysis. These tools provide clear, revenue-driving insights and actionable step from user behavior data, enabling smarter and quicker analytics for all teams. Sense can analyze complex prompts, perform multi-step analyses, and offer human-like insights and recommendations. AI makes analytics more accessible, democratizing insights for everyone.
A/B Testing: Digital experience analytics plays a crucial role in A/B testing, helping teams understand why one interaction or design choice performs better than another, leading to informed optimization. Contentsquare's A/B testing on their homepage indicated that a product tour CTA yielded a 22% improvement compared to a "Quick tour" or "Demo" CTA, which had 40% less clicks.
Cultivating Continuous Homepage Evolution
An effective homepage is not a static entity; it requires continuous refinement and adaptation.
Personalization: Leveraging analytics to understand user behavior allows for tailoring content to individual or segmented user groups, significantly increasing engagement.
Unified Brand Experience: The homepage is central to presenting a consistent brand identity and a streamlined product or service offering across all digital channels. This also helps streamline product/service offerings.
Iterative Optimization: Homepage optimization is an ongoing process. Regularly testing new designs, content, and functionalities, and refining them based on real-time user data, is essential for sustained growth.
In conclusion, a well-designed homepage is a dynamic asset that combines user-centric principles with robust digital experience analytics. By prioritizing accessibility, strategically placing content, and continuously optimizing based on deep user insights, businesses can ensure their homepage effectively converts visitors into loyal customers, reinforcing trust and driving sustainable growth.
Wendy is passionate about creating content and all things marketing. She is a Content Marketing Manager working in Contentsquare’s Paris office.