What is Functionality?

As a designer I refer to functionality on a daily basis. I truly believe in having a well designed website, however, if it doesn’t have functionality it is just a pretty image on a computer screen.

SOO.. Let’s define functionality.

Functionality is defined in the dictionary as the “quality or state of being functional.”

Functional is defined as being “used to contribute to the development or maintenance of a larger whole.”

A Function can be described as a purposeful action.

Ask yourself this question, “What should be my website’s purpose be?”

Your answer should be that you want to reach your audience efficiently and market your company/organization well.

To be able to bring that purpose into fruition there needs to be an understanding that a well designed website is more than exciting colors and graphics.  It is a high-level dynamic mixture of a strong content management system with branding, color schemes, composition, clean design, meaningful and easy to update extensions, and good content. That mixture is used to achieve a website that is designed well because of it’s level of functionality and of course some good aesthetics.

You see there are a lot of templates site and graphic designers out there that can provide a image that looks dynamic, but in the end it flops.  We make sure that behind the scenes it is working for you … not against you. Each client that we work with is a customized experience. We review the needed functions and pick the right extensions and design elements to achieve their marketing purpose.

At Bear Web Design we use slide shows, photo galleries, blogs, action buttons, search modules, calendars, forms, Google maps, social media integration, multi-level menu systems, video players, and all sorts of other extensions that have to be integrated into the overall design to be the “larger whole” – to achieve that sought after purpose. (Do you see the functionality ooozzzing out!?)

Hopefully you can see that we take web design seriously and design websites that are more than just a image on a screen, but a functional marketing tool that can grow as your company grows.