A Web Design Case Study

Creating a Website for a Dentist that's Different

We all know the bad rap dentists get, and some deserve. With this website design practice however, it was my goal to make this dentist stand out as different and to build trust in the clinic's sincere interest in their patients.

Though the images are free stock and the company imaginary, I researched the industry and imagined what a potential client may need in a website.

Quick Note Before You Get Started:

The company model is all imagination, this means the website strategy does not present the same level of research and discovery that a real business deserves. The project’s purpose is to practice and present design skills.
All the names and/or places presented are fictional.
All images are free stock, available photo credits are found at the bottom of this page.
You may notice pieces of text missing from the website, some content, for example about sections or profiles, are specific to the company; this makes any content created without a company unrealistic.

View Prototype

Featured Design Objectives

Creating Trust in an Industry Where it is Lacking

No one likes the dentist, and to top it off many have had negative experiences. For this reason, while designing this website the main focus was to create trust and show sincerity.

Creating trust depends largely on many small details working together harmoniously. Friendly smiles in the first section. A lot of information ‘about’ the clinic, and a blog. Social proof logos (I couldn’t use actual logos for copyright reasons). A friendly, sincere bio about the head dentist. ‘You’ focused content that's friendly. Take for example the question, “What do you need?” in the second section.

In some industries an overall feel of high level professionalism is necessary, while in an industry like dentistry being friendly, approachable, and sincere is important.

Making a “Scary” Dentist Sincere and Friendly

The general look and feel of a website plays a huge part in whether the visitor is drawn in or pushed away. This is important for any business, if the potential client doesn't feel welcome or comfortable they will not continue on the website and most definitely won't make the effort to reach out for the services offered.

For a dentist it was especially important, because as mentioned they are generally disliked, so to stand out as different I needed to communicate personal interest. This comes out in the wording chosen, ‘you’ and ‘your’ are used a lot for good reason. Can you see why?

Color also plays an important role. Blue is known for it denoting trustworthiness, serenity, and stability. Orange communicates friendliness, happiness, and enthusiasm. The usual ‘dentist pictures’ are enhanced by the addition of colours and shapes where they are not strictly necessary. They’re playful and welcoming, just as the smiling faces are.

Featured Design Principles

Type Can be Used to Enhance Your Message

Type is a large part of the overall message and feel of a website. It can enhance the idea you want to communicate or detract from it. Type can add subtly or distract. Good type will affirm quality, while bad type, or the combination of too many typefaces, will reveal an amateur designer and create a ‘cheap’ brand.

When choosing a typeface the main debate is whether to use serif or a sans-serif font. For the dentist I choose a serif font. This is because serif fonts, due to their age and historical significance, communicate an air of experience, establishment, and dependability. This effect has an important role in establishing the trust as discussed earlier.

A sans-serif font however has a different connotation, it denotes a modern and friendly feel. Along with the fact that it has been established as the readable counterpart on electronic screens, is why I chose to combine the two in this example. It is common practice to use either sans serif for the entirety or serif for heading and sans serif for body and smaller text. Whatever combination is chosen, rarely will you see an effective design that combines more two typefaces.

Hierarchy Provides a Guided Experience

Humans do not always enjoy making decisions, nor do they like being overwhelmed. When hierarchy is used properly a designer can provide an experience for the viewer that is seamless and comfortable to navigate and digest.

If a web page is too busy, the elements all big and in your face, or too many small ones, a viewer can be quickly overwhelmed, unable to decide where to go or what button to press and just leave the website entirely. To avoid such an outcome, elements are carefully chosen as to importance and clear actions are presented.

Take a look at the hero (first) section of the dental website. The image is pushed to the back, via a colour overlay, to give the heading primary attention. I also choose to make the smiling images large and bright to draw attention to them, building trust as I mentioned before, and drawing them right to the question, “what do you need?” Then right there they are given options, one of which is likely to be their reason for visiting the website and they’ll clearly know what to click from there.

Hierarchy is also used to appease our human lack of attention span. Imagine if all the text was the same size, what would happen? You wouldn’t know what to read. Often visitors to a website will only read the headings, for that reason they must be obvious and carefully written to capture attention, otherwise a website would very quickly lose a viewer.