You may think that being creative is a great skill to have as a web designer and that you can never be too creative, but you may be wrong. Yes, it is important to have a creative streak and know what works and what doesn’t but being over creative can take away from the main purpose of the website.
It is important to understand you are not just designing websites that you like or even your client likes, but for the users of the website. There is no point in having a flashy quirky web design that puts your visitors off and does not convert visitors in to sales or enquiries.
Research shows that people make their aesthetic judgment on your design in less than 50 milliseconds and that first impression can tell them if they want to stay or leave the site.
Users like websites that look clean and simple and also have some familiarity about them.
For example, on a blog website you would expect to see a sign up box somewhere on the top right hand side. When someone visits your site, this is the first place they are going to look for it and a percentage of people may not bother or leave the site if they cannot see it instantly and where they expect it to be.