I've been designing websites for more than four years now, and I started coding websites from scratch only after I discovered WordPress, templates, and page builders like WP Bakery, Elementor, and Divi.
When it comes to designing websites, I can build a colorful website with animations (check my portfolio here), but why would I bother creating a plain text website?
I have an opportunity to talk with a friend whose whole career is circling about design, branding, and strategy...
She told me, "Marky, you need to remember that there is no bad design, but if you need to design something... You need to always ask yourself, what is the goal, and is it going to be effective?"
Then she goes on telling me about the meaning of effectiveness in design...
Let's say you own an establishment and you want to get the attention of the people passing by. What's most likely to be their next action after successfully getting their attention?
It's a puzzle, isn't it? But for the business mind, the goal is to convert the traffic into sales...
That's why you'll see in some establishments that the "Entrance" door is quite far from the "Exit" door, and you are not allowed to enter through the "Exit" door nor exit through the "Entrance" door, or vice versa.
Because the goal of the business is to invite you to explore more in the vicinity of the establishment, and if you explore more, you'll be likely to consider buying something...
Now, let's move to the website design aspect...
If we are going to observe most Western websites, we'll see their minimalist approach, while on Japanese websites, you'll be bombarded with a lot of information as if they were designed in the 90s... Why is that?
When it comes to designing a website, we need to consider our audience... That also means that we need to know their culture...
The basic question to help you decide on how to design your website is by asking: Is my audience coming from a short-form content culture or a long-form content culture?
So, if you are going to design for a short-form content culture like the Western one. The design must be straightforward and easy to read and must have an easy-to-follow flow.
However, if you are going to design for the Japanese website... The design doesn't really matter much because they put more attention on transparency than on the quality of the website design... It simply means that the more transparent your website is, the more trust... In contrast to the western website, the more visually attractive the site is, the more trustworthy it is...
Another reason is that Japanese people consider websites as low-investment products... What they consider a high investment is a tangible product, something that you can feel and touch... It means that even if you buy from a bad and clunky website, always expect the product to be good quality, especially if it is coming from a trusted Japanese brand.
Going back to the plain text website...
I designed my personal website with two goals in mind...
By understanding my goal, it became easy for me to decide how to design my website. So, for friends who want to know my whatabouts, they can access my site without issue, even if their internet is slow (a common issue in the Philippines), because most plain-text websites load fast, and for the audience who just simply want to read, they can focus on reading and not get distracted by disturbing colors and annoying animation.
If that is your goal too, consider having a plain text website.