Top 5 Web Design Mistakes That Cost Empathy and How to Fix Them

According to Delivered Social, some of the biggest problems with websites today are painfully common: slow load times, cluttered layouts, and confusing navigation. Stay Wild Digital adds poor mobile optimization to the list. And ITPro found downtime can cost businesses thousands a month.

I once worked with a nonprofit that prided itself on compassion, but their site told a different story. It was slow, cluttered, and filled with generic stock photos. Donors grew frustrated. We stripped it down, improved speed, simplified navigation, and replaced stock images with photos of their actual community. Donor engagement went up almost immediately.

The key lesson is that every design choice is an act of empathy, or a missed opportunity. A slow site says, “Your time doesn’t matter.” Confusing navigation says, “Figure it out yourself.” A clean, responsive site says, “We care about your experience.”

Some trends that once looked modern, like auto-playing background videos or excessive animation, now just get in the way. Lounge Lizard even lists them as outdated. Sometimes empathy means letting go of design tricks that no longer serve.

If your website is working against you instead of for you, let’s fix it. A site that reflects empathy will help you connect more deeply with your audience. Contact me.