Slideshows In Web Design: When To Use Them

Slideshows or carousels are becoming more and more popular in modern web designs. Carousels are essentially slideshow navigations, in which the content rotates vertically or horizontally (hence the name “carousel”). To rotate the navigation, users need to click on one of two toggle elements (usually a left/right or up/down arrow). Depending on the toggle element selected, the content is rotated in the desired direction.

Instead of clicking through various sections of the website for their favorite stories, users can quickly skim through the available stories without vertical scrolling or unnecessary mouse movements. The result: users save time, and the carousel focuses their attention sharply on the content, instead of on interacting with the browser. Such slideshow navigation is often used on entertainment websites and big blogs, but designers also make use of it in their portfolios to showcase their work in a more interactive way.

Let’s take a look at some common places where the sliders are often used.

1. Portfolios
When designing a portfolio, there are many different ways to organize your projects. One good way is to use a slider. Using a slideshow to showcase different images from a single project is even more common. Some websites will use it to slide through each project, and each slide brings you to a more detailed description of the project.

2. Slider of Information
Sliders are very popular on home pages of corporate websites. They are very useful for showing important information about a company. Generally, corporations will include an explanation of what the company does, a brief preview of the products, an explanation of what sets their products apart, and many further user options.
Take a look below at the excellent use of the slider technique on Mint.com. This home page slider contains information explaining Mint and what you can do with the service. Also included are graphics, which provide a nice visual to back up the information. This is a very good use of the slider and is extremely convenient for new users on Mint looking to learn more quickly.

3. Featured Blog Posts
Many blogs use slider galleries to feature top posts. It is a great way to show many top posts and not take up too much space. By fitting numerous featured posts into a smaller element, you are allowing more space for other content.