Building a website is one thing. Making it intuitive for people who have never visited it befo
re is something completely different.
I've been working on Arcanio.xyz, an online tarot and Arcana platform where people can explore tarot readings, card meanings, spreads, and their personal Arcana.
One question I've been thinking about lately is whether my website offers the right user experience across different devices.
For example, is it okay for the desktop version of a website to look almost the same as its mobile version? Should a desktop layout use the available screen space differently, or is keeping the design consistent across devices a better approach?
I'd love to hear honest feedback from developers, UX designers, and anyone interested in web design.
What Is Arcanio?
Arcanio.xyz is an online tarot platform designed to make tarot exploration accessible to beginners and experienced enthusiasts.
A traditional tarot deck contains 78 cards, each with its own symbolism and interpretations. Learning about the cards, understanding different spreads, and exploring their meanings can be fascinating, but it can also feel overwhelming to someone who is just getting started.
Arcanio brings several aspects of this experience into one digital platform:
Online tarot readings: Explore tarot through a digital reading experience.
Tarot card meanings: Learn about the symbolism and traditional interpretations of the cards.
Personal Arcana: Discover a personal tarot profile and explore its associated symbolism.
Personalized results: Receive results in PDF format where available.
Educational content: Read guides about tarot cards, spreads, and different ways to approach readings.
You can explore the project here: https://arcanio.xyz/
I've also been publishing educational articles on the Arcanio blog to help visitors understand tarot and explore its different traditions.
However, building useful features is only part of creating a good product. People also need to understand how to use them.
The UX Challenge: Designing for People Who Are New to Tarot
One of the challenges of creating a tarot website is that visitors have different levels of experience.
Some people already know the difference between the Major and Minor Arcana. They might arrive looking for a particular card meaning or a specific reading spread.
Others might simply search for a free tarot reading without knowing anything about tarot.
These visitors have different needs. Experienced users may want quick access to features, while beginners may need clear explanations and guidance.
If the interface assumes too much knowledge, new visitors may become confused. If it explains everything before allowing people to interact, the experience might feel unnecessarily complicated.
My goal with Arcanio is to make the first visit straightforward. Ideally, someone should quickly understand what the website offers, where to start, and what they can expect from the experience.
But there's another UX question that interests me just as much: how should this experience change depending on the device?
Should a Desktop Website Look Like Its Mobile Version?
This is one of the design decisions I'd particularly like feedback on.
A mobile-first approach makes sense for many websites. Starting with a small screen encourages you to prioritize important information, simplify navigation, and avoid unnecessary interface elements.
That doesn't mean a desktop website must look completely different, though.
Consistency can be valuable. Keeping the same visual identity, familiar controls, and recognizable navigation patterns helps people understand a product regardless of the device they use.
For a website like Arcanio, maintaining the same dark visual atmosphere, typography, colors, and overall design language across mobile and desktop makes sense to me.
However, visual consistency and identical layouts are not the same thing.
A phone has limited horizontal space, so stacking content vertically is often the most practical solution. A desktop monitor offers much more room, which creates opportunities to organize information differently.
For example, three tarot cards might appear vertically or in a compact arrangement on a phone, but sit side by side on a desktop. Navigation could use a full menu on larger screens while remaining compact on mobile.
The same principle applies to content. A blog article should remain comfortable to read on a desktop rather than stretching across the entire monitor, even if the overall page uses more horizontal space.
This raises an interesting question: when does keeping a mobile-style layout on desktop become a usability problem?
If a layout stays narrow in the center of a large monitor, it might feel unnecessarily constrained. If it fills the screen but stacks every element vertically, visitors might have to scroll more than necessary.
On the other hand, simply making everything wider isn't automatically better. Excessive text width, scattered interface elements, and poorly balanced spacing can create new problems.
For Arcanio, I want the design to remain recognizable across devices while taking advantage of the space each screen provides.
I'm still interested in where other developers and designers would draw that line.
Visual Design Is Not the Same as Usability
Tarot has a strong visual identity, which makes design an important part of the experience.
Colors, typography, illustrations, spacing, and imagery can help a website feel connected to its subject. A dark, atmospheric interface with carefully presented tarot artwork can create a more coherent experience than a generic interface with cards added as decoration.
But an attractive website isn't necessarily easy to use.
A visitor might enjoy the design but struggle to find the main feature. A button might look beautiful without clearly communicating its purpose. An interface might work perfectly for its creator but confuse someone who encounters it for the first time.
That's why I'd like to evaluate Arcanio beyond its appearance.
Can a first-time visitor understand the purpose of the website within a few seconds? Is the primary action easy to find? Does the navigation make sense? Does the mobile experience feel natural, and does the desktop version use its available space effectively?
These questions are difficult to answer objectively when you already know how everything works.
What I'd Like People to Test
If you visit Arcanio.xyz, I'd appreciate feedback on several aspects of the experience.
- First impressions
Open the homepage as if you've never heard of Arcanio.
Can you immediately explain what the website does? Is the value clear, or do you need to explore several pages before understanding the product?
I'd particularly like to know whether the visual design communicates both the tarot theme and the practical purpose of the platform.
- Desktop layout
Visit the website on a laptop or desktop monitor.
Does the layout use the available space well? Does anything feel too narrow, too stretched, or unnecessarily stacked vertically?
Would you keep the layout mostly consistent with mobile, or introduce different arrangements for larger screens?
I'm especially interested in practical suggestions rather than simply making the desktop version look different for the sake of it.
- Mobile usability
Try the website on a phone if possible.
Are the buttons easy to tap? Is the text readable? Does navigation work naturally? Do any sections feel too crowded or require too much scrolling?
A responsive design should adapt to different screen sizes without making the experience feel like a completely different product.
- Navigation and discoverability
Try to find a feature you'd naturally want to use.
Are the navigation labels understandable? Can you find the reading experience without guessing? Is important information easy to discover?
You can also explore the Arcanio blog to see how the educational content fits into the wider website.
- The beginner experience
Imagine you've never used tarot before.
Would you know where to start? Are the explanations clear enough? Does anything feel intimidating or unnecessarily complicated?
I'd like the platform to feel approachable even to visitors who don't know the traditional meanings of the cards.
- Accessibility and performance
If you have experience with accessibility or frontend performance, I'd welcome those observations too.
Are contrast levels comfortable? Is the interface usable with a keyboard? Are there any responsive-layout issues worth investigating? Does the experience feel smooth on different devices?
I haven't independently verified every one of these areas, so I don't want to assume that the website already gets them right.
What I'm Trying to Improve
My goal isn't simply to make Arcanio look more modern. I want to reduce friction between someone arriving on the website and understanding how to use it.
That means thinking about information architecture, responsive design, content hierarchy, accessibility, performance, and the language used throughout the interface.
It also means recognizing that different visitors have different goals.
Someone looking for an immediate reading may need a different path from someone researching The High Priestess or learning about the Major Arcana. Both should be able to find what they need without unnecessary steps.
I also want to avoid adding interface elements just because desktop websites traditionally have them. A sidebar, larger menu, or wider layout should solve a real problem rather than simply fill empty space.
At the same time, I don't want to limit the experience by treating every screen as if it were a phone.
The challenge is finding the right balance between consistency, simplicity, and making effective use of the available space.
How Would You Improve Arcanio?
I'd genuinely appreciate feedback from developers, designers, and UX enthusiasts.
You don't need to be interested in tarot to evaluate the website. Someone unfamiliar with the subject might actually notice assumptions that experienced tarot users would overlook.
Here are a few questions I'd love to discuss:
What's the first thing you'd improve on the homepage?
Is the primary action obvious enough?
Should the desktop version use a substantially different layout from mobile?
Does the website balance visual atmosphere with usability?
What would make the beginner experience clearer?
Are there any accessibility or responsive-design issues you'd investigate?
What would you simplify, remove, or reorganize?
Specific criticism is more useful than simply hearing that the website looks good. If something is confusing or feels unnecessary, I'd rather know so I can improve it.
You can visit Arcanio.xyz and share your observations in the comments.
Final Thoughts
Building Arcanio has reminded me that creating a product isn't just about implementing features or writing code. It's also about understanding how people experience what you've built.
Developers become familiar with their own interfaces. We know where every button leads, what every label means, and how each feature is supposed to work. New visitors don't have that context.
The same applies to responsive design. A layout that feels natural on a phone might not be the best arrangement for a desktop, even if both versions use the same visual style.
I believe the best approach is to preserve a consistent identity while adapting the layout to the needs of each screen. But I'd like to hear how other people approach this in practice.
I'm continuing to develop Arcanio and want to make the experience better with each iteration.
Try Arcanio and Share Your UX Feedback
I'd love to hear from developers and designers who can look at the project with fresh eyes.
Questions for the community
What would you change about the desktop layout?
Would you keep the mobile layout mostly consistent on desktop, or use a wider layout with different card arrangements, navigation, and content sections?
What matters most in a first-time user experience?
Would you prioritize a clearer main call to action, simpler navigation, more onboarding, or a different homepage layout?
Is the visual design helping usability?
Does the dark, mystical tarot aesthetic make the experience more engaging, or would you simplify parts of the interface to make the main features easier to discover?
Project: https://arcanio.xyz/
Blog: https://arcanio.xyz/blog
Honest, constructive feedback is welcome. Thanks for taking a look!
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