Web Design Sins

Yikes! I almost forgot to write here tonight! Not that it would have been the end of the world if I hadn’t, I’m just trying to keep up with this thing for my own purposes. I don’t feel obligated to anyone but myself on this thing, really. So anyway, it’s been one of those days. When all the duties of the day were done - which were numerous and contained trace elements of joy & pleasure, similar to the way a can of Hormel chili contains a few roach whiskers - I came home and just took a long hard nap. Now I won’t get a normal night’s sleep tonight, but oh well.

Geeky web designer stuff alert! Simply close the browser window this page is contained within if you are too cool for this kind of stuff. Okay, bye. Now, for those of you still with me: I stumbled across a web site today that discussed the sins of web design, and I learned that I have committed some of them. Oh no! They covered things like using frames, which I agree shouldn’t be done anymore. If you used them correctly back when they were practical, they worked pretty well, in my opinion. I think the problem was that no one coded them correctly, which is why they failed.

Then they started bashing “splash pages.” Yeah, this site has one. It’s that first page with the little animation of my logo. Yes, I have pondered whether or not it’s really necessary. On some sites, it’s definitely not necessary - for example it’s obvious even to non-web designers that Target.com would not need a splash page. I agree with that, and I fully understand that some sites have as their purpose the maximum distribution of maximum information; they need to get it all out now, and fast. Well, dustinmarson.com is not one of those sites. I view the splash page as the front cover of a book, or better yet the overture. Something that provides a break from whatever you were doing before you took your seat. So I make no apologies for my “splash page.”

Some of the other ones were:
Pop up ads(*) - Like duh, everyone totally already knows that.
Being required to install extra software to view site content - Okay I don’t entirely agree on this one. Some of us like to use Flash because it’s a very powerful design element. Unfortunately there are many old fogies out there still running Windows 98 with Internet Explorer 1.0 and they need to know that my site’s a little too complex for them but I’d still like them to enjoy it. The web shouldn’t be stuck in 1995 because 5% of the internet population still is.
Dead links(*) - Yeah, they suck. I’m proud that I avoid them on my sites as much as possible.
Confusing navigation(*) - On large sites this is tough, because you have a billion things to navigate to but need to keep the navigation simple so it’s not too confusing. I guess finding the happy medium is what it’s all about.
Required registration to access content(*) - Yes, this bothers me very, very much. Why can’t I read the Washington Times article Joe Schmo linked to on his blog without typing in all my personal information so the paper can spam email the hell out of me?
Slow-loading pages(*) - Well, that’s where Flash comes in handy because it’s fast. But you have to download the plugin if you’re an old fogey. Sites that use humongous image maps are a little ridiculous.
Ineffective site search tools(*) - Yeah I love it when I go on to a site that sells ceramic collectible cows and type in “holstein” and end up getting redirected to a Google search listing links to other sites that contain news articles about mad cow disease. I just want to buy your freaking ceramic cows you silly people!
And then, as I already mentioned, frames(*) and splash pages.

The sins with a star (*) next to them are ones that the very site discussing the sins of web design is blatantly guilty of. And as you’ll see there are only two that they are not guilty of. The web site also happens to be butt-ugly, but the site does not consider butt ugliness a web design sin, apparently.

See-ya tomorrow or this weekend, or whenever I get around to posting next. Wear a coat, it’s cold outside.