Top design stupidities of 2005
According to Jakob Nielsen's recent article, things haven't changed all that much in web design over the years. It seems that selfishness, ignorance and sometimes even downright stupidity still persist and are becoming a common pattern. In order of infamy:
- Fonts that are too small, low contrast and fixed in size, so users can't control them in any way.
- Links which don't obviously look like links or use stupid phrases like "click here".
- Flash technology which seems to have been implemented to primarily annoy people.
- Content which has been placed on the web by people who don't understand the web.
- Search facilities which are either non-intuitive or don't work as they should.
- Not making content compatible with standards-compliant browsers.
- Complicated forms, with too many questions and inflexible input requirements.
- Missing contact information.
- Rigid page design which is unable to accommodate the user's window size.
- Distracting popups, especially when they're used to sell you stuff which you don't want.
Jakob states that instead of focusing on the newest technology, companies should invest in improving the quality of what they already have.
Our own experience shows the above list of offenses to be widespread, even on some "expensive" websites. Which begs the question:
Who sets the website's business goals?
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About the author
I'm Ivan Lutrov and I'm the owner of Lutrov Interactive. I have 25 years of experience producing interactive work and I create cost effective business websites that are simple, engaging and easy to use. I practice what I preach and I say what I really think, even if it's sometimes not what you want to hear. Subscribe to the Lutrov Interactive feed via RSS and follow me on Twitter.