Top 10 Website Design Gaffs (And what you can learn from them...)
Surfing the Web can be quite an experience in democracy. The WWW is a universe unto its own. And, as such, no matter what you’re looking for, you’re likely to find it, along with plenty you probably wish you never did. Because there is no one governing group making decisions for the Web, there is plenty of the good, bad, and ugly to find online. This is certainly the case when it comes to design sense. Because there is no governing board making decisions about how websites and web templates should be designed, structured, etc, you come across plenty of websites that seem to defy common-sense.
 Now, while it may be a given that design sensibility is a purely subjective enterprise, there are still certain universal principals that tend to work, or not, for a majority of people. People are going to disagree about their favorite color, but they’re likely to agree that certain common combinations work better than others. Sure, you get the odd ascetic rebel, but these are generally very few and far in between.
Yes sir, when it comes to web design you tend to find some real “fashion violations” still populating the Web. This is the case for a variety of reasons. For one, because design technology changes so quickly a website template that looked great five years ago is not likely to be regarded the same way in the virtual landscape of 2007. But some people are stubborn about change. Some websites created in 1997 are still taking up space online- looking something like a time-travel participant.
You know what I’m talking about, you’re familiar with those first generation websites sporting monstrously large buttons written with Times New Roman font- every time! Another reason for some of the design accidents taking up cyberspace is that people with no real design sensibility are putting together websites. Sometimes these people are great writers or are offering a product or service that’s really compelling. The problem is, they underestimate the degree to which their lack of quality design is going to chase more people away than it attracts. These people are almost better off displaying black text on a purely white background like in Microsoft Word format!
In light of this particular discussion, and the sheer number of horrific web design examples still populating the Web we give you, this- our top 10 list of website design no-no’s. Please, if you have a great website idea but you’re not a real designer, either in skill-set or vision, please take a look at some of the stellar web templates that are available online. These website templates won’t cost you much and you’ll shine as a bright light online. Enough said. Okay, without further ado, here are first 5 of our top 10 no-no’s of website design. The second half of the list will be added shortly.
*Please note, so as to not cause anyone discomfort we have chosen visual examples of web design done right to contrast these no-no's. You can thank us later.
1.) Flash Animation Gone Mad
When Flash emerged on the scene years ago it was an exciting development in web-based motion presentations and animation. Flash works by automatically filling the space in between images. As a result, Flash can quickly allow people to create animated sequences. What went wrong with Flash however, is that all sorts of webmasters began to add Flash presentations for their websites – FOR NO GOOD REASON. Flash works great in its proper place. But please, do people want to see the same presentation, over and over again, every time they visit your website? And even if they do, please stick with one. Multiple Flash sequences taking place on one page can quickly make a website visitor feel nauseous.
2.) Lack of Cross-Browser Compatibility
If you’re a real Web veteran you’ll remember the days when Microsoft’s Internet Explorer started a virtual war with its chief rival, Netscape Navigator, by offering its browser as part of the free bundling that comes with Microsoft products. This spelled the end of Netscape. How can you compete with free when you have no other product or service to profit from?
Well, those days may be long gone, but now there’s a new kid on the block. His name is Mozilla Firefox. Firefox is an open-source browser that has made impressive and steady gains against Microsoft’s Internet Explorer over the last couple of years. Don’t expect to see Firefox eclipse Explorer anytime soon. But nevertheless, if you want to please the widest range of audience and/or customer base you’re going to need to design websites that at least render well in these two browser heavyweights.
The trick, and frustrating thing about this task is that these two browsers do not render HTML in the same way. So, sometimes you have to really work at it to make things look equally good in both. The good news is that Firefox and Explorer are moving closer together on this issue over time. And the advent of CSS (cascading style sheets) to facilitate the design/presentational elements of a webpage has really helped as well. For the record, its Firefox that’s really on the cutting edge here. Explorer is holding up the rear in its complacency towards change.
3.) Images Stretched This Way and That
Okay, this seems kind of “common-sensical”, when it comes to image altering, doesn’t it follow that if you change the height, that you’re going to have to make a related change in the width. What happens when you don’t do this? Well, you get an image stretched all to – you know where. Please, when you have a predetermined website space to fill with an image, don’t think you can just change the dimension of an image in just height or width. You have to make EQUAL adjustments. (See the hotel/lodging template pictured here as an example of images does right!)
 Secondly, please remember that some images are not of a high enough quality to blow up into poster size. I’m being a little hyperbolic here; but you get the point. Only an image with high resolution is going to blow up well. And here’s a tip, try and pick colors for website that compliment the colors already present on your main photos. This ends up being very pleasing to the eye. Picking an image with colors that clash with your website colors defeats the purpose of good website design.
4.) Things are So Busy I’m Getting Dizzy
As with the use of Flash, many webmasters, lacking a certain pre-requisite sense of good taste, kind of “go wild” when it comes to filling the screen with as many colors and shapes as possible. People, please, sometimes less is better. You may have noticed that there has been a distinct reaction to this kind of busy web design in recent years. Many websites are now opting for a simple, clean, modern look, featuring one to three colors and an economy of shapes. This is especially helpful on content rich sites. Remember, if you’re main website purpose is to deliver content, don’t blind people with dazzle. That kind of defeats the purpose. Try and imagine a hardcover book designed in such a manner. Yikes!
A second point to consider here is that design is not just about filling space, its also very much about the use of space. That's right, good designers know that space itself creates atmosphere. So don't be fooled into thinking you need to fill up your webpage with shapes, color, and text. Use space to compliment and frame what you're really showcasing.
 Take this photography web template as an example. Here you know that what you want to showcase photogrpahs, right? Well then your website template background should be subtle, not bold. And you know that darker colors, greys, deep blues and browns, etc, are going to help the colors of the photos appear that much more vivid. Remember, always design with the end in mind!
5.) One Dimensionality
Sometimes people make the mistake of thinking that since today’s computer monitors are flat, that all one can do is offer website design in two dimensions. But remember, a painter with canvas has an equivalent platform to work with. Computer screens may be flat, but with the tasteful use of shadow, reflection, three-dimensional shapes, etc, one can very successfully create a webpage that appears deeper and more pronounced than it actually is. Please notice that I used the expression “tasteful” use of shadow, reflection, etc. Like anything else, one can certainly overdo it. People, please, there is no reason to have your website banner stand out three feet from the rest of your website. There’s no need to scare your audience. Remember, as with painting, you just want to suggest “three-dimensionality. In reality you need very little shadow, reflective quality and such to accomplish this feet. Too much front-and-back movement makes your website lack a sense of togetherness and harmony.
Did you find this, the first half of our list of top 10 website design mistakes helpful? Was it informative? If nothing else, at least it was good for a laugh or two. It’s better to laugh than cry, right? Either way, check back in future weeks for the second half of our list of top 10 design no-no’s. In the meantime, why not find some inspiration with some examples of website template design done right. Happy surfing to you!
(Go on to Part 2 of our top 10 web design gaffs...) |
