Transcript Importance of Web Design

“Web
Pages That Suck”
Byung Lee
ENGL 393
Technical Writing
(Picture from “Son of Web Pages That Suck” by Vincent Flanders with Dean Peters)
Where you learn good Web design by looking at bad Web design.
http://www.webpagesthatsuck.com/home.html
Importance of Web Design:
• Used to be OK to slap any old thing up there and be
done with it.
• Now, people look at a poorly designed site and ask,
"Do we want to do business with them?“
• Upside magazine phrased it best when it discussed the
importance of marketing: "Word of mouth, frequency of
press appearances, Web site quality and the frequency
and quality of advertisements all serve to create the
image of a 'real company.‘ "
Where you learn good Web design by looking at bad Web design.
http://www.webpagesthatsuck.com/home.html
Learn By Bad Examples:
• If people are exposed to bad web page design
they will be less likely to use these techniques in
the pages they create.
• People often commit the same mistakes over
and over ... By pointing out these mistakes, and
being told that they are mistakes, people can
avoid them when people design the web pages.
Where you learn good Web design by looking at bad Web design.
http://www.webpagesthatsuck.com/home.html
Bad Example 1: Rainbow-Colored Divider
• This used to be cool back in the summer of 1996, but it
quickly became overused, pretentious, and cliché when
everyone starts to use it.
http://www.webpagesthatsuck.com/badtext.htm
• Black backgrounds are a very, very popular cliché. It is
recommended that black is not the way to go unless you
are a pro.
• Multiple animated GIF images, Blinking text, multiple
font sizes, multiple colored text, JavaScript status bar
messages, rainbow-colored divider bars, and etc are all
big mistakes.
Where you learn good Web design by looking at bad Web design.
http://www.webpagesthatsuck.com/home.html
Bad Example 2: Any Java Program Ever Written
• Takes too long for an applet to load.
• May compromise the system’s security.
• Not much of an entertainment.
• For people who disable Java in their web browsers, and for
people with visual impairments who use text to speech
converters that cannot parse Java output, the home page is
usually a dead-end for any information going nowhere.
Where you learn good Web design by looking at bad Web design.
http://www.webpagesthatsuck.com/home.html
Example 3: Needless JavaScript
• The image changes when you roll the mouse
over an image.
http://webpagesthatsuck.com/vincentflandersdotcom/
• Need to Have
– Does adding the OnMouseOver JavaScript enhance
my page?
• Usually doesn’t.
– Needless waste of bandwidth
Where you learn good Web design by looking at bad Web design.
http://www.webpagesthatsuck.com/home.html
Example 4: Sliding Menu (DHTML)
• Just because you can create a menu bar like the Sliding
Menu, doesn’t mean you should create one.
http://www.webpagesthatsuck.com/slidingmenu.html
• Same Question: What does it add to the page?
– Confusion
– Needed the sign of arrow to figure out
– Too much trouble for the technique to be any good
Where you learn good Web design by looking at bad Web design.
http://www.webpagesthatsuck.com/home.html
Example 5: Too Many Things Wrong
• Crammed many lousy techniques into one page.
http://www.webpagesthatsuck.com/wpts1/index_slide.html
- Sliding Curtain Effect
- Popup windows
- Sound files
- Animated GIFs
- Blinking text
- “Click here” button
- Different colored buttons
- Black borders on a white background
Where you learn good Web design by looking at bad Web design.
http://www.webpagesthatsuck.com/home.html
Example 6: Too Much Text
• Common mistake for beginners to cram every piece of
information on one page.
http://www.webpagesthatsuck.com/bozo.htm
• A single web page can go on and on forever.
• Tempting to make long pages because HTML lets you
create internal anchors using the “#” symbol.
• Better to break the document up of try to condense it
using categories instead of making a long page.
Where you learn good Web design by looking at bad Web design.
http://www.webpagesthatsuck.com/home.html
So What Is a Good-Looking and Effective Web Site?
• Web design isn't about
matters of taste, it's
about communicating
and making money.
Where you learn good Web design by looking at bad Web design.
http://www.webpagesthatsuck.com/home.html
GOOD-LOOKING AND EFFECTIVE WEB SITE
(Continued)
Web Design Isn’t Sex
• No foreplay such as splash pages,
•
Flash pages, or whatever silliness to
put them “in the mood.”
To put it bluntly, the Web is “Wham.
Bam. Thank you Ma’am”—Get right to
the point “Give me your information
NOW. Sell me your product NOW.”
Where you learn good Web design by looking at bad Web design.
http://www.webpagesthatsuck.com/home.html
GOOD-LOOKING AND EFFECTIVE WEB SITE
(Continued)
The Most Dreadful Complaints
You Want To Get.
• It’s too easy to find what I’m
•
•
•
looking for on your site.
Your site loads too quickly.
Your site is too easy to navigate.
Your site is too informative.
Where you learn good Web design by looking at bad Web design.
http://www.webpagesthatsuck.com/home.html
GOOD-LOOKING AND EFFECTIVE WEB SITE
(Continued)
Follow The Leader.
• More your site uses the traits found on successful
•
•
•
sites, the more likely you are to be successful.
The design should "resemble" the designs find on
successful commercial sites.
Do not steal or copy the design but look for
elements in common.
Most successful business sites don't use background
images, don't have black backgrounds, excessive
animations, moving cursors, sound files, and other
silly techniques.
Where you learn good Web design by looking at bad Web design.
http://www.webpagesthatsuck.com/home.html
PEACE OUT, DUDE.
Reference:
1. “Web Pages That Suck” by Vincent Flanders.
http://www.webpagesthatsuck.com/home.html
2. Son of Web Pages That Suck by Vincent
Flanders with Dean Peters.