NationStates Jolt Archive

What do you think makes for a bad webpage design? I've thought of a few things:

Excessive reliance on scrolling - sometimes things are better separated into multiple pages
Small font size - enough said
Things that ought to be the focus of the page are hard to locate - if its a page for downloading something, you shouldn't have to search though tons of rubbish to find a tiny "download" link - it should be big and obvious.
Having all the text aligned to the centre - I think this one is annoying since one reads from left to right, and the left of the lines is in a different place for each line.
Too much stuff on one page - e.g. http://uk.msn.com/ - there must be over a hundred links on that page. Again, use multiple separate pages! (Fortunately I don't have to use this page, I only see it when I sign out of hotmail)

What else makes a webpage unpleasant to use?

A background that makes the text impossible to see (like a stationary picture of Sydney at night behind black text. Or even dark blue text. Ugh.) ...

Yeah, I'm with Czardas (I did NOT just say that). For me, it's mainly colour schemes; I don't mind fairly disorganized websites, so long as the colours don't clash, and all the text is clear.

Yeah, I'm with Czardas (I did NOT just say that).
*screenshot*

Same things that can make or break any printed document
(by category)

Repetition-
Too much Repetition can make the format bland and hard to read ... too little will make it look like a hodgepodge and will also make it hard to read. But when you pick a theme try to stick with it (for example repeating the format of each topic)

Contrast-
Too much contrast can make a page look like a mess ... but too little will make the page bland. In web pages you see this usually by color or font selections ... you want to pick a few different fonts to separate headers from information usually but too many fonts detracts from the site. You also see this problem in colors. People have a tenancy to choose too many or wrong colors.
(for example my bolding of topic headers)

Proximity-
Grouping things (for example my list here ... title header grouped close to following information) lends to a feeling of relativeness. Getting that right can make or break the site



Then there are things that are unique to web pages. Things to avoid are scrolling text, Frames if you can help its (sometimes they are useful) Also there has been a rash of overuse of flash and other scripts.

Playing with pointers is also a nono (such as changing it to a clock) Unless it is the RARE case where it can be done well (usually with VERY custom sites)

My example of a GOOD page is the jolt forums (there are things they can improve of course) but they use all the elements well.

My bad example ... Well look at any number of myspace profiles and such

My bad example ... Well look at any number of myspace profiles and such

Yeah, every time I look at a myspace page (not very often) it looks like a complete mess.

What started this thread?

the background/text thingy........

not being able to find the information that I want to (for example I go to a lot of food company websites and I hate the ones that I have to go through 6 pages to find the "contact us" link)

pages that don't have a link to the home page (for example I might not come in on the home page on a google search)

Pages that have text or pictures that go outside the regular area (have to side scroll)

too many frames

broken links

I have a friend with a webpage that is in english and french and when you go to one page with pictures and then click back to go home it would take you to the french page and didn't have a link to get back to the english home page.........that annoyed me. I made him fix it. ;)


oh, and pages with background music, or advertisments that make noise and you have to search to find how to shut it off. ;)

What started this thread?
Surprisingly enough, it was when I visited a badly designed webpage.

Pages that have text or pictures that go outside the regular area (have to side scroll)
Yeah that's really dumb.

too many frames
Or when the frames split the page across the middle horizontally into two halves, and you have to scroll the bottom half to read it.

oh, and pages with background music, or advertisments that make noise and you have to search to find how to shut it off.
That is terrible, especially when one is already listening to music.

oh, and how about the background that doesn't move with the text when you scroll........myspace has a lot of that, it makes me dizzy.

oh, and how about the background that doesn't move with the text when you scroll........myspace has a lot of that, it makes me dizzy.
That's worse. Especially if it's a really dark background with really dark text, or vice versa.

I am getting annoyed with my yahoo email too, since they have those popup type adds where stuff moves across the screen and I keep accidentally clicking them.......it's mostly my fault I guess.

There are so many bloody badly designed websites out there...a lot of the political sites I'd like to visit just give me high blood pressure. My biggest issue is clutter ( http://www.zmag.org/weluser.htm). That, coupled with a page that scrolls down ( http://auto_sol.tao.ca/node/view/1084) forever ( http://www.newint.org/), makes me pull at my hair. Then, when you have clutter, and massive scrolling, you also tend to have confusing navigation. Getting back to the main page means liberal use of the back button, instead of an easier navigation button on the page itself. I like a simple entry point confined to a single page, and a clear purpose once you've gone in, without a lot of unnecessary linkages to distract you.

Too much reliance on flashy graphics or fancy fonts.

Poorly-organised links, sections, etc.

Also, any webpage that blasts music without the browser getting the opportunity to choose whether s/he wants to listen to it is automatically bad.

oh yeah, and disorganized pages.....me being the perfectionist I am, this (http://members.tripod.com/~Barefoot_Lass/index-5.html) page annoys me to no end........how the heck are you supposed to find anything?!

oh yeah, and disorganized pages.....me being the perfectionist I am, this (http://members.tripod.com/~Barefoot_Lass/index-5.html) page annoys me to no end........how the heck are you supposed to find anything?!
Agreed

It IS alphabetized but that is not always helpful for example say you are looking at fixing a noisy door

How are you supposed to know it is under “S” For “Squeaks” instead of D for door or N for noisy

oh yeah, and disorganized pages.....me being the perfectionist I am, this (http://members.tripod.com/~Barefoot_Lass/index-5.html) page annoys me to no end........how the heck are you supposed to find anything?!
You're kidding, right? It's freaking alphabetical! You don't get much more organised than that. Wait...are you just showing off your site?

You're kidding, right? It's freaking alphabetical! You don't get much more organised than that.
alphabetical does me no good, it needs to be better catagorized and alphabetical, and searchable...........hey, I said I was a perfectionist.

CRAP PAGE (http://www.hgu.mrc.ac.uk/Bad/bad.htm) erm teh worst site i could find in thirty seconds... it sucks (but it is meant too)
Nice web design (http://battlefieldhq.com/) A very nice page i stumbled across. These show i like teh second one, and how it is done... loads of stuff but organised well and good colours. :)

alphabetical does me no good, it needs to be better catagorized and alphabetical, and searchable...........hey, I said I was a perfectionist.
Yeah, it could do with categories, for sure. Stains, carpet care, and so on. Preferably on one page, linked to the applicable category on a separate page.

The grandaddy of web design etiquette: http://www.webpagesthatsuck.com/

any webpage that has background music you aren't expecting