From the article: Web Design Mistakes
There are lots of things that are possible to put on Web pages, but if you do you run the risk of annoying more readers than you gain. What are some features of Web pages that you really hate and would never put on your own Web page? Share Your Annoyances
GRAY TEXT!!!
- Like this very website is designed: with illegible gray text. To be fair, it's not as bad as some sites where text is so pale it seems to be designed as decorative filler not meant to be read at all!!! AARGH!!!
- —Guest Chris C.
Too many pages
- How about stories that are spread out over 6-12 pages via Next when the actual content could be done on 1-2 pages?
- —Guest dliston1
Links that move after you've clicked!
- You see the thing you want as the page is loading... you click it (because you've got a life to get on with rather than wait for all the other crap to load)... then suddenly the page rearranges itself and puts a different link to something else (usually an ad...) where you've clicked seconds ago and sends you off down that link instead!
- —Guest Andy
Trendy crap makes browsing difficult
- I cannot stand that new browsing feature on search pages (like Google images, or DeviantArt's new browsing) where the page just keeps loading new images or results as you scroll down instead of providing page numbers to click. It is IMPOSSIBLE to navigate on these pages and I just want to bang my head on the desk. The scroll bar gets so tiny that I can't keep it in one place when holding it with the mouse, as I prefer to do when scrolling. Horrible, evil, trendy feature. There is nothing wrong with simple, functional HTML. LiveJournal is also ruining itself slowly by introducing "trendy" features that none of its users wants. Just because some programmer invented it, doesn't mean it needs to be widely adopted. Keep it simple, stupid!!
- —Guest efficiency-lover
My List
- These are a few of my least favorite things. Overlays that I have to click through to see the content. (I always ignore what's on them the best I can.) Tiny type based on sizes appropriate for 15 year old monitors. Drab, colorless pages. Columns of text that stretch out for my entire monitor rather than reasonable column widths. Music and sound that loads with the page rather than letting me decide if I want to hear it. Video news stories without text versions which I can read a lot faster. Homepage pics that take up 2/3 of the screen above the fold. Sites that only work with IE. Mobile sites with no whitespace to use to move up and down the screen.
- —Guest pet peeves
Micro Text,Useless Search,Arrogant Sites
- Here are some other usability fails: - Sites that insist that most users still work under 800x600 screen resolution, have incredibly poor pictures of the items they sell, yet manage to cram the screen with totally unrelated garbage. - Search engines that produce totally, I mean, TOTALLY useless results (Google finds stuff easier on their sites than they do!) - Snobism: sites that insist you 'upgrade' to an inferior browser so that they may better manipulate how you view their site. Sites that insist you must disable your ad-blocking software to use them. Sites that insist you must register for even the most mundane comments. e-commerce sites that insist you give them your credit card info before they will post shipping fees (which end up being so high you promptly go look elsewhere). I could go on and on - Fact of the matter is, it is very challenging to shop online and finding real info amidst "sponsored" and other garbage sites has become more and more difficult.
- —Guest Chris
Grey text on white background!!!
- Definitely, like someone else said, grey text on white background is pure pain, as it makes text harder to read and induces significant eye fatigue. I wish there was a simple add-on for Opera or Firefox that would force change low contrast text color (grey on white or grey on black) back to normal contrast. Hint to web designers: if the page looks too bright for you, maybe your monitor is, or perhaps you should work in a reasonably well-lit space like most of us and see how it looks then.
- —Guest Chris
Never-ending Links
- Along with the above mentioned, it frustrates me when I have to click 3 or more times to just find something simple I am looking for. If a customer has to click more than 3 times to just find what they are looking for, maybe your site is not set up efficiently.
- —Guest Montana
Design come from one idea
- i think its difficult to judge web design as different people have different mind set when they working on it
- —wdss
Misleading Links
- I hate when I click a link to a web page I desire, only to be led to an entirely new site, of which I do not care about. It is a waste of time, and very annoying to the site's users. If you wish to lose your visitors, this is the way to.
- —Guest PaleKrow
Grey text on white
- Grey text on a white background. Harder to read; adds nothing. I can understand why style-conscious sites like Apple or Slate do it, but I don't know one good excuse for it, except to 'look modern'. Grey text on white backgrounds is simply harder to read than black text on white backgrounds.
- —Guest mooncaine
Sound!
- Music and podcasts that start automatically. And my web-design clients keep on asking for it! (I can give up to splash pages, but never to unsolicited sound) There is this local newspaper that has an audio file (not an advertising, just someone speaking about something in the radio) in their home page that will start each time the page is loaded... again and again and again... unchanged for months... and the "contact" button doesn't work.... most annoying.
- —Guest claudia
These Are The Reasons I Love My Firefox
- I have the Add Ons to block instant video/audio blasting at me. I can block ads. I can block flash. I have a back and 'X' button. Who could ask for more? I have seen some stuff on MySpace that just is plain irritating and way overdone, then I guess it seems so cool it's applied to personal and G_D Forbid, wannabe business sites.
- —GratefulAl
The classics
- 5th: SEO Spam. Being a "white-hat" SEO myself, I can't help it but hate those runs of non-sensical keywords on the bottom of pages, especially when they are not relevant. 4th: Multimedia. No problem if a YouTube page plays a video straight away (that's what YouTube is about); but I don't want any video or sound on a page without consent warning. Make sure I can find a "stop" button before I reach the "Back" one. 3rd: Tiny/badly colored text. I don't care if it can be zoomed. If I'm not blind and I can't read your text, *you* did something wrong. 2nd: Frame abuse. AdSense or secondary content on IFrames is Ok. Pages with so many frames that you have to scroll to read just the title (it doesn't fit on its own frame) are not. And framed navigation = instantly hit "Back". 1st: Load speed. In general, if a page would take over 1 minute on a 56kb connection, I won't wait for it. I don't use a 56kb connection, but if I pay for broadband is to get pages faster, not to get more crap.
- —Guest Herenvardo
Can we help popups
- Ok, I'm on board with offering live help/sales on a website. But I HATE having to close your window on every single page that I visit. Especially when they are built to overlay content I'm trying to read. Leave them as a static link built into the content design and I will click it when I need to.
- —Guest vancouver web design
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