5 Things You Should Avoid

So true! You need not re-invent the wheel.

Most sites don’t need a lot of bells and whistles. I know that’s different if you’re trying to show off amazing flash skills to a company that wants to hire flash designers.

For everyday sites, simple is better. Your message will get across more quickly.

hello my friend.
well what you write makes a lot of sense. the reason i agree with you is because thats how we design sites too. But, one thing you forgot- copy and content rule every time. most out there are so absorbed with flash and all the other distractions that they forget the viewer visits for information!
hardly anyone writes decent copy that keeps the viewers interest

About the point in not using drop-downs. Does this include generic select boxes or do you mean CSS/DHTML drop downs? How are people tired of them? Designers shouldn’t be put off the idea of creating a well thought-out navigational menu (even with drop-downs!) if it means a better end-solution. It would be wrong to rely on a JavaScript menu system, but the good ones I’ve seen simply build upon existing a CSS menu (meaning that if your JavaScript is de-activated, your users can still move round your site).

The user is capable of choosing whether to use Flash or not, and you should ALWAYS provide an alternative way of viewing a site that’s created in Flash if you can. Sniffers are useful but aren’t 100% reliable (not the ones I’ve seen anyway).

I often create both Flash and HTML as an HTML site offers better SEO opportunities. Also, there are laws (especially in the EU) where you can find yourself in court if you don’t make your site accessible to all. People who add these buttons may add them because they’re legally obliged to.

There isn’t actually that much more development time inolved in creating an HTML site if you use an XML feed for both Flash and the HTML, with an XSLT processor generating the HTML files from XSL templates (don’t use AJAX in an accessible site).

Sorry to gripe. I agree with your other points though!

Good advice. I found all this stuff out through process and elimination on my website; but it’s hard to anticipate how different browsers will view the website. I’ve found that sometimes different computers running the same browser will view the same website differently.

Thanks for the tips!

Another bad example where they have used drop-down menus inside of the drop-down menu: Aftenbladet

Most of what you’ve said is somewhat true.. except that it is from a LEFT BRAINED PERSPECTIVE (most people are left) that has almost always been EFFICIENT but dull, drab, and boring sites that only a geek or nerd could appreciate. Don’t get me wrong, I prefer geeks and nerds above all other types on earth — they make the BEST friends.

But, for artistically oriented visually excited RIGHT BRAINED people who prefer art galleries above an accountants ledger, you really need to know your limits — and that is that the RIGHT can see the LEFT but not the other way around.

This will probably never change and artist and inventors have probably known this since the beginning of human existence. Problem has always been that the left, who have never invented or designed anything previously considered impossible and not even capable of even visualizing what a visionary can, have always felt compelled, like you, to TEACH their one sided perspective to both sides in an attempt to convince the right that these visions don’t even exist. WHEW! That was a long sentence but needed to be said and I don’t have the time to break it up.

I probably could never teach you how to think outside the box and thank god you weren’t around to teach Thomas Edison how NOT to invent.

On the bright side, unlike most, at least you tried to improve the world with free help. That’s very rare. I commend you for that.

Thanks for listening..?

Regards,

Mike Grissom

Thank you for the great advise, I am working on a new version of my website at http://www.grantthorpe.com and all this information is ‘very’ relevant at the moment. I will book mark your site to return again.
Grant

Great info! Thanks.

Great Post! Hopefully this gets around!

Mike Grissom:
That is a fantastic observation! And in some way I agree with you, it is probably the LEFT SIDE that I’ve used when I recommended this, but as you point out yourself, most of all people are “leftsided”. All the critics, most visitors etc. are “leftsided”. Therefore you need to design websites that “they/we” understand. You don’t create or start development this way, but that’s not the intention behind a standard website, is it?

Btw. I really hope that I’ll be able to think outside the box some day, I’m working on it…

——————————————-

What I’ve learned through your comments is that it really depends on which website you want to build. What intentions does it has? What are the target audience? Is the websites a promotion-website, community or a news-site?

There are a lot of questions to be asked…And I guess those tips above are aimed at a standard website.

Anyway, I really appreciate your comments, thanks!

I really agree with you on the Crossbrowsing problem. I have seen websites that mentioned something like this:

If you are using Firefox right now please visit our website with Internet Explorer. This way you will be able to use our website at it’s full capacity.

What capacity ? It just looked like crap in Mozilla … and it was a little tidier in Explorer.

I’m surprised nobody mentioned it — perhaps there are more people developing personal sites than sites for other clients — the client has the final say.

If a client wants site made entirely in flash, there is usually not much you can say to sway them. Sometimes you can convince them that it’s not necessary, but sometimes it can be beneficial. For example, I am working with a client now that previously had their site done completely in Flash. I convinced them not only that the site looked very unprofessional (looked like something a 5th grader created after a few flash tutorials), but that all the effects on the site could be replicated using JavaScript and the site would be much more efficient and accessible. Sometimes if you have a good Flash developer and a client with an artistic vision and a purpose behind it Flash is a valid solution. However, any clients I have had have agreed that offering a HTML alternative to the site is wise for several reasons: accessibility, faster downloads, and some people (like myself) just want the content sometimes. It is our job as the developers to offer the client these solutions and to provide a choice to the user. Sometimes the best way to offer the choice is to provide it on a “tunnel” page. Though I do agree that without such a choice a tunnel page is unnecessary. The same site I mentioned above, for example, had a tunnel page with little more than an “Enter Here” link, which is totally inappropriate.

Also, I don’t think that drop down menus are entirely useless. If they are done well and are actually needed than they can be quite effective and pleasant. However I much more prefer static sub-menus that open and stay open after clicking them, or if a dynamic version is required at least one that is pure CSS and unobtrusive. Nothing pisses me off quite as much as a drop down menu done in JavaScript that won’t go back up.

I agree that those example sites had some pretty inappropriate and annoying navigation. I would expect to see such things elsewhere. However, I don’t think you should label all alternative navigations as bad just because these examples are so troublesome. I have seen some pretty off the wall navigations systems that were not only extremely pleasing to the eye but very effective. I’d like to employ one of my favorite proverbial expressions here: Don’t throw the baby out with the bathwater.

There is absolutely no reason to confine yourself to two or three colors in a web design. That is not to say that you can’t make a two or three color layout look good. I’ve seen little evidence that would suggest that this is a problem. I have seen sites with horrible colors like this one http://www.dokimos.org/ajff/ , but generally those people don’t need advice on how to develop better color schemes, they need to be murdered brutally and unmercifully.

I totally agree with #4 and #5 wholeheartedly. Nothing makes me ROFLMAO quite like seeing a commercial site that looks like shit in Firefox. You don’t see so many that look good in Firefox and bad in IE. At least not commercial sites. Most people still use IE for some reason, so the clients would spot it right away.

How about the 5 most important things you absolutely must do when designing/developing a site? I look forward to reading it. Email me if you write it. Hint: try to make sure they are things you SHOULD DO rather that things you just do because you are avoiding doing something else.

Thanks guys.. I always bookmark a classy group and I just bookmarked this one. BTW, I found this via the Firefox ‘Stumble Upon’ extension.

I apologize for not leaving an example — I usually do and here it is..

There is a relatively old website (8+ yrs old):

http://www.CreativityPool.com

As the name implies, this site is ‘meant’ to attract creative and inventive (right brained) people but it was created by an almost totally left brained webmaster who writes books for a living and is a very intelligent guy. His website reflects this and just doesn’t attract its intended target audience.

He recently ask me to help him figure out why the site has never attracted truly creative people.

He only gets submitted ideas like “HEY! ANTI-GRAVITY is a great new idea of mine and if somebody can figure out how to do it — I’ll split the profits 50/50!!!”

This Creativity Pool site, although well organized and efficient (left brained), has virtually NO artistic creative value, no bells, no whistles, no sound, and because the user input is as boring and lame as the people this type of site design would naturally attract — it is failing.

The webmaster has asked for my help in fixing this problem.

As both a career inventor and career cartoonist I am going to try. This CreativityPool site has a lot of untapped potential within it’s name so, if anyone knows of a really great artistic creative website designer with way WAY too much time on their hands — this is a great site to ’show-off’ their skills as they do have a huge following in spite of the bland look and feel of the site. PLUS, the founder Steve is avidly looking for ways to spice up his site.

On the other side of the fence, there is a totally right brained example website design at http://www.vitrixhotglass.com which would probably appear internet blasphemous to LEFT SIDE designers. ..but then, the target audience is glass art collectors.

Have a fantastic evening everyone!

Totally agree with everything in this post. Less is more. And often the right way is the most simple way.

Nice one! Thanks for the tips, although I knew most of it already. Sometimes I think that a fancy navigation scheme may appeal to the target audience.

LoL…comment from a n00b

“Good advice. I found all this stuff out through process and elimination on my website; but it’s hard to anticipate how different browsers will view the website. I’ve found that sometimes different computers running the same browser will view the same website differently.”

Well we all start from somewhere, but the reason your viewing experience varies on various computers is due to the screen resolution that computer has been set to. A fluid design or liquid layout(same thing) will fix this issue.

Annoying, yes but its a part of web design

I agree with everything except “Don’t try to come up with some revolutionary idea of how a website-navigation should look like.” (though I would replace “should” by “could”)
“Place the navigation right in the middle, top, to the left or the right side.” That is something everybody knows, therefore it may garantee usability. And it garantees boredom. Coming up with an innovative navigation that is still easy and intuitive to handle is a difficult task. So “if you think you suck at webdesign… simply place the navigation right in the middle, top, to the left or the right side.”

examples of innovative navigation (but only flash):
http://www.screenvader.com
http://www.interone.de

But not every rule applies to everyone. It depends on the site’s purpose.

SubOne:
You’re absolutely right, the customers needs are first priority. As a webdesigner you are there to do the work, and to offer guidance. But sometimes I’ve met a customer who said: “Make something nice that you believe fits my company…” In these cases, it’s important that you know what works, and what doesn’t.

About the dropdowns, I’ve realized (while quite a few mentions CSS) that it is okay to use CSS/AJAX dropdowns, if they are used correctly! I should have written that JavaScript-dropdowns should be avoided. Anyway, (again) it also depends on the website; does the need for a dropdown exist? Are there many sub sites?

I like your idea about the “5 most important things”, and I’ll come back to that later, for sure…thanks

Mike Grissom:
Well, as you say, CreativePool is a great idea…There are a lot of creative people around the world, and if you follow the trend (?) (to be opensource-minded, 2 brains think better than 1) then it has potential. Ideas can develop from such a site, and that’s tremendous in my opinion! Still, I think that a lot of people start their own sort of “pool”, where they share ideas with friends, partners or themselves? I’ve shared ideas with my partners and friends in different “pools” though…It’s actually very inspiring…Anyway to attract the right kind of people that site really needs a new design, and probably an online identity. Could it be developed into some kind of Web2.0 concept?

Maybe I’m very “LEFTSIDED”, but I really don’t see the “RIGHTSIDED” part of your website, could you give some examples? I’m lost..:/

Sepp:
As you say, “It depends on the site’s purpose.”…This guide/these advices were meant to be read, not only by skilled and experienced designers, but also by new designers who seek some guidelines. I’ve made websites with “weird innovative” navigation, and websites with “normal” navigation. And I must conclude that the normal navigation were understood by much more people than the innovative were…sad but true. I love fresh, new, innovative ideas but a standard website (and we could probably discuss the definition of a standard website for ages) doesn’t need some innovative navigation in my opinion.

The conclusion of all this is? Well…I should have defined what I meant by a “standard webdesign”, because there are hundreds of definitions. And it really depends on your target audience. That’s actually the most important thing, and this is where design and marketing meet eachother! It’s a very interesting observation, and I’ll definitely write a post on this in near future!…

Again, thanks for your activity, I really appreciate it!… Cheers!

Nice article Marc!

To Mike Grissom: Theodore Adorno once said: “Language is the datum of communication”. The street-lingo version of that statement would probably be: “Content is king”. So where does that put websites where 90% of the download are scripts and calls to external sources like doubleclick, adsense etc. and the overwhelming percentage of the screen real-estate is given over to destracting flickers and stutters?

Simplicity is drab only when the content is simplistic and the language isn’t compelling. Not even Flash can save your stern when your website is made of shallow badly worded drivel.

You mention Edison. His genius was that he saw the advantages of electricity while everybody else thought that more candles were the solution. Most technology-heavy, back-end dependent websites these days use the “more candles” approach, while a simple single lightbulb might actually be a better idea.

Admin:

You said “Maybe I’m very “LEFTSIDED”, but I really don’t see the “RIGHTSIDED” part of your website..”

OMG! Thank you! I didn’t know that my biz partner put a website on Sheald.net — what a surprise that was! For 11 years I’ve never used it for anything other than my email address and he didn’t tell me. JEEZZZZ.. you saw a website about me before I did!

I have just GOT to get out of my cave more often.

AND you’re totally right — it’s totally left.

as an interface artist, simple is better. simple flow, simple layout, and to the point. the bling-bling is secondary.

hope those that are getting into web design stumble on this page.

and learn CSS! it’s a must.

Your article brings up great points. For an example (IMHO) of overuse of Flash and terrible navigation check out mycokerewards.com. I expected better from Coke!

white space issue is often overlooked by many. This article emphasizes that in a good way. Websites that are easily glanced are most successful.

Regards
http://itdiscover.com

The things you say a valid, however, I hope people don’t take what you say as gospel, the majority of it is personal opinion to be honest,

wonder how long this post is here before it gets deleted.

6. Use tiny fonts that can’t be resized by the user

I agree with above, these are great principles for design consideration to make sites usable but should not be taken as strict guidelines as each site has different requirements and target audience’s that determine the complexity of the design, learning curve in navigation, access path’s to information and etc.

If your building a site with a wide audience base, then be more conservative in your approach to the design, but if its a specific market, aim towards their level of experience and their ability to explore navigation and content.

By the way this preview bubble is shitting me. It should have been put underneath the comment form as each new line is generated in the bubble, it pushes the form down and begins to move it off the screen.

Flash only/javascript only websites while visaully appealing some of the time, are mostly not really intuitive and a nuisance if done incorrect.. ie left out tag so nothing but a blank page is shown. that is something that should be 1. on the list now days, I see it looking good for artsy type websites, not coporate websites.

Some nice advice, but for a three coloured website it’s pretty bland

Agi:
You’re abslutely right. These should not be considered as strict guidelines but only guidelines. It depends on which site you’re designing. Your site should (of cause) be designed for your audience!

I’ve moved the preview-box underneath the comment-box now

One of the most confusing web sites is my ISP http://www.register.com

To many do dahs, and the talking woman is enough to make you want to scream. Then to top it off they advertise that they offer to build your web site. What a joke. I can’t wait for my contract to expire then they do as far as I’m concerned.

Nice reminder for newbie web-site builders, -with images to show the point.

This site is easy to read, lots of white-space, colors are matching/complimentary. Well done.

-Joel

I also suggest kuler for colour schemes (http://kuler.adobe.com)

pretty good stuff but Jakob Nielsen is a know-nothing miserable fooker

lets get the web back to text only bobbins to make him happy

or alternatively - lets embrace new technologies as they come and work towards a better world for everyone…

did i mention hes a twat??

The tips that you gave was so brief but very meaningful.
Another example of a well though of site.
Great job!

[...] 5 Things You Should Avoid5 “erros” em que os Web Designers da actualidade devem evitar cair, muito bom. [...]

Yes It’s really wonderful Tips for designer.

I definitely agree with you on white space. It is probably the most important element. Clutter = bad. Although if you can organize your clutter into easy to read tables it could be ok (NYtimes.com). I just downloaded the theme Integral for wordpress on my blog, I recommend it. Check it out at http://www.mangodolce.com

I appreciate the great info keep it up

As a general rule, if you find yourself about to do anything which Jakob Nielsen would approve of, you’re more than likely about to do something boring, lame, overdone, and likely just plain wrong.

Brown University’s website is great. Thanks for showing it to me.

I urge that everyone reading these tips ignore them, and flex your creativity. Only follow the teachings of Jakob Nielson if you have absolutely no design training or aesthetic sense. You’ll know this describes you if you feel myspace is anything other than the worst thing to ever happen to the internet.

In short, if you like myspace, stop. Listen to Jakob Neilson as if he were God. Absolutely everyone else, ignore him with the same intensity a pro athlete would ignore a high-school gym teacher.

As far as the suggestion to test in IE goes, it depends on your target audience. My blog doesn’t cater to IE users because I’m against anyone using it no matter what, and over 60% of my visitors use Firefox anyway. I used to just send them to getfirefox.com if they had IE, but I’m a little nicer now.

I hit this page through “stumbleupon”. This is a very civil discussion - you have to be doing something right!

As Mike Grissom said, contributing what you’ve learned for the benefit of others is great, and definitely to be commended.

I’m intrigued by Mike’s right brain/left brain thing. Like most of us, I mix with both creative and techie types and, as something of a left-brainer myself I’ve come to trust right-brainers when it comes to aesthetics.

I think websites need both. Too stark and utilitarian and people just can’t bear to stay, too little structure or sense and they go frantic trying to work out how to escape.

That glass-work website Mike cited seems very good to me - structurally straightforward but beautiful. Spot on, IMO. Except, like most sites these days, not enough effort has been put into making it work on odd browsers or without javascript.

I do understand why - not everyone has the time or expertise to lavish on tweaks invisible to most visitors - but I think seamless usability on a wide range of browsers, including braille or text-only, should be a base requirement for professional web development, regardless of other considerations.

Re: Jacob Neilson, I wouldn’t go so far as Scrote in describing him as “a know-nothing miserable fooker”, but having checked out his website, I have to concede it’s spectacularly boring. Can’t fault him on compatibility, accessibility and so on, but when it comes to content, although his heart’s certainly in the right place there seems to be a gap between his aspiration and his ability. I think this might be a bit of a left-brain pitfall, and I sympathise because I’ve done it myself. People are forever telling me I’d good at techie things I do, so I tend to assume that applies to everything. Recently, I’ve been making a determined effort to learn to write properly. I’ve come to realise that, contrary to what I always assumed, I’m actually pretty crap at writing. Writing stuff that people want to read is *hard*. Perhaps this is a manifestation of the Dunning-Kruger effect. Anyway, Mr Neilson could definitely benefit from some creative writing instruction.

Though, as Jeff said, anyone who likes MySpace (or even various Flash-only abonimations) should be forced to read Neilson until they relent…

I am so glad that I’m not a Brown alum. That site is embarrassing at best. It looks like one of those sites you see if you mistype a website address and end up on a spam-content-filled site made by some shady company trying to act legit.

Good tips. Sad how few actually use common development sense.

[...] just found MarcFalk. 5 Things You Should Avoid in web design, is the first article I’ve read from this particular blog, and it’s [...]

Using a start page is pretty handy sometimes. But then again, it gets people irritated.

I agree with many of your points, but… sorry, I actually like the “bad bad” sites’ navigational layout, such as the example from Brown U . Although I’ll admit that the brown color is appalling, I like the way the information only appears if I roll over it, and I like the simple visual artistry of using horizontal lines and type. I’m a left-brained thinker, but possibly I must admit that I’m a closet right-brainer.

Design is fun. It’s what makes websites pleasing as well as informational. The journey should be as much fun as the destination, as they say.

And when I linked to Jakob Nielson’s website, my skin crawled! The typography was ugly and totally filled my screen like a hulking monster. No white space. No visual organization. I felt overwhelmed and wanted out of there.

Good typographers know that shorter line lengths and readable fonts are crucial to draw readers’ interest and participation.

Thanks for the ideas, though. I’m willing to look at websites with your ideas in mind.

Smart advice on how to build a website. I hope the days of adding too much eye candy is over — I have used drop down menus in the past, but those days are now over.

I would add this:
Never use flash as a navigation element.

[...] 5 Things you should avoid! - Last list of poor design concepts. These are also good and very truthful, enjoy! [...]

I agree with the above comment.

Other then that great advice.

Words to live by!

I do rather like my CSS flyout menus, though. A site with a large number of pages (say 20 or more) is much easier to navigate with a logical and self-explanatory “suckerfish” type menu. …if the pages fall into logical categories, etc., YMMV.

[...] 5 Things You Should Avoid about Web Design (Marc Falk) [...]

Hello

Very interesting information! Thanks!

G’night

Nice article with interesting information. Webdesigning should always be personal choice or customers choice. But advice always needs to be taken and I will certainly be referring to this site.

Thanks for the info

I am a web programmer and I have realations with many web designers. Your tips are very relevant and I will consider them.

I will include your tips in my web design community.. check it clicking at my name.

Thxs a lot

Hernan

If you don’t have time to test your website for number 4, you can try browsershots.org for free

You get a screenshot of the page selected from different browsers and operating systems, and you select the resolution etc.

Browsershots is run by volunteers, if you’re looking for some better service you can try BrowserCam:
http://www.browsercam.com/

But browsercam isn’t free

Thank you for the tips. I enjoyed reading this article and it was encouraging. I do like to keep it simple as possible.

[...] 5 Things You Should Avoid [#1] [...]

While normally I would agree with the navigation bit, using Brown as an example was crap. There are plenty of sites that have tried “reinventing the wheel”, and failed terribly. However, well designed, it can work. And it does work on Brown’s site.

cool

Some nice ideas here, many thanks!!

A nice article for the beginner web developer. Keep more like these coming!

Stumble! If web development is for the visitors than I say let them have the choice and intros can be visually impacting if done correctly so I don’t agree this statement #1 or #2 and #3

Navigation and color doesn’t have to be boring or limiting to be organized. If reinventing the same types of websites is “reinventing the wheel” I don’t what is then.

Found this post from our Web Hosting Company Blog.

couldnt you preload all kindsa images in 1px by 1px in a intro screen/? Sounds like a pretty useful usage to me

[...] started this blog (1½ year ago), I didn’t focus on SEO. Therefore, I got lucky when I wrote this post and got a lot of attention for it (compared to the other posts that I’ve written). It’s [...]

Anyone calling themselves a webdesigner, not already aware of this needs to get a kick in the nuts.
Your article was very informative, but it should be basic knowledge for anyone in this field.

[...] 5 Things You Should Avoid [#1] | tout est possible! (tags: webdesign tips usability) [...]

Wise advise thanks