Top Seven Mistakes in Web Design
Some people have called web design an art. Well make these mistakes, and
people will call it a catastrophe!
1 . Using Frames
Splitting a page into frames is very confusing for users since frames break
the fundamental user model of the web page. All of a sudden, you cannot bookmark
the current page and return to it (the bookmark points to another version
of the frameset), URLs stop working, and printouts become difficult. Even
worse, the predictability of user actions goes out the door: who knows what
information will appear where when you click on a link?
2. Gratuitous Use of Bleeding-Edge Technology
Don't try to attract users to your site by bragging about use of the latest
web technology. You may attract a few nerds, but mainstream users will care
more about useful content and your ability to offer good customer service.
Using the latest and greatest before it is even out of beta is a sure way
to discourage users: if their system crashes while visiting your site, you
can bet that many of them will not be back. Unless you are in the business
of selling Internet products or services, it is better to wait until some
experience has been gained with respect to the appropriate ways of using new
techniques. When desktop publishing was young, people put twenty fonts in
their documents: let's avoid similar design bloat on the Web.
3. Scrolling Text, Marquees, and Constantly Running Animations
Never include page elements that move incessantly. Moving images have an overpowering
effect on the human peripheral vision. A web page should not emulate Times
Square in New York City in its constant attack on the human senses: give your
user some peace and quiet to actually read the text!
Of course, <BLINK> is simply evil. Enough said.
4. Orphan Pages
Make sure that all pages include a clear indication of what web site they
belong to since users may access pages directly without coming in through
your home page. For the same reason, every page should have a link up to your
home page as well as some indication of where they fit within the structure
of your information space.
5. Lack of Navigation Support
Don't assume that users know as much about your site as you do. They always
have difficulty finding information, so they need support in the form of a
strong sense of structure and place. Start your design with a good understanding
of the structure of the information space and communicate this structure explicitly
to the user. Provide a site map and let users know where they are and where
they can go. Also, you will need a good search feature since even the best
navigation support will never be enough.
6 . Outdated Information
Budget to hire a web gardener as part of your team. You need somebody to root
out the weeds and replant the flowers as the website changes but most people
would rather spend their time creating new content than on maintenance. In
practice, maintenance is a cheap way of enhancing the content on your website
since many old pages keep their relevance and should be linked into the new
pages. Of course, some pages are better off being removed completely from
the server after their expiration date.
7 . Overly Long Download Times
I am placing this issue last because most people already know about it; not
because it is the least important. Traditional human factors guidelines indicate
10 seconds as the maximum response time before users lose interest. On the
web, users have been trained to endure so much suffering that it may be acceptable
to increase this limit to 15 seconds for a few pages.
Even websites with high-end users need to consider download times: many B2B
customers access websites from home computers in the evening because they
are too busy to surf the Web during working hours.
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