Websites that Suck

Today we went through a couple of the major Do's and Dont's of website building, and here are three things that I think are important to making a good website:


1.) It needs to be Quick and Easy to Navigate. There's a whole lot to be said for technology these days. You can send a text message from your phone at the movie theater and then find out what it was dreaming about while it was shut off during the movie. (I thought it would be cooler than it was, but if you're interested check it out here) but anyways, my point is that there's so many possibilities and cool things that we can do these days, but putting your whole bag of tricks into one website can be confusing. NOBODY wants to spend fifteen minutes navigating a webpage to find the information we need. We live in a world where the average person will redirect their search after a wait of three seconds. If someone can't find what they're looking for right away, then they're not going to bother spending the time looking for information that they could find somewhere else. Ideally, a person should be able to find all the information they need within three clicks.This website here is a great example of how cool technology can get in the way of the over all goal of the website. The graphics and things going on are super awesome, but I can't find what I'm looking for, so if I were a reader, I'd move on. So ultimately, show off your awesome skills, but keep it simple!

2.) It needs to be Easy To Read and/or Look At. If you want people to actually look at your website and find it enjoyable, you need to make sure that it doesn't give them a migraine (or a seizure...) Fancy fonts and colors can be fun, but too much stimulation can be tough on the eyes. If the words are hard to read the message is going to be hard to decipher, and since we live in such a high-tech world, people don't need to be bothered with a website that is esthetically unpleasing. There's a couple million more just like it that are less frustrating. If you're not sure what I"m talking about check out this webpage. I DO NOT support any part of the message or design process of this website... it's just an example of how crazy colored and mismatched font can be a major turn off.

3.) It needs to be Substantial and Informative....assuming that's what you're going for.  It needs to be direct, clear, entertaining, and most importantly correct. Grammar, spelling, pictures being in the right place, and appropriate content can make or break a website. If a person is trying to learn something, they're going to want to be confidence in your competence, and you can do that by providing them with the right information in a fun but not over the top way. This website here is example of how poor grammar and factual mistakes can make a person question the competence of the authors. This website is apparently about a kind of juice, but all of the information seems to be random comments from consumers written in all different ways with many spelling mistakes. There's a place for user commentary, but definitely not on the main page, and not without being labeled!

A good website should be all three of these things, but many are not. For a good laugh check out webpagesthatsuck.com and search through some of the stuff on there. What irritates you the most when going through the sites? How can you eliminate those factors in your websites?