|
Written by Rick Winkler
|
|
Sunday, 30 March 2008 |
I typically don’t like to post negative items. I prefer to be
constructive with my criticisms in an effort to better what ever the
subject may be. Every now and then I must point out something as an
example of how not to do things.
Today it’s web design. With the wealth of information and tools
available on the internet today, it is fairly easy to create a decent
looking page. Today we are looking at furniturecity.net. The following is a list of suggestions for better site design using this site as a reference.
 The
quicker your visitors can access whatever content they are looking for
the better. Intro pages slow down the visitor from accessing what they
are looking for. Try to make most of your content available within a
few clicks.- Don’t make visitors think “DANGER!” with your color scheme. For help choosing a good color scheme, check out ColorBlender and ColourLovers.
- Keep size of your site a small as possible. The tools at Website Optimization can help.
- Minimize the number of objects that must be loaded.
- Make sure the page validates. Use the W3C Validation tool to check your pages.
- Frames are dead. Just don’t use them.
- Nobody likes pop-ups. Most browsers now have pop-up blockers built-in. Design your site in a manner that doesn’t need them.
- Rapidly
flashing images could cause anxiety, seizures, and maybe even
aneurisms. Seriously, this can turn a customer away in a heart beat.
- Please, Please, PLEASE! don't use imbeded audio, especially in a loop...
I hope looking at the example shows you the dark side of website design
in a manner that is constructive. You only a have split second to make a
good impression on your visitors, make sure it is the best it can be.
|
