timepiececlock: (faye shower curtain gun)
timepiececlock ([personal profile] timepiececlock) wrote2004-03-17 03:50 pm

mini rant on web design

There's something that just bugs the fuck out of me on websites, especially some fandom sites.

Little unlabelled boxes for links.

A site will have an attractive background, and on the side or the top or the bottom will be a row of little boxes or circles or some other button-shape that have no labels.

What the fuck? That causes confusion and stress on my part. I either have to hover my mouse over the tiny box link for several seconds to see what it is, or I have to click it and hope it's the link I want.

It's supposed to be styish or something... but really it's just annoying.

If I navigate a website it has to be clear and easy to navigate, or 8 times out of 10, I won't bother.

I say this as a person who doesn't own any websites, but traffics a lot of them: The best sites are both attractive and functional with zero stress on my part. A site that causes even the smallest increment of frustration or confusion is flawed in its basic design.

Little unlabelled box links in rows cause stress on my part. I don't want to be stressed by the internet. I want to enjoy the internet.


(I feel like I should add a disclaimer here saying that this isn't a knock on any particular person's site, because a lot of sites do this. If you have a site that does this, well... I'm sure it's pretty. But pretty isn't enough for me if looking around becomes a troublesome act.)
spikewriter: (Default)

[personal profile] spikewriter 2004-03-17 09:37 pm (UTC)(link)
I think I vote for functionality over pretty any day. As you said, if it's not easy to navigate, why bother?

Happiness, however, is a listing for somone you don't like -- someone who thinks he's a hot-shit web designer -- on a site where people nominate the worst examples of what you described. And he's in the lead.

(No, it's not someone in fandom, but it was a definite giggle moment.)
ext_10182: Anzo-Berrega Desert (Default)

[identity profile] rashaka.livejournal.com 2004-03-17 10:56 pm (UTC)(link)
I'm a little confused..."Happiness" is a person's name? Or... a name of a listing? Who is "he" ? I think your wording relies on previous knowledge that I don't have on the topic.
spikewriter: (Default)

[personal profile] spikewriter 2004-03-18 07:08 pm (UTC)(link)
Actually, what I meant was that it made me happy to see someone who kept presenting himself as a hot-shot web designer being nominated for doing really bad web design (the exact type you were talking about with just cute little symbols and no words for the menu) on a site that rated web design.
ext_10182: Anzo-Berrega Desert (Default)

[identity profile] rashaka.livejournal.com 2004-03-18 08:39 pm (UTC)(link)
Oh, i get it now. Yeah, I love i when justice is done.