2) Spinning animated GIF's.
3) Any website that looks like it resembles
Times Square in New
York City . In other words, anything
that blinks, flashes, and
shoves an advertisement in
my face as soon as I "hit
the home page."
4) Website owners that make it too hard
to navigate their site.
If I have to jump through "link
hoops" to
get to your
information I am outta there. Make your
product, price, or
service, clear, precise, and easy
to find. The "about us,”
or "frequently asked
questions" section
of some web-sites,
sometimes, leaves me with more questions
than answers. Design your content so that even elementary
school children
can understand the purpose of your website.
5) Pop-Ups..Pop-Ups...Pop-Ups..I don't
mind a few, or even
one. But, if I have to close multiple
pop-ups to get to your
website, I will flee the scene.
I have encountered some
sites that had so many pop-ups
they froze my computer screen.
And yes, I had my pop-up blocking software
activated! It doesn't
always work! The same applies for
any of those "fly-in" or "hover ads" that
bounce across my computer screen. If you
have to use
anything, incorporate a pop-up that loads when
a visitor
leaves, not before, during, or while I am at your website.
6) A page full of dead links and constant "Page
Not Found" error messages. Keep your links up to
date and take down the
links that are no longer active.
7) Cursing or using worn out phrases like "Kick
Butt," or "Kick
Ass." (Example: “Kick
Ass Copy-Writing Service,” “Kick Butt
Web Marketing”).
I can't get to the close button fast enough
when I see
anyone using that phrase in website advertising copy. It maybe an excellent marketing headline,
but for me, it is a total
turn-off. Impress your visitors
with intelligent, informative,
advertising copy and content.
8) AND SOMEONE-ANYONE-PLEASE! Stop the "ultra" dark
background accented with an equally dark font! I have
discovered
many a website in which the background,
and the text fonts, are
indistinguishable from each other!
It looks like your are staring
into a black hole! Lighten
things up a bit, and don't make me
turn the brightness
controls on my monitor to full! And no, I
don't want
to highlight the text so I can read the information
on
your website!
9) While I love Marcomedia's Flash, I think
it should be
used sparingly. Unless you have a film
site, or a product that
requires a detailed visual description,
just forget about using
flash for e-commerce. There is
a majority of people out
there who still use those pokey
dial-up modems (me being
one of them) and I "hate
the wait!"
Even when I use the skip feature it still
takes to long for the
page to load. While doing research
for the Ultimate Guide, I
noticed that some designer
clothing wholesalers where using
flash to sell their
product. The same applied to retail sellers of
designer
shoes, designer handbags, and designer clothing.
My question is why? If you are using your
site to sell a product,
just stick with high quality,
fast loading photos, followed up with
good creative descriptions
of each item. If you have to make
people wait to buy
your product, people will buy their product
somewhere
else! If you absolutely, positively, must use Flash,
make your files as fast loading as possible, especially
if you are
selling a product.
10) Solid blocks of text with no breaks
between paragraphs.
The only industry that gets away
with that format is newspaper,
book, and magazine publishers.
The Internet is a different world
altogether. People
not only want their information quick, but they
also
want to read it in smaller, "bit
size" portions of content.
I like to skim over articles for the main
points. If I have to "slog" through
content that looks like a rambling diatribe with
no paragraph
breaks, I'm gone! Make your content clear
and concise.
Break up your paragraphs, and use plenty of "white
space" when possible.
So there they are. My “Top Ten” pet peeves
of dysfunctional
design! Do you incorporate any of them
in your website? When it
comes to good design, and great
site navigation, think of your
website as you would your
home. Would you like your visitors to
be greeted by a
messy house? Make your house, as well as your
website, “neat
and ready to greet!” For
more information about how
to make your site user friendly,
go to Jakob Nielsen's usability website,
Useit.com, located
here: http://www.useit.com/
Robert C. Potter is the author of “The
Ultimate Guide To Products For
Resale!” Over
300 Wholesale & Surplus
Supply Sources For Ebay
Auction Sellers, E-Commerce Websites, Flea
Market Vendors, and Retail
Store Owners! You can find his 230 page ebook
at: http://www.productsforresale.com
