19 Things NOT To Do When Building a Website. May 30, 2007
Posted by weirdoux in : Tips , trackback
This is a great list for you to consider whenever you want to build a website. Me myself also feel that Josiah just did a good job by publish it. I’m sure that this list will help many new webbies to conduct their web nicely. It’s really helpful.
So here it is:
1) DO NOT resize the user’s browser window, EVER.
2) If your website requires the visitor to load your home page, and then “launch” your real website in a pop up, YOU LOSE.
3) If your website asks the user which version they’d like, high bandwidth or low, HTML or Flash, you ALSO LOSE.
4) If your website is ALL Flash, FIRE your web development company, and if you made it, add it to your portfolio under “Useless web projects I’ve done” and start over.
5) DO NOT try to reinvent the website navigation.
6) This one is going to get me in trouble?
7) If you do not have sufficient copy, or any REAL TEXT on your home page (not in an image), and to a lesser extent your whole site, hire a copywriter and fire your webmaster NOW.
If your website does not work in Firefox, welcome to 2007 DUMBASS.
9) No blinking text, no Frontpage, no pop-ups (even requested), no scrolling text, no font downloads, and no Flash intros.
10) If you use music on your site make sure the user can stop it, and it BETTER NOT start on page load without the user requesting it.
11) Text navigations are better than images.
12) A well thought out site map with logical sub sections is better than using “drop downs”.
13) If your site needs a search engine for users to find information, it’s time to start over and fire the guy who came up with the site map (and those slick drop downs on your nav).
14) Load time is still a factor for over 50% of American web surfers.
15) Do not HIDE your message, and don’t OBSCURE what you want the user to do.
16) If you lead the user through a pre-determined path in order to deliver a message or demo, it’s time to get an ANT farm and take your controlling wills out on some species that will actually like it.
17) If you’re delivering video, it better not ask the user which bandwidth or version of video they’d like.
18) if the user has to mouse over your graphic or small image to know what it is, or where it will take them if its a link, quit your job and be a magician or a blackjack dealer, making web interfaces is not for you.
19) This final commandment is related to many of the above ideas, and is a good guiding principle for web geeks that are excited about new tech and want to use it. Just because a technology is new, or you just discovered it does not make it suitable to put on a business website, JUST BECAUSE you can.
Nice list right?
But feel free to go to Josiah’s blog to read full explanation of this great list.
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