:: things to stay away from, like strangers with candy
::TMI
Too much information all at once. Not everything must appear on the homepage. Cramming it all in does not lead to a coherent or easy to navigate design. Less is more, people.
:: Exploding rainbow
So there are about 16 million colors to choose from, that doesn't mean you have to try to use all of them. Choose a limited color palette.
:: Spelling errors
Really no excuse for this. According to Goggle there are about 1.5 million sites with the misspelled word "hompage." Sad, but true. There is help out there. Spell check is part of almost every program, please make use of it.
:: Animated gifs
Specifically the stock animated gif's we've all come across. The fireworks, the spinning globe, the bouncing ball, the letter going into an envelope. They are a merely distraction and do not impress anyone anymore. Animations can be effective when used for the right reason. If your reason is "it's cute," it's not a good reason.
:: Music
If you want to make someone click away from your site as fast as possible, please have music start playing the moment the page loads. Give the user the choice of listening to "Little Spanish Flea." Not every one thinks that's the best song ever. Here's a little secret, some people actually spend time at work on the Internet even if they are not supposed to. The last thing they will want is to announce to everyone around them that they are doing this. Sound effects are also cheesy. I'm not going to trust a financial institution that welcomes me with the sound of a cash register ringing.
:: Overuse of Flash
Flash is a wonderful product that has been used to create some really amazing animations. It also has created some huge animations that take forever to load. Viewer's won't wait. And that amazing, mind-blowing animation you spent weeks on will never be seen.
::TMI
Too much information all at once. Not everything must appear on the homepage. Cramming it all in does not lead to a coherent or easy to navigate design. Less is more, people.
:: Exploding rainbow
So there are about 16 million colors to choose from, that doesn't mean you have to try to use all of them. Choose a limited color palette.
:: Spelling errors
Really no excuse for this. According to Goggle there are about 1.5 million sites with the misspelled word "hompage." Sad, but true. There is help out there. Spell check is part of almost every program, please make use of it.
:: Animated gifs
Specifically the stock animated gif's we've all come across. The fireworks, the spinning globe, the bouncing ball, the letter going into an envelope. They are a merely distraction and do not impress anyone anymore. Animations can be effective when used for the right reason. If your reason is "it's cute," it's not a good reason.
:: Music
If you want to make someone click away from your site as fast as possible, please have music start playing the moment the page loads. Give the user the choice of listening to "Little Spanish Flea." Not every one thinks that's the best song ever. Here's a little secret, some people actually spend time at work on the Internet even if they are not supposed to. The last thing they will want is to announce to everyone around them that they are doing this. Sound effects are also cheesy. I'm not going to trust a financial institution that welcomes me with the sound of a cash register ringing.
:: Overuse of Flash
Flash is a wonderful product that has been used to create some really amazing animations. It also has created some huge animations that take forever to load. Viewer's won't wait. And that amazing, mind-blowing animation you spent weeks on will never be seen.
