Is this really the “Leading Java Resource?” There are no less than 13 ads above the fold, 15 company logos, a giant popup and to top it all off, a video that starts automatically. I can’t see a single line of actual content without either closing the gigantic ad or scrolling down. Amazing! Absolutely amazing.
Robert Scoble wrote about the idea of bad design being better for business here, which got me thinking about the sites I visit frequently:
The only well designed sites I visit on a semi-regular basis are:
Other non-designed sites include almost every get rich website ever created (and there are a lot and people make money on them), eBay–it’s not exactly ugly, but it’s definitely not going to win any beauty contests any time soon, useit.com – the number one usability site, Craigslist (as Scoble mentioned) and many others.
Of course there are tons of well designed sites that are successful such as everything by 37Signals, Flickr, Technorati, YouTube (arguably) and a million other websites and blogs, but still, the point remans that the sites I visit most (and I’m a web designer) are almost all either under-designed or in some cases, flat out ugly.
What does it mean? I’m not completely sure, but I definitely think that a few conclusions can be drawn:
I don’t, however, think that bad design makes a site good. I think that what keeps me coming back to all those poorly designed sites is the feeling that there are some extremely smart people behind them who maybe don’t have time to worry about the design. If they were better designed, I think that if anything, I’d be more likely to visit them.
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