Web Pages That Suck - learn good web design by looking at bad web design

I’ve been trying to figure out who is influencing architects to make their sites unreadable. I think I might have the answer. Architect Magazine and World Architecture News both use light gray text. Then again, it’s a chicken/egg situation. Which came first? The architects’ design or the magazines’? See my posts on architectural firms Kieran-Timberlake and Perkins-Will.

Vincent Flanders’ comments: This is an architect quoted in the article about Steve Jobs that I mentioned in the previous Daily Sucker. The site uses Mystery Meat Navigation that fades in and out. Think about it. How stupid is this? Do you want your road signs to fade in and out? If you don’t want to waste your time visiting the site, here’s a screenshot.

Kieran-Timberlake

Vincent Flanders’ comments: I was reading an article about the Apple Store’s design and ran across links to…guess what?…architects. Since architects produce wild websites or beautiful websites that suck, I had to go and visit some of their sites.

What’s the biggest mistake these high-end architects make? Well, they seem to love Satan’s CSS, which is the use of the color “gray” or #666 for text (666 is allegedly the sign of the beast). Why is this wrong? Because it’s difficult to freaking read. The W3C says it’s difficult to read and if architects don’t follow standards, their buildings fall down. Now, their websites fall down. I realize that pictures are what it’s all about for architects, but if you don’t want me to read the text, don’t write any text.

If you’re interested in having a solid foundation, AccessColor describes the intricacies of contrast really well, as does Wikipedia. A new website has taken up my cause about contrast and it’s called, logically enough, Contrast Rebellion. Since artists and architects think graphically, maybe if they look at Contrast Rebellion they’ll understand the importance of contrast and change their ways.

Perkins-Will

It wouldn’t take me very long to go through three-months’ worth of Daily Suckers, pick out the 10-3o worst, write a short paragraph and put a link to each site. In fact, that’s what some KidsToday want. They write and tell me, “You have too many words. Nobody reads.” Translation: “I don’t read.”

Because people don’t read they don’t understand why their site is listed on WPTS. You don’t believe me? The owner of a site that’s on one of the 2011 lists emailed me saying he worked on his site and wanted to know if it still sucked When I went back to look, the only thing that looked different to me was that the background music was removed. He didn’t read what I said and didn’t read the comments.

I’m hoping that what he wants—what everyone wants—is detailed lists of exactly what’s wrong. That’s why I’ve added a section called, “Does your website make any of the mistakes made by XYZ?” When you click, I’ve used my Web Design Checklist 1: 165 Mortal Sins and Web Design Checklist 2: 83 Potential Mortal Sins to try and identify exactly which mistakes they’ve made.

The 20 Worst Websites of 2011: Second Quarter Contenders and How These Sites Relate to Your Website

I spent a lot of time working on the Second Quarter Contenders so it would be in its final format. I’m three months behind on the Third Quarter and I have 33 contenders for worst site instead of “only” 20 in Q2. So instead of waiting to produce perfection, I’m breaking the process down into five steps—I call them “Run-Throughs”—and giving material to you as I create it.

What I’m releasing today is Run-Through #1. When I complete a section, I’ll check it off and you’ll know there’s something new to read. Here are the five:

1. Examine Daily Suckers and pick out the worst of the worst.
2. Edit and simplify the text, add screenshots and add commentary from my brilliant readers.
3. Put sites in order of suckiness. Eliminate the “not-so-sucky.”
4. Add “How These Sites Relate to Your Website” commentary, if necessary.
5. Final format.

It’s ugly, but there’s still value in the material.

The Worst Websites of 2011: Third Quarter Contenders (First Run-Through) and How These Sites Relate to Your Website