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

Submitter’s comments:I found this site after watching a video of the fountain in Osaka City Station.

These folks sell equipment to make fountains that create words and art. They have a skippable intro video, which I think is fine because the product is neat, but once you’re past it, it’s nothing but Mystery Meat Navigation (MMN).

Vincent Flanders’ comments: The top menu is in a shade of unreadable yellow and the pages move too fast to read. I don’t know how to stop them. The only Flash that’s needed would be to showcase the installations; otherwise, get rid of the Flash. The MMN is frustrating because you have to return to it time and time again because the subpages only have links back to the home page. Oh. Chrome kept blowing up because of the Flash.

BAELI New York

Submitter’s comments: The ultimate in Mystery Meat Navigation.

Vincent Flanders’ comments: Initially, I thought this was what happens when Pinterest meets Mystery Meat Navigation, but I was wrong. Turns out these are Blogger Dynamic View Gadgets. One of the problems I have with templates and widgets and gadgets is the creators give people options that are stupid. It’s like giving a machine gun with the safety off to your average 3-year old. They’re going to make the wrong choice. Templates and gadgets and widgets are the same way. The creators should offer choices, but they should be rational choices.

I don’t have any idea what the site is about other than someone’s ruminations on life. Even if it’s a personal site, the issue is don’t use stupid widgets—especially if you’re a business. To be fair to Blogger, their video shows how these gadgets should be used, but it assumes talent that even I don’t have. I’ve been trying to make a stupid Pinterest version of my home page, but I’m Masonry and Javascript impaired. Any help would be appreciated.

Raising Overcomers

Submitter’s comments: This one reminds me of old GeoCities sites from about 1997. It’s painful to look at, thanks to the total lack of contrast (black on dark blue? yellow on greenish?), the blinking things make me want to hurt my browser, and they have no clue what “anti-aliasing” could possibly mean, nor why something anti-aliased for a white background should not be put on that blue … stuff.

It’s quite a large site, and every page is more hideous than the last. There are imagemaps for no good reason, graphicized text to make sure search engines can’t see the navigation and things in the source code that make me cringe…empty links galore, that kind of thing. And these people are selling to multi-million-dollar clients.

Vincent Flanders’ comments: Normally, I might say “Oh, nobody uses their website because they have a catalog and that’s what people use. Wrong. They have a “No printed catalog is available” message at the bottom of the page. Oh, they underscore the message—which is wrong because only links should be underscored. The copyright is from 1997-2012. I think the submitter is right. The site is stuck in 1997.

This is a real company with a really bad website—one that is awfully close to being a Loon Website.

The site is trying to be cute by redirecting folks. If you want to see the site:

1. Copy this url — http://www.pnwx.com/
2. Open new tab or window in your browser
3. Paste in the URL
4. Hit the ENTER key

Or if you want to read the diatribe – Pacific Northwest X-ray. I haven’t read it because I’ve heard it all before <grin>.

Submitter’s comments: A nomination for the Worst Web Page EVER!!

Vincent Flanders’ comments: Not sure if it’s the worst web page ever, but it certainly is the worst page today.

I don’t understand the light yellow text that runs throughout the page. Are they trying to stuff keywords? Are they trying to talk about their product? It’s in English so you’d think I know, but I don’t.

Teacup Pigs Full Grown

Vincent Flanders’ comments: Technically, this page is trying to “save” all the “Under Construction” animated GIFs, so it could be looked at in a positive light. On the other hand, it’s trying to save all the “Under Construction” animated GIFs and that doesn’t seem like a good idea. Billy @zoompf found this site and tweeted it.

If you want to see some amazing animated GIFs, try Reed & Rader.

Somebody at Lightspeed Software made an animation of me back on November 21, 1996. I can’t claim to be the first to be animated, but I’m among the early ones. You gotta love the Ben Franklin haircut.

Under Construction Animated GIFs