Worst Web Sites 2007

Over the years, I've made a number of videos discussing web design. Some of them are simply excerpts from my speeches. The quality, like everything else at WPTS, varies wildly.

Note: All videos should be viewed with a high bandwidth connection.

Worst Web Sites 2005 and 2006

I Thought This Would be the Worst Web Site of 2006:

Actually, I believe it ended up as #2.

As the person who submitted the site said, "Between the operatic ' Glaucoma Hymn' that downloads and plays as soon as you come to the main page (with no 'Stop Playing!' button), the bobbing heads of (what I presume are) the AIGS Board in the upper-left hand corner, and no clear explanation of what this organization DOES on the main page.

The International Association of Glaucoma Associations — YouTube version (0:47)
The International Association of Glaucoma Associations — WPTS.TV version. Higher quality. (0:47)

This is the Worst Web Site of 2006:

It's amazingly bad. Also won Worst Navigational Web Site of 2006.

Optimal World - YouTube version (1:21) | WPTS.TV version. Higher quality (1:22)

The Worst Web Site of 2005

Of course, it's been fixed. Still, you need to see it, understand why everything is wrong, and then not make the same mistakes.

Hayden Video Wedding — YouTube version (1:23)

Navigation Issues

Bad Navigation Metaphor

A navigation system built on the concept of a virtual reality room isn't a good idea. Just as you shouldn't play with your food, you shouldn't play around with navigation.

Bad Navigation Metaphor — YouTube version (1:22)

Sideways Navigation

People don't like to turn their head sideways to read navigation — especially when the contrast is poor. Even their target audience will find this scheme annoying.

Tampax — YouTube version (0:41)

Symbolic Navigation

When you use pictures of buildings for your navigational metaphor, you're in trouble.

Dorsett Police WPTS.TV version (0.55). Higher quality.

Mystery Meat Navigation

Unfortunately, many sites use Mystery Meat Navigation (MMN). Wikipedia's definition:

Mystery meat navigation (also abbreviated MMN) is a term coined and popularized by author, web designer, and usability analyst Vincent Flanders to describe user interfaces (especially in websites) in which it is inordinately difficult for users to discern the destinations of navigational hyperlinks—or, in severe cases, even to determine where the hyperlinks are. The typical form of MMN is represented by menus composed of unrevealing icons that are replaced with explicative text only when the mouse cursor hovers over them.

Flanders adopted the epithet mystery meat because, like the unidentifiable processed meat products historically served in many American public school cafeterias, MMN is unfathomable to the casual observer. Before conceiving the term mystery meat navigation, Flanders temporarily described the phenomenon as Saturnic navigation, a phrase named for the Saturn Corporation, whose website formerly served as a high-profile example of this web usability problem.

OXO

An early example of Mystery Meat Navigation from late 1999 or early 2000.

OXO — YouTube version (2:02)

Mathew Mahon

Stupid Mystery Meat Navigation.

Mathew Mahon — YouTube Version (1:18)

Crumpler Bags

The #2 worst Mystery Meat Navigation site for 2006.

Crumpler Bags — YouTube Version (1:15) | WPTS.TV version. Higher quality.

Diners Club

The 10th worst web site of 2006,

Diners Club — YouTube version (0:42)

University of Calgary

They fixed the site. This is what it used to look like.

University of Calgary — YouTube version (0:45)

Big Picture Issues

Doesn't Look Like A Professional

If you don't look like a professional, people won't do business with you.

ADC — WPTS.TV version. Higher quality.

Back-End Coding Errors

If your site breaks because of coding errors, people won't feel comfortable buying from your site.

Gandolfo's — WPTS.TV version. Higher quality

Flash- / Ad-Blocking Software

I use software to block ads, popups, popup ads, and Flash. Lots of folks use these types of software and it can cost your site money. It can also mess up your design or, in the case of NASCAR, it may improve the look.

NASCAR — YouTube version (2:20)