3 Web Design Trends I HATE!


I've never understood why marketers and advertisers, who are already fighting an uphill battle for your attention, would choose to do something that is actively annoying. This style of web design is aggressive, selfish, and can really turn people off, whatever it is you're trying to do. Usually, when I see a site that uses these tactics, I won't even bother trying to fight my way through to read what I came to look for - I just move on to somewhere less predatory.

Here are three modern web design trends that I really hate:

1. Popups
Popup ads aren't exactly new; they're nearly as old as the internet itself. But in the last couple of years, thanks to combining them with scripting languages such as Java, they've gotten really nasty. Some sites pop up huge messages when you try to change pages, close the site, or don't click on whatever the designer wants you to click on. They try to grab your attention and force you to engage with the site, but all they really do is drive people away. The little chat windows that pop up pretending a live person is waiting to help you are particularly annoying.

2. Auto-Play Video
Nothing makes my temper rise online faster than videos or audio clips that play automatically as soon as you open a page. Especially when they're not even visible on the page, you have to scroll down to even get to them. Please don't force me to consume your content. If I'm interested, I'll click play. Don't decide for me. This is a cheap and dirty tactic to increase your view stats, and most people don't appreciate it at all.

3. Free E-book Downloads
On its own, having more thorough or complicated content available for people who want to get more in-depth with a subject is fine. But there's something about these sites that just gets under my skin. Many of them are very pushy about trying to get you to download their extra content, and often combine that pushiness with more popups to try to get you to opt in. Once again, if I want to learn more about something, I'll seek it out myself. Shoving it in my face just makes me walk away in disgust.

Conclusion
Honestly, I can't believe that any of these pushy tactics actually work. But even if they did, I still wouldn't want to use them. I'm more interested in providing value, and having actual, meaningful interactions with my clients than I am in tricking them or shouting for attention. I really feel like these kinds of tactics give all of us a bad name. The internet would be a better place if all the pushy marketers and advertisers would calm down a little bit!

What about you? What kind of web design tactics bother you? Let me know in the comments!

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