h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

As always, apologies for any inevitable repetition of what everyone else has already said. I should get on the ball faster.

Anyway, in my opinion, there are few design elements that are 'bad' in themselves, it's just down to how they are used. There are people that chant the mantra "Splash Screens Must Die!", others that think Flash will destroy all that is good and pure about the web.

What _I_ think makes a page bad is when the many design options available are just taken at random and used without relevance to the content, or without regard as to how, why and by whom the site is going to be accessed.

If a site is multi-media heavy, then I would encourage the use of a splash screen, giving the first time user information on what they need to accesss it, perhaps performing a compatibility check, and meanwhile precaching repeated images (such as the navigation on h2g2, for example) so that once the user is in there, they have a smooth experience. You could even give a choice using a checkbox and a cookie whether or not the user wants to see the splash screen on further visits.

Damn touchpad! I hadn't finished but accidentally posted. BAM!

Where was I?



I was going to talk about Flash and Shockwave. Yes, I hate it when Flash is used for no apparent reason to replace standard navigation, and especially when it is used soley to make a length intro on a Splash Screen (see above). But it really can be used to wonderful effect, if you're in the right mood. You may have heard of 'They Rule' - if you haven't, take this oppertunity to visit http://theyrule.net to see how Flash has been used in a way that is far slicker and more practical than Java etc. would have been.

For a more traditional but still pleasing example, if you have a minute to spare take a look at http://www.ferryhalim.com/orisinal/ . The main navigation is comprised of HTML and Flash elements, yet loads instantly on my 46k connection. As for the games themselves they are simple, fun to play, quick to load and very pretty - everything I could ask for from a web gaming point of view. I reccommend 'Chicken Wings'.

As for Shockwave. It is an immensley powerful tool and can achieve some surprising results. Habbo Hotel (http://www.habbohotel.com ) may be populated with idiots, but there's no denying that it is a great idea implemented well.

I could go on. Heck, I probably will.

JavaScript - yes it is infuriating when it's just used to scroll useless information accross the status bar. But it's running under the bonnet of numerous pages, providing a more personalised browsing experience (man, I sound like a brochure!). I think the temptation with JavaScript, as with Flash, is to over-use it. Is it neccessary to show the date and time on every page? Or follow the cursor with a string of Polos? (Hello MSN!)

The oft-contraversial Jakob Nielsen is always going on about web useability (it is his job, I guess) and has plenty of useful things to say on the matter. But I can't help but feel dumbed down by a lot of what he, and other 'web purists' say. It's not 1993. Sure, a lot of people still use dial-up connections, many slower than 36k - but this will change in time.

It's easy to bemoan what we hate about the web, but that's nothing new. I say: apply technology where it's needed, fit the design and technology to the concept, always take into account the user, even it's a site to show off your own skills at making intricate 'digiart'. Taking the user into account doesn't mean you neccessarily have to take away what makes your site unique: unless, of course, you are like the designer of the Odeon website, in which case the thing that makes your site unique is that it is very bad.

I do this for a living these days and I can account for a lot of this.

The temptation to use many of the nifty tricks available is great, but the job is really to know when and where to use what.