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A Website Design Example of What Not to Do

Media experts tell us that the average consumer is bombarded with hundreds of advertising impressions every day. That’s a lot of competition for our attention. As a result, most of us have developed an anti-advertising defense. We tune out when we sense someone is trying to sell us something. Even when we’re actively searching online

ManagingYourHR.com an excellent example of how not to design a website.

Media experts tell us that the average consumer is bombarded with hundreds of advertising impressions every day. That’s a lot of competition for our attention. As a result, most of us have developed an anti-advertising defense. We tune out when we sense someone is trying to sell us something. Even when we’re actively searching online for a product or service to solve a problem or soothe a pain, we are cautious and skeptical.

The goal is not to overwhelm users with too much information. Help them whittle down the options. Help them focus and they’ll be more receptive to your marketing message. So it was particularly disconcerting for Peter A. Schaible to visit a website like ManagingYourHR.com and be 1) unable to figure out what’s going on there and 2) repulsed by the colors and layout. Here’s a litany of all the ways the publishers of ManagingYourHR.com get it wrong, as measured against the 14 Mequoda System Usability and Design Guidelines.

  • Managing Your HR sends all the wrong messages. It starts with an obnoxious crawling text message that is virtually unreadable and goes downhill from there.
  • Whatever its intent, ManagingYourHR.com doesn’t make a strong case for why you should request one of its free email newsletters.
  • Signing up for the online newsletter and taking an online survey are the two tasks users can complete, if you have enough patience.
  • There are too many different typefaces, type sizes, type weights, column widths and colors.
  • In our conscious mind ManagingYourHR.com isn’t entirely without value. It’s an excellent example of how not to do it.

By Don Nicholas

Founder & Executive Publisher

Don Nicholas serves as Executive Publisher for Food Gardening Network and GreenPrints. He is responsible for all creative, technical, and financial aspects of these multiplatform brands. As senior member of the editorial team, he provides structural guidance, sets standards, and coordinates activities with the technology and business teams. Don is an active gardener whose favorite crops include tomatoes, basil, blueberries, and corn. He and his wife Gail live and work in southern Massachusetts surrounded by forests, family farms, cranberry bogs, and nearby beaches. Don is also the Founder of Mequoda Systems, LLC, which operates and supports numerous online communities including I Like Crochet, I Like Knitting, and We Like Sewing.

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