A Website Design Example of What Not to Do

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A Website Design Example of What Not to Do

Posted in Website Design Tips	April 19, 2006

Permalink: http://daily.mequoda.com/i//website_design_tips/website_design_mistakes_to_avoid_from_managing_your_hr_150-1.html

By Kim Mateus, Managing Editor Mequoda Daily and Library

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 Method 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.

Mequoda Library Members Only: If you're a Mequoda Library member, reference Peter's entire chapter, ManagingYourHR.com Website Design Review. Or check the full Table of Contents for Website Design for Publishers and Authors.

If you're not a Mequoda Library member, and are interested in accessing the full text of this chapter along with 410 other chapters, start your 14-day FREE trial.

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