Pet Peeves

[dragan]

What are your personal pet peeves, when it comes to general web / online / digital stuff?

I'm gonna start with one of my most-hated "features": lazy loading technique taken too far (as in "load images / assets only when the user scrolls down")

The general idea behind it was certainly fine and noble: Load + show additional content only if the user decides to scroll further down a page, otherwise hide that content. Avoid having to wait for content loading that I might - or might not - be interested in.

Problem is, that some site-owners not just use, but abuse that method. Case in point: Flickr.

It's almost impossible to reach the footer links / menu, because the page keeps loading new pics forever. You may see the footer for a split second, but it disappears again, when addtl. content loads.

What's wrong with using pagination? Is that too "old-school"? Making it hard for visitors to reach a certain navigation section is certainly not "best practise", or user-friendly. Some sites have simply exaggerated it to the point, where I'd rather see a "skip intro" button (and that's saying something!).

So, what's your favorite pet peeve, when it comes to websites, apps et al?

[MatthewSchenker]

Greetings,

Thanks dragan for starting this discussion!  I've been doing web design since... well, since there was such a thing as "web design," and so I  guess I've accumulated some pet peeves.

Violating Core Principles

Generally speaking, I dislike anything that ignores core principles.  It may at times seem that "everything has changed," but when you look at the whole history of the web, it's interesting that certain data/design principles have been constant.

Failing the "Concept-First Test"

Related to your point about lazy loading: my biggest peeve is applications that start with a visual/design standpoint instead of an information/content/conceptual standpoint.  Take a look around, and you can easily find lots of apps that "look cool," but what is the underlying concept?  As a test, I like to strip away all visuals and put into simple words what an application does.  Then I add in visual/transitional effects, in service of what an application does.  It seems to me that too many apps start with the visuals first.  I call this the "concept-first test."

Overloaded Visuals

It feels to me that we are starting to overload our workflow with libraries that simply make superficial visuals work better. I know that Angular.js (for example) can do more than just make things look pretty, but it seems to me that a lot of the applications listed here fail the "concept-first test."  I don't mean to pick on Angular.js.  It's just an example.  (I don't think this direction is sustainable, and we are in for some kind of revolution some point soon.)

To make the subject more relevant, I think all this relates to ProcessWire.  I have a lot of respect for Ryan and ProcessWire, specifically because Ryan clearly understands the idea of "core principles."  CMSs come and go, but the reason Ryan's concept has been around so long and keeps going steady is because Ryan adheres to the principles that govern the ways in which the web works.  As the web advances, ProcessWire will continue to be more relevant.

I'd definitely like to hear what others here have to say!

Thanks,

Matthew

[Beluga]

Well autoplaying carousels with relevant stuff like links can be pretty annoying.
Also, low-contrast text.

Then there are those funny modal overlays that are supposed to act as paywalls, but can be deleted with browser dev tools..