What are some of the things to avoid for web design

Question

What are some of the rules of thumb and things to avoid when for creating a website's design? For instance, an obvious one is to not have sound play automatically on a website.

My point in asking this is that we have a newer web developer/designer and I am wanting to give him a general list of "do-nots" when creating a website.

Answer 1

I've heard a lot of marketing people demand that everything be "above the fold" and prefer multiple pages of clicking over a little scrolling. I would suggest that their information is a little dated and with the advent of scroll wheels users don't mind scrolling nearly as much as clicking through page after page.

Answer 2

Here's a huge list: http://www.dailyblogtips.com/43-web-design-mistakes-you-should-avoid/

I was going to say no horizontal scrolling or garish colour schemes. They're probably in there

And the funny thing is, one of his points is

Avoid long pages:

while that page itself is so huge i can barely aim my mouse on the scroll-bar

Answer 3

1. If you are requesting user input it's always a good idea to check it both client side and server side
2. Avoid a lot of images. It will slow the loading of your page.
3. Make sure you test in multiple browsers.

There are a lot of others, and I am sure you will get a lot of feedback on this question.

Answer 4

• Using tables for layout (unless the data truly is tabular)
• Avoid overcomplicating the layout and colour scheme (nobody likes to see a technicolour dreamcoat site)
• Avoid bastardizing the HTML structure for the sake of aesthetics