Web Design Mistakes that Just Won't Die

For almost four decades, the internet has changed the way we communicate, how we do business and how we search and offer information. Platforms have continuously evolved to serve an increasingly demanding population, and the same has happened for websites.

We no longer see the typical early 2000 websites, full of pop-ups, gifs, and colors. Nowadays, there is a more sober approach to the way we present organizations online. Yet, no matter how evolved, there are a few web mistakes that keep popping up.

In this thread, the slogging community discusses the most common web design mistakes that just won't die.

This Slogging thread by Mónica Freitas, Khamisi Hamisi, Teri Eyenike, Jack Boreham, Sara Pinto and Favour Amadi occurred in slogging's official #technology channel, and has been edited for readability.

Mónica FreitasDec 9, 2021, 2:21 PM

What are the most common web design issues you encounter when surfing the web?

Mónica FreitasDec 9, 2021, 2:22 PM

Sara Pinto Jack Boreham Limarc Ambalina Teri Eyenike Daniel Guzman petar.btc Khamisi Hamisi Favour Amadi Abeer Ellen Stevens

Khamisi HamisiDec 9, 2021, 5:54 PM

Mónica Freitas, An unresponsive mobile website. The webpage opens up in desktop mode on monbile, which is annoying.

Teri EyenikeDec 10, 2021, 7:50 AM

I think web accessibility issues is one of them. Not putting other users in mind when building a web project. For example, the blind, users with disabilities etc.

Mónica FreitasDec 10, 2021, 12:19 PM

Khamisi Hamisi That's a prevalent one. I've seen it on so many websites. It's annoying. Not sure how they're not up to date by not. It makes me immediately give up on the website.

Mónica FreitasDec 10, 2021, 12:20 PM

Khamisi Hamisi Why do you think so many people fail to think mobile-first?

Mónica FreitasDec 10, 2021, 12:24 PM

Teri Eyenike That's a great case study. Why do you think that is? Are we not conveying the importance of accessibility in websites? Are web designers considering inclusivity a small matter? Is it just an afterthought? Or maybe, are companies lacking better representation that gives them a hint on what accessibility really means?

Jack BorehamDec 10, 2021, 1:38 PM

That odd thing that happens when the page doesn't load properly, and you've just got a ton of links and stuff without any structure to the webpage. Also loading mobile pages, some are not optimised

Mónica FreitasDec 10, 2021, 2:38 PM

Jack Boreham I know what you mean! However, I never knew if that was a problem with the page's mobile version or another issue.

Sara PintoDec 10, 2021, 3:33 PM

Mónica Freitas My main issue is when it's not intuitive. The lack of intuition can ruin the flow and get confusing. If the website is not clear, it might lose users

Mónica FreitasDec 10, 2021, 4:24 PM

Sara Pinto why do you think a website can be confusing? Too many options? A menu bar not so clear? A lot of text?

Favour AmadiDec 10, 2021, 8:36 PM

One might argue with me on this one but I am not a fan of the trendy web designs with too much white space. Mónica Freitas. I think it's lazy and could do with more content.

Khamisi HamisiDec 11, 2021, 2:35 PM

Mónica Freitas, I feel like many ignore the mobile version of their websites. They see no need or do not know that their website can be mobile-friendly.

Teri EyenikeDec 13, 2021, 11:49 AM

From my understanding, some companies neglect that aspect of inclusivity. It is only an afterthought, probably when their attention is drawn to it, that they are getting lots of users that desire a change in the operation of their web apps.

Also, depending on the company's budget, some companies don't hire a web accessibility expert, and the front end developer builds what they can interpret from the Figma design.

Cc: Mónica Freitas

Mónica FreitasDec 13, 2021, 5:37 PM

Favour AmadiI think many adopt that design for fear of becoming confusing and the message lost. How do you think we could use those blank spaces without clogging the website?

Mónica FreitasDec 13, 2021, 5:40 PM

Khamisi Hamisi I can forgive that mistake from regular folks making their first website. But from brands?? Or web designers? It seems an unprofessional forgetfulness. Data shows that mobile devices own the majority of searches - we first use our phones to search companies or videos or articles. By neglecting mobile versions, one is purposely harming their website performance.

Mónica FreitasDec 13, 2021, 5:44 PM

Teri Eyenike That's unfortunate. Even if you don't have a lot of resources, turning your website more inclusive can be as simple as adding a voice function that reads the texts to users, bigger fonts, a website that's not dependent on color cues, etc. A bit of research can go a long way.

Sara PintoDec 14, 2021, 2:29 PM

Mónica Freitas Yes, many options can be confusing, but even if there are only a few of them if it's not clear where I should click, then it won't work. Instantly becomes a site I won't like to use, it defeats the purpose of effectiveness

Mónica FreitasDec 14, 2021, 2:34 PM

Sara Pinto Completely agreed. Do you think it is safer to opt for more standard designs than going crazy creative on websites, for this exact reason?

Sara PintoDec 14, 2021, 4:00 PM

Mónica Freitas Definitely! Less is more, in this case. When there's too much going on, I don't think you can focus on what you really are looking for

Favour AmadiDec 15, 2021, 4:21 AM

Mónica Freitas I do not have a problem with the spaces but with the colour. A lot of websites these days look alike because of this. It is one of the reasons I like the h
Hackernoon website interface.

Mónica FreitasDec 15, 2021, 8:35 PM

Sara Pinto agreed. I love to enter a website and immediately understand what I'm supposed to do

Mónica FreitasDec 15, 2021, 8:37 PM

Favour Amadi I think that's because we trust a lot in color psychology and the message we want to convey with the website. It's fun to have a different website as long as it is intuitive