why do retail sites still do this?

[lauralh]

design annoyances

1) Popup windows
2) resizing the main window
3) popup windows that you can't resize
4) flash that needs to "load" before you can navigate the page
5) animation that replays every time you go to the site

and finally I get super-annoyed with 100% flash sites, so you can't link to a product itself.

edit: why the fuck did everyone comment on this and not alien abductions?

Comments

[kamakhai.livejournal.com]

I don't know that I'd say mostdevelopers.. just the ones who don't who don't understand the nature of web media. Based on the overall rising quality of sites in the past couple of years, I think the people who get it are in a growing majority. There are obviously still lots of the kinds of mistakes Laural pointed out above, but I think it's mostly the work of the sort of people who think a pirated copy of Dreamweaver qualifies them for professional web development.

[kirinqueen.livejournal.com]

Iawtc, and so does hober, I'll wager.

[jimbojones.livejournal.com]

I dunno about that. There are a lot of HIGHLY paid, heavily experienced developers with this mentality. Look at, for example, most automotive manufacturers' websites. Daimler-Chrysler and Volkswagen aren't hiring "some hack with a pirated copy of Dreamweaver."

[kamakhai.livejournal.com]

If you're talking strictly about overblown promotional flash sites, then yes, standard logic is chucked out because they're trying to make an interactive commercial... that's what the companies want. However, I think the majority of developers value simplicity and usability above crazy navigation interfaces. The ones that don't tend to be inexperienced or fundamentally clueless.

[jimbojones.livejournal.com]

I think you and I agree completely about what is valuable in web design, we just disagree about how many professional developers are on the same page with us. =)

[mcsnee.livejournal.com]

However, I think the majority of developers ... tend to be ... fundamentally clueless.

I agree.