06.03.08
How Media-Rich Websites Annoy when they should Engage
Remember the blink tag? Does it ever seem like you visit a website with so much going on that it’s difficult to concentrate? Today we have animated flash advertisements that strategically place themselves over the content, demanding a cognitive spurt to find the close button and overcome the annoyance. Why is it that advertisers seem to think that by annoying us, or tricking us, that we will find their product interesting and worthwhile?
We’ve all been there, the story that is placed on a news site that is buried deep between two columns of flashing ads, all of which cry for your eyeballs and demand absolute focus to get at the information you’re looking for. This is why you won’t see advertisements here for some time to come. I promise no flashy ones.
I believe advertisements are a necessary evil, as far as support goes. However, they shouldn’t detract much from the experience which attracts the viewer. Properly targeted, contextual advertisements offer the viewer additional resources that relates to the content they’re viewing.
Same thing goes for autoplaying video and audio and any sort of wide-screen flash introduction (not interaction). Annoying, distracting, especially if it’s difficult to turn off or bypass entirely. In my day to day work, I have to deal with these multimedia intensive, but annoyingly unnecessary elements on client web pages, despite my User Experience protests. I installed this lovely firefox extension FlashKiller, to disable the fluff.
This sensory overload from media-rich advertisements and media-rich content makes it difficult for visitors to navigate a site, as the initial reaction is confusion & surprise, then usually frustration, as they try to disable the blaring media. After this annoyance serves as the premiere association with your brand, it’s unlikely to generate any lasting customer base or buzz of any kind but negative. Unless you have an extremely ugly website or a really good one, I won’t forward you to friends. Guess which one earns my mockery?
Give me fast-loading, text-based navigation so I can find the information I need quickly and if I want your flashies, I’ll seek them out. If I, as a user, don’t ask to be bombarded with media, don’t force it down my throat. Of course, if you are a musician, I can make an exception to the above rule about auto-playing audio…
