Jeff's Online Marketing Thoughts

Your Web Site Doesn't Have To Be Flashy

I've talked previously about Flash and other rich media features on a Web site and how they can enhance your usability. An article by Josh Hay on results for a site after removing the flash got me thinking. Would you expect your grocery store to have flashing neon signs around the entrance and advertising the have strawberries on sale in a scrolling marquee around their entire store? Would you shop there? I know I wouldn't. It would just seem like they are trying to hard, or they charge too much to afford all those useless extras. It is the same thing that can happen with Flash and rich media. I'm all for effective use of any tool that enhances your users experience, but you have to be smart and make sure it doesn't turn users off. Does it work on your site or is it over done? The results in the study weren't that surprising to me, in fact I think this tends to often be the case. Many see the rich media on a site and think they are trying to hard, are over-priced or it is just distracting and leave. First impressions are made in seconds these days, or quicker. A good way is to study the data on different design elements and see what performs better.

With Adobe Flex, create sites people will love to shop

Adobe has taken their Flash product to the next level with Flex. You will need Flash 9 player to view their sample store application but it is well worth your time. With around 70% of all households having broadband Internet access, it is inevitable that sites like this will soon become the norm. A store like this greatly increases the usability of a site and more closely represents the concept of shopping as it is in real life rather than how it is today on the Web. Flex can seemlessly take a user from browsing, to analyzing, to comparing, to adding items to their shopping cart, all without having to refresh the screen. To be able to shop without having to wait for the screen to refresh every time it goes back to the server would be one of the biggest leaps forward from a usability standpoint in the history of the Web. This isn't new technology but it also isn't common. There are many sites using AJAX components (Google Maps is an AJAX application), however you will see more sites like the example that Adobe has put together, probably in time for your Christmas shopping this year.