Preface

My impression is that Vincent Flanders is the kind of guy who would tell you that you smell bad, your hair looks horrible, and your dragging toilet paper behind you that is stuck to your shoe. He'll also make you laugh. And after a few moments with him you'll probably run away, back to your computer, to improve your web site. He, along with Michael Willis, took the Web Pages That Suck web site and turned it into an excellent web design guide (check it out). A best-seller in fact. You'll see that this is a fun interview with fun questions. The answers are pretty good too.   -- John S. Rhodes

Introduction 

What are the three most common things web designers do to ruin their web pages? What is your advice for them? 

1. Large graphics, wrong type of graphics (GIF instead of JPEG and vice versa), taking a large graphic and changing the height= and width= parameters to make an image fit in a confined space but forgetting the physical file is still the same size. The solution is to get a good graphics program which offers image optimization. 

Cheap clip art is another problem. Don't go to Costco and buy the "10 Billion Web Graphics for $10" clipart CD-ROM. Spend the money and go to places like Photodisc (http://www.photodisc.com) and license individual images ($19.95 each -- I have no relationship with the company except as a customer -- and I hate their search engine, but that's another story). You'll spend more money and you'll buy fewer images, but they'll look good. 

2. Content. Most web sites don't have compelling content. By that I mean, "is there any reason why anyone in their right mind would come back to your site a second time?" It's not terribly difficult to get people to show up at your site -- once. But what makes them come back? eZines like Word and Salon and all the news sites have it easy -- the content keeps changing -- but what about Larry the Locksmith's site? I don't have the total solution. If you can figure out the content issue, you'll have a successful Web site. 

3.  Navigation. This comes down to usability -- making your site usable so people can find what they're looking for. Make sure your navigation system is "above the fold" -- or as I like to say -- "The top's gotta pop." Your navigation and important information has to be in the top screen. Make your navigation usable and readable. In the history of the Web nobody has ever said, "It's too easy to find stuff on your site. Make the navigation harder." 

4. You said only three, but here's a pet peeve -- on-site search engines. Every e-commerce site needs a search engine but most of them suck. For example if you go to Barnes & Noble and key in "Vincent Slanders" -- a common misspelling of my name -- you won't find my book. If you key in the same phrase at Amazon.com, you'll find my book. On the other hand, if you key in "Vincent Landers" my book doesn't show up at either place. Search engines are only good if you know what you're looking for and you know how to spell it. We need to hire people who know how to index and have them index the databases.

Why do people continue to create slow loading web pages? Argh!

The easy answer is "Because they can." It's so easy to CREATE a Web page (but it's so hard to DESIGN a Web page) and the feedback is so wonderful and instantaneous (the files are loading from your hard disk) that people forget the basics -- like planning the site. In Hollywood, the more work you do in pre-production (before you shoot the film) the fewer problems you have when it comes time to shoot the film, the faster it goes, and the film ends up being better. Plan, plan, plan. Storyboarding is good. Don't sit down and start coding. Think through the whole process. What are you trying to do? Who is the audience? What are your goals? Usability is boring, but it's so necessary. 

Within some context of your choice, describe the perfect web page. 

The perfect commercial Web page is the page that as soon as you click the link to go to the site it sucks the money out of your wallet. Since we don't have the technology, the perfect Web page is the page that has the information or the product you're looking for. A perfect example: My daughter was going to have a test on Sophocles' "Antigone."Since I majored in Classics (with an emphasis on ancient Greek literature) my daughter assumed I knew everything there was to know about the play. Wrong. I spent five minutes on the Web and was able to get her the information she needed. 

What is the worst web site you have ever seen? Does it have any chance of improving? 

Well, the worst keeps changing. Just when I think I've seen the absolute worst page on the Web, something else comes along that's worse. All the "great" worst sites are gone or have been changed. Novatel had a horrible site, but they fixed it. I don't think in terms of "The Worst" I think in terms of "The worst site of the day" or, as I call it, "The Daily Sucker." Here's a site that I feel is really very bad -- http://www.coi.gov.uk -- the navigation is basically useless. They could make it worse, but it would be difficult. 

Web Pages That Suck 

Who are you? What is your background? 

It's a lot easier to give you the URL -- http://www.webpagesthatsuck.com/vfbio.htm and it's certainly more amusing than anything I can say in a paragraph or two. 

Tell us about your book, Web Pages That Suck. Also, describe what we can find at your web site. 

Ah, the book. Well, the book came about because a very clever book agent named Brian Gill thought my web site would make a good book and he sold the concept to a book publisher named Sybex. The book has become the Strunk and White of the Web design industry. We talk about bad design concepts, how to solve them, and we do it with a sense of humor. One of the things I absolutely hate about all the design books out there is they are BORING. Humor helps people learn. The e-mail that arrived just before your e-mail said, "Well, I better get back to reading my VERY BORING 'Running FrontPage 2000' book, it is a total dud after reading your book!" 

On the site you'll find "Sucky Pages," which contained the concepts originally presented by WPTS. I also have "The Daily Sucker" where I talk about the bad site of the day and why it's bad. I also have different articles about design and I've got links (called "Web Design Information and Resources Links") to sites which will help you fix your site. There's also a newsletter and bulletin board. 

I'm curious about something. Why do web pages suck? Why don't they "stink" or "bite"? 

Strictly a marketing decision. "Web Pages That Suck" sounds a lot more commercial (and cooler) than "Web Pages That Stink" or "Web Pages That Bite." If I had used either of these two names, you would never have heard of me. The bad news is the title kept the book out of Wal-Mart and other places of that ilk. 

Bizarre Questions 

Imagine that you suddenly had the power to launch an attack against every single web page on the internet. What would you eliminate or destroy in your moment of glory? 

Great question. Wow! Nobody ever asks anything like this! Uh...I'm a dues paying member of the ACLU, so I wouldn't eliminate anything. I think everybody has the legal right to look silly. 

What would you add? 

Content and navigation. 

Imagine that you are a super hero. What would you call yourself?

Jakob Siegel 

What would your special powers be? 

I'd combine Jakob Nielsen's aesthetic sense of usability with David Siegel's art aesthetics and -- most importantly -- his marketing prowess (he is the god of self-promotion and I bow down before him). 

Who would be your archenemy? 

The ArtFart. 

Tell us a good joke about web site design or usability. 

Unfortunately, I don't know any jokes like, "A priest, a rabbi and a Web designer went into a bar..." 

Well, this is funny -- but in a sad way. Here's a typical e-mail I receive: "Dear Vincent. I've read your book five times and visited your site dozens of times. Here's my URL. Does my site suck?" Right away, I know I've failed. They've read the book and visited the site and they still "don't get it." On three different times I broke down and took a look (it's against "company" policy for me to look at individual sites). The sites sucked. I wrote back and asked, "Why did you do this, this, and this?" The response? "I thought I was an exception to the rules." 

Wrap Up 

It is time for shameless plugs. Are you available for conferences and consulting? 

I get paid to speak at a number of trade shows, seminars, and Web design firms. I'm getting ready for one right now -- Thunderlizard's Web Design show in Atlanta. My angle is to not be boring, but be funny and informative. I also help companies think through their strategies. Consulting is touchy for me because I really try to avoid anything that looks like a conflict of interest. 

What skills do you offer to companies? 

A different perspective on usability and Web design. 

Final thoughts? 

I said "Web design is about money" long before it was acceptable. I've taken a lot of hits for that concept, but it's true. 95% of all Web design is about making money. However, the other 5% is what's interesting and I don't talk about it because my world is the world of commerce. In that vein: enjoy yourself, don't take yourself seriously, pet puppies, kiss babies, do good deeds, teach people what you've learned and remember, "We ain't getting out of this mess alive." 

What should every person remember about this interview? 

God, I hope they learned something and enjoyed themselves and weren't bored to tears. 

Vincent Flanders
http://www.webpagesthatsuck.com/
vincent@webpagesthatsuck.com

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