An Appreciation of Web-Site Design

Writes Joe Schembrie: “I was just over at Townhall.com, and what a miserable experience for my poor little laptop! Those of you who have high end computers may not appreciate what the Other Half (or is it Three Quarters?) goes through, so let me say that for us, Less is indeed More.

“Specifically, when I went to Townhall, my computer ‘locked up’ for several seconds. Not one but two pop-up ads appeared, and then when I tried to minimize them, they minimized on their own — a ‘helpful’ feature that often causes more grief, in that such pop-ups typically time their disappearances so that I end up accidently clicking on an underlying link on the original page, and then have to wait while the unwanted page loads, solely so that I can click on the back arrow to return to the original page.

“Contrast with lewrockwell.com, where there are no frustrating pop-ups, no forever-to-load animated ads, no mysterious moments when the scroll feature oscillates between freezing and jumping hyperactively while God only knows what spyware is downloading to forever gunk one’s operating system. (And why would I think that a web site like Townhall.com, which supports the unconstitutional surveillance provisions of the Patriot Act, would also inveigle to excess in OS-crippling spyware?)

“I think your web site design philosophy regarding the placement of advertisements at the bottom of each page is the right one. I am far more likely to click on an ad when I finish reading a piece than on one which rubs my nose in a pop-up before I can even start reading.

“Anyhow, thanks for the minimalism at your web site. It may not be what the marketers want, but it is what the audience appreciates.”

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1:22 pm on April 7, 2008