Bubble Foundry

This is the inaugural post in the Bubble Foundry Blog. In this blog I will regularly comment on web design practices and effective ways to develop businesses online. Therefore it is fitting that this first post ranges widely across Bubble Foundry’s areas of concentration, going aesthetics to usability to advertising.

Many websites have flashy animations or videos automatically playing when you come to them. I find this very ugly and annoying and I am not alone. Most users now have pop-up blockers and some are starting to block Flash. In addition to being annoying, this practice has several other drawbacks. Users are forced to download large media files in order to see the site. This will slow the loading of the site when speed, particularly the first time a user visits a website, is essential to a pleasant experience. It is better to let users explicitly request the videos they wish to view, letting those on slow connections make a conscious choice to download the media. This way users will not erroneously attribute slow speeds to the site. Likewise those in a public environment, such as libraries, often wish minimise sound coming from their computers and will not look kindly on a site that blares music or sound effects without warning. Their initial response is usually to close the offending site, not turn down their speakers. Read more »