I will not ridicule those who just made their graduation site on frontpage with comic-sans and a yellow background, Instead I will show you the 10 crappiest sites of corporations that should have the best designs possible !
The companies below are filthy rich and they can definitely afford to spend on their website design which they clearly did not. Please don’t come running after me with lawsuits , you should be thanking me for reviewing your site for free.
Adobe
Yea ! that’s right – Adobe – The company that monopolizes the design industry has the worst designed website.
I have seen what Photoshop, illustrator and dreamweaver is capable of – I think Adobe needs to learn how to use them.
The website takes ages to load, and my core2duo processor was bleeding. The site is cluttered and don’t get me started on the navigation.
A company like Adobe should be able to design the best website possible using the technologies they own.
Go Daddy
WARNING !!! THE IMAGE BELOW HAS PROVED DISTURBING TO THE EYE AND MAY CAUSE BLINDNESS DUE TO REALLY BAD DESIGN. View at your own RISK!!.
This website is a nightmare, seriously. I have two domains which i manage on godaddy and its a pain.
It is torturous to use this website, the navigation is confusing , its so cluttered i could find a dime in an ocean faster than my domains on this site. Its ridiculously slow because of all the unwanted crap they show.
Try buying a domain on this site and you will be convinced why I call it “The NIGHTMARE”.
YouTube
Have you ever noticed how Unintuitive and Ugly youtube is, probably not, because its owned by the big boss of the net. Mr Google.
Well, its time to change things if you want to keep that resignation away.
W3C
“Leading the web to its full potential” – Really , with that design.
if they want to lead us to our full potential, they should try and exploit theirs first. The website looks very unprofessional and the borders make the website look like a table.
Hotmail
Do i really have to explain this one, it pretty much speaks for its self. This is probably the most annoying service i have used because my stupid friends used it, well i dumped my friends and got new friends who used G-mail. Who advertises their own company on their own website using a banner that huge [top right].
UBUNTU
Don’t get me wrong but i love ubuntu linux and open source software, now that ubuntu is gaining popularity, it gains responsibility, and its website really sucks. The picture of the desktop and server itself are very ugly. People expect much more from a website which distributes an operating system, because it reflects upon the operating system it self.
The gradients have been used inappropriately, and the layout does not guide the eye ultimately confusing a new user. I feel the website designer have considered the users to be experienced Linux users when clearly they are aiming home users who don’t have any technical experience. I think they need to simplify their website and remove clutter
ACER
Acer has done a good job with the content on the website, but have one of the worst design possible. It just looks yuk. There is not much wrong with the navigation but the layout needs a lot of work.
Sun Microsystems
I think a company so closely related to technology should consider hiring a better web designer. Even a kid would stay away from using that rounded rectangle with a gradient under the navigation [they have used it the worst possible way], and the search box has the worst styling possible.
HP
This is the most confusing one i have seen, the site doesn’t guide the eye and the user has no idea how to use the site to find what he wants. The site is not consistent through out and the width and alignment changes when you browse the site. I would have to say that the colors used on this site are very refreshing but the site is just huge with really bad navigation. Even the URLs are crazy.
Craigslist
I am lost ….im back ..
Well, without further ado – i present the craigslist makeover by ‘the big noob’ .
i think craigslist needs to get this design
just a thought, do you think google needs a redesign?
Now I am NOT saying that Google’s got the worst design, i just want to ask you if you think Google needs to work on its design. It has not changed much since it started out and i really love the simplicity but i feel there is more to simplicity than what google has achieved, it could use better and cleaner graphics. Their icons are not very consistent as some of them have a glossy look while others have the classic look.
Now most of you will disagree with the fact that Google could possibly use a redesign. I have valid reason to believe that Google can do better.
Take for example: If i were to tell you that Google when first started out [1997] needed a redesign, you would probably reply with the same reasons, that it is simple and doesn’t need to be any better.
Now the reason Google looks so much better today is because the company considered redesigning, if it wouldn’t have redesigned it would have probably looked the same.
THINK AGAIN!
22 Comments
Well, I had thought you were going to go more in depth with your findings than what you have written. Some of your complaints come across as biased design choices. The designers who made those pages have their own ideas of design, I could have made my list as well. It would have been nice to see you delve more into the usability factor of each of the sites because several of them there really are quite a nightmare to use.
As far as Google goes they do offer the iGoogle service now that you can customize, but the simplicity of the default home page is perfect for what it is. Clutter and unnecessary links are what Yahoo is for. Well that is my two cents anyway.
Thank you for taking the time to comment, I am just starting out so i will take those tips in to consideration for future posts.
i do agree with the fact that different designers have their ideas and concept but some of them have crossed the limit, especially godaddy.com .
I think you are right about the google part too, but don’t you feel they could work on their icons a little more as they are not consistent. Some are very glossy while the others are classic. Take for example their Favicon and the other icons.
By the way, your site looks good too
Some interesting examples of bad design kumailht, although I’m not so sure about Google deserving a place on your list. I believe Google have got it absolutely right and have firmly adhered to the most important principle of design – keep it simple!
What about Craigslist? It’s one of the most useful sites out there, it should look great but it’s a mess.
Cragslist definitely qualifies
I have to agree with Dan, and disagree with some of your arguments in the post. Usability may be an issue for some of these sites, but to simply call them “ugly” isn’t much of an argument. While many (although not all) of the above have usability issues, I didn’t personally find much wrong with the aesethetics of many of the listed sites (which of course is my personal opinion.
thank you for your response.
I have tried not to complain about the aesthetics, but some of them lack the usage of basic principles in design.
http://vandelaydesign.com/blog/design/first-impression/
They have done a good job providing guidelines for a good first impression which many of these websites have not adhered to.
hahah, great post! You can call them what you want, that is your opinion, and if you think they are ugly, good for you. I would have to say that the W3c is hilarious.
Good work
Thanks Matt , i really appreciate your comment and site is pretty cool
Cool idea for a post, and I have to agree with a few things you’ve said (w3c, HELLO?)… but, just a tip to improve future posts – I’d make your comments come across as less of an attack and more of an in depth look at the sites (or whatever you happen to post about). I have a huge beef with ugly sites too, but there’s a lot more than could’ve been said about these sites in particular in terms of usability and accessibility. And maybe explain what MAKES them ugly? Just a thought.
I could never understand people who point out errors but hardly offer solutions. You point out Sun’s inappropriate use of rounded rectangles but don’t offer why an alternative design would be better. It’s the same with others on your list.
This is my first time checking out your blog and I’ve now one thing to say,”You’re on my list buddy…….on blogs to avoid”.
@marnie b
Thanks for the comment :: i am recording those tips
@robin
I am not here to give them solutions for free, if they want solutions they can hire me.
why should i waste my time giving solutions to a company that was stupid enough NOT to realize how crappy their design was, even if i did give them solutions they would probably not care.
Don’t be so quick to judge me by this post, its my second post and im still learning how to write good posts
hope i am off ur “list” soon
I agree with some of your comments.
Regarding Google, I’m not at all bothered with the way it looks. My primary reason for visiting the site is to find information on the web, and this, it obviously does very well.
They could make their site the prettiest on the web, and if it didn’t fulfill it’s primary purpose, people would desert in droves.
Interesting post and a good read! good to hear you saying what you think, everyone is entitled to their opinion. I have to agree with the hotmail one, the msn site in general annoys me! I think the Google and You Tube sites have been designed with thought mostly for usuabilty. They could be slightly more aesthetically pleasing I suppose but I think they set standards for being user friendly and their popularity backs this up!
Nice post!!
Honestly, I have a hard time taking your usability and design critiques seriously when I look at the usability and design of your own front page. (http://kumailht.com)
Not only that, but have you ever done web design for a large corporation? Let me tell you; the web designer often does not have much of a say on what goes on the site or even how it looks (sadly enough). I cannot tell you how often I have been approached by business owners, marketing, or management and told to say, add a big red button or some other awful element to a page I have created. Though I can try to come up with a compromise or provide an alternate suggestion, they are the ones paying my paycheck.
(I do agree with you on the usability of GoDaddy and Craigslist though.)
So before you knock on the web designers as the culprits, you may want to improve your own website and get some real world corporate experience so you have some actual credibility.
@amber
I do agree with you that my website is not that great itself. Even though you are the first one to tell me this. But hey, i can tell when a website sucks.
We are talking about companies who have money, I hardly get 200 visits on my portfolio, I don’t have to worry about the perfect design, these sites get millions of visits and they definitely need to take design seriously.
I have worked for larger corps and have not updated my portfolio recently , sorry my bad ;
maintaining a blog/website/job/life/university is not an easy task.
I have dealt with customers who would want me to use ridiculous colors on their logos and websites, but that is no excuse for a corporation to go with a bad website. If i owned godaddy or any of those sites, i would probably let the designers do their job.
I think they have to trust their designers and if they do trust their designers and this is what they came up with, they need new ones.
Google should stay the way it is. Never change it.
Good for people to know.
Im in Highschool studying graphics design because it’s the only subject im allowed in. I keep getting bad grades because my teacher thinks my designs suck. But i think they are awesome. How do you know when something is a good design or not. Honestly i thought ACER looked sick and msn and Youtube because they look cool.
we are students of bentley state high and we are ict students. we would just like to say that google is easy to use and gives us alot of imformation and has an okay setup.
peace out A-town
bulllllla chey
mwah
xoxo
I would agree on most of them except Google. It’s simple, it’s fast, it works. You don’t put a star-studded saddle on a racehorse.
@Sunil
You have a good point, and I woudnt want google to loose that. What I am saying is that it could be faster and look better, they could use a redesign.
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Top 10 websites that suck but shouldn’t…
I will not ridicule those who just made their graduation site on frontpage with comic-sans and a yellow background, Instead I will show you the 10 crappiest sites of corporations that should have the best designs possible !…
[...] Google is a badly designed site according to this post: Top 10 websites that suck but shouldn’t, although I think I am going to have to disagree with them on this one. I also came across a blog [...]