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Home >> Articles >> Web Site Design >> Remember the adage KISS
Author: Steve
Added: June 5, 2004
Views: 2,171
Rating: 9/10
I can't tell you how much I hear about beginning and even more experienced web designers craving the advanced features that the web offers, like DHTML, Flash animations, Shockwave, music, etc etc. The fact is I'm getting sick of waiting for it to download. Even through a T1 connection to the Internet (1.544 Mbps), I waited about 30 seconds for one Flash animation to load. Ridiculous.
I can understand a beginner to the world of web design being overwhelmed with the 'cool stuff'. They don't want to learn it, but they want to use it. They don't want to research proper uses of the language or feature, but they want to think of their site as somehow superior because they use it. When designing a site, remember the old adage, KISS (Keep It Simple Stupid).
Unless you have a specific, unavoidable need for a more advanced language or feature, you simply do not need to use it. Especially with client-side languages like Javascript or DHTML, different browsers interpret the results differently, which means the results your page offers will be inconsistant. The guys at Netscape developed the Javascript language, believe it or not, but their own browser doesn't support all of it. Go figure.
Web sites were originally created to present information, and they are still designed to do just that. They were not designed to include a bunch of 'features' that do nothing more than slow down the speed of your site, sometimes considerably. Before implementing such features, think about if you really need it or not. Do not look to include a feature because you believe it will look cool. Include it only if it is truly unavoidable, and cannot be done any other way.
I am much more impressed when I surf through a basic, well designed and quickly loading site using just HTML and maybe a server-side language than I am having to wait for a feature to download and use. Keep It Simple Stupid.
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