What is Digg?59 Comments
- UGM2099, on 10/12/2007, -2/+38Love this:
When asked, "Flash intros, good or bad?", this was his response:
When we have clients who are thinking about Flash splash pages, we tell them to go to their local supermarket and bring a mime with them. Have the mime stand in front of the supermarket, and, as each customer tries to enter, do a little show that lasts two minutes, welcoming them to the supermarket and trying to explain the bread is on aisle six and milk is on sale today. - afex, on 10/12/2007, -1/+21client: "myspace, foxnews, basically anything with sound on it."
you: "crap." - inactive, on 10/12/2007, -1/+20A little harsh there huh?
You need to learn to crawl before you can learn to walk. Sometimes it's in your best financial interest to do work for "this" type of person. However, like you said, it is YOUR choice, and you get what you pay for. - Sp4nk, on 10/12/2007, -1/+19I don't need to be introduced to your Web site. I'm there. Show me the site already.
- ardnut, on 10/12/2007, -1/+17All these "How to convince" things can be sorted in one easy step.
Just ask the client to list the sites they visit most frequently and enjoy using, then simply point out that those don't have the stupid things they want on their site. e.g. does amazon.com or google.com have a splash screen??? or play stupid music in the background??? ... no. - Rikkochet, on 10/12/2007, -1/+15Spoken like someone with absolutely no concept of business...
- usefulidiot, on 10/12/2007, -1/+15Yeah because we all start at the top(unless we have rich parents). With that kind of an attitude I am sure you will find yourself short of work soon.
- pumacub, on 10/12/2007, -1/+15Anyone been to intel.com recently? Bleh!
- Nighthawke, on 10/12/2007, -3/+14Stick'em in front of a computer that has a dialup connection.
Surf to a site that has a splash page.
Enuf said. - rynTAU, on 10/12/2007, -1/+9How soon until there is a digg article title "How to Convince a Client They Don't Need a Web Site." ?
- PabloIV, on 10/12/2007, -1/+9I am Sales Director for a medium sized web -development company, and I gotta tell you, if you're only developing for web-savvy companies you are SERIOUSLY limiting your client base. Either way, most people, even the tech-savvy ones, aren't online as much as everyone here, and they're not aware of usability trends. Usually clients just want a site that works. Good navigation, design focus, simplicity of use, minimum loading times... That's the main reason they hired experts to make their site instead of having cousin Timmy who's "good with computers" do it for them. Plus, it's just bad salesmanship to think of your customer as an idiot.
- evilTak, on 10/12/2007, -1/+7Wow...intel bad.
- sciencebase, on 10/12/2007, -0/+6and that Moogish popcorn music? What weeeeere they thinking?
- Tredici, on 10/12/2007, -1/+7Yeah, and when not using Flash, the use of conditional comments and the '@media' trick has made it very easy for a website to appear identical cross-browser.
Nice article, however I find it easy enough convincing a client by simply saying a splash will just get in the way of the end-user and, on the whole, serves very little purpose (obviously other than what Latova has covered, and that's rarely the case). But hey, in desperate situations, I've often found extreme success in saying, "Splash page? That's an extra eight hundred." - drpeppper, on 10/12/2007, -1/+6damn i was awake all night wondering why flash wasn't working on your system and what possible motive you would have to ban such a feature. now i know... now i know.
- tempusrob, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4"It's your fault if you're receiving clients who are dumb enough to request a splash page."
Spoken like someone who's never had a client. It's *your job* as the designer to help guide the client to the solution that's going to benefit them the most ... which includes shooting down "ideas" like splash pages. Most clients don't know what they NEED... only what they WANT. Which are often two very different things. - devoinregress, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3I am just starting out and any work is good work. I do real work and I can't afford to be a hot shot and fire my clients.
- Schug, on 10/12/2007, -1/+4Strong Bad's Website: http://www.homestarrunner.com/sbemail51.html
http://www.homestarrunner.com/cheatintro.swf - duhblow7, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3PeEll: thanks for being "that guy".
Yes, fbsd does fall within the other 5%.
I guess this makes me "that other guy". - latova, on 10/12/2007, -14/+16Splash pages were mainly used a few years ago to switch between different compatibilities for viewing the site, like flash/no flash, ie/netscape, frames/no frames and so on. Current web technologies have been standardized. 95% of people have flash these days (not to mention its easy to download), everyone uses a mix of IE/firefox/opera (generally people make sites for IE and they work in firefox just fine, opera sometimes has trouble), and frames have been completely replaced by div overflows.
- Amplix, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2while the sites they normally go to might not have these things, that might be exactly the reason why they want a splash page.. because they think they have some sort of edge on all the other sites out there.
- sastian, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2 Jared rocks. I know this guy personally and you should heed his every humorus word :)
- latova, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Flash 8 has issues, not Flash itself as far as I know. All you do is just export your flash in a different version... problem solved.
- devoinregress, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1shame
I am surprised at the lack of dancing talent on these ads. - glitchbit, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1lol if you have a client smart enough to ask half those questions then maybe they should be making their own site. Not that they were highly intelligent questions lol, I just don't know of anyone from any company having a website done that would know enough to ask those questions. But it never hurts to be prepared to shoot down each possible confronting question they may come at you with.
- Urusai, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Now to convince people that tiny serifed (and non-standard) fonts on a black page with generous border regions isn't cool, it's pretentious and hard to read.
- 4815162342, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2How to convince diggers to stop digging stories about "how to convince clients" something...
- z.unit, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Dear lord i could have used this back in college. We did a project for a local artist and he was so nit picky that basically the only thing that got done was the stupid splash page he was obsessed with.
- kelson, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2The first good use of a splash page I've seen in ~12 years on the web is the new design for http://www.opera.com/ that was launched *last month*.
It's static, not animated, and it's functional: It tries to funnel users directly to the three most likely places they'd want to go:
- The download page for the desktop browser.
- The download page for the cell phone mini browser.
- The info page for their embedded browser.
I think it says something that it took a decade to find a splash page that had any use at all beyond distraction. - inactive, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1Right after the article
"How to Convince Your Client to Lose Sales By Becoming Stagnant By Ignoring Modern Shifts in Marketing"
That title alone will break wordpress :) - jutgreen, on 12/06/2008, -4/+4I dugg this idiot up on accident, so please forgive me. But, if you actually turn clients down for something as simple as wanting a splash page then you sir need to grow up. Some very large websites still use splash pages and, although I do not care for splash pages, some people do. So just explain to them why it is or isn't a good idea for their needs and just do the work. With that kind of attitude I am surprised you get any business at all.
- trifco, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0I always first advise my clients about do's and don'ts when we start the project. Afterward, If he want me to implement the splash page and music, I do it... after all he's the one who pays me to do the job. And always the client will come back to make corrections and updates to the project according to my initial do's and dont's... So, Make a strong suggestion and than give them what they really want...
.." What was that sir? Can you have Ferrari in Barbie hot pink color? Yes of course!" - 5blocksfree, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1I also happen to think that flash sucks for UI work. Visually it might work, but it "feels" like a kludge.
- siestaguy, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1I just launched my web site yesterday and it has a Flash splash screen :( Can't I just put descriptive text under the Flash (pretext: for the benefit of people without Flash installed).?
- cadavreexquis, on 10/12/2007, -6/+6Many web designers enjoy the challenge of working with less web-savvy clients BECAUSE we can educate them about the benefits of a solid, standards-compliant site - thus ensuring that the internet is not awash in spacer gifs, nested tables and flash intros.
Also, if the client is clueless, we can charge more. - hudge, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0The end of the splash page will me a great day in my life.
- confed, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0Amazing. I personally think that flash into's are evil - what a wate of time for the makers and viewers. To see Intel having one on their home page is crazy.
- chungthomas, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0IMO splash pages are good if and only if you have a sub-website of product, which you just get the user all hyped up before actually entering. This practice is popular amongst (but not limited to) automakers such as BMW or Audi, electronic makers such as Sony, etc. But for a corporate website, I don't think it needs a splash page because it is just redundant clicking. Unless if you live in Canada like me where the country is largely bilingual, and that's when you need a splash page to help divert the audience to their respective languages.
- ccblaker, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0What a great article.. I know that I will be reiterating some by this message, its only because I wrote this before reading comments:
Please consider writing the following next:
How to convince a company you work for (as a low-level functionary of the web) to ditch Flash and go instead with.. well, what exactly?
As you said, Flash is very visually appealing- and the company's reasons for maintaining that as a priority stem from reasons much larger than the Internet (like TV). They want it to go "BANG!" .. so what do you give them instead?
Is sublime design enough?
PS. Spell check caught "internet" and says its spelled "Internet".. ha! - lor3nzo, on 06/12/2009, -0/+0There's a special heaven for clients arguing that they need SPLASH!
- devoinregress, on 10/12/2007, -2/+2@PeEll
note the 95%. You are the vast minority by your choice. The only time a site would reach down to 5% of the market is if that 5% were computer illiterate Win 95 users. (only the government would do something like this)
Not to say I don't feel your pain. Flash on my Linux PPC just doesn't work. - CKR600, on 10/12/2007, -2/+1Easy, I say yea yea then when I'm done they ask "where's the splash page?" and I scream "No! no! Bad executive! bad! Sit!" and they give me my money!
- astrotrain, on 10/12/2007, -2/+1
That's right user..you have Internet Explorer... watch the pretty ActiveX splash page while I download Spyware and pr0n to your PC.... mu-ha-ha-ha - 022A, on 10/12/2007, -1/+0The only time I ever had to prove the stupidity of a splash page to someone...
I simply showed them that over half their visitors never clicked through to the actual site content. - InetRoadkill, on 10/12/2007, -4/+2To anyone considering a flash-based splash page, let me offer this word of advice: Don't do it. They are annoying and cheezy -- especially for a business site. There is nothing worse than pissing off customers by making them sit thru your stupid animation.
The best business sites are simple, clean, to the point, load quickly, and have a good index menu. Organize the site logically, make it easy to navigate, and don't waste your customers time with *****. Your customers will appreciate that more than any flash animation.
//FYI -- Flash has been officially banned from my systems. I'm sick of it being abused. - mistshadow2k4, on 10/12/2007, -3/+1They forgot to mention that it makes you look like a wannabe who is full of himself.
I have to agree with that 25% who leave, even if there is a "skip intro" link. Whenever I run across a page with a flash intro I roll my eyes. If there's a skip intro link and I really want to get to this site, I'll click the link. If it's not a site I need, I'm gone. - Haiyadragon, on 10/12/2007, -2/+0The "close tab" button still works great though. There are always alternatives.
- tofuoni, on 10/12/2007, -7/+5For what intel paid for that ad, you'd think they could have at least gotten a hot chick. wtf?
- tofuoni, on 10/12/2007, -4/+2true. true.
The more modern way to do what clients are thinking when they suggest a splash page, is to have a prominent "About Us" button that links to the splash. Most clients really aren't thinking about details like what is and is not annoying. They just have this general idea that they want to explain themselves to a user. "About Us" is the place to do that. - alky, on 10/12/2007, -5/+3Sometimes splash page are a good idea. For example, I live in a french/english community so local websites are expected to be bilingual. The best way to achieve that without belittling either language is a simple "English / Francais" splash page.
Of course, using flash to achieve that is grounds for being shot. -
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