An example of bad web site design can be found at the Westchester Township Historical Museum in Chesterton, Indiana . No, I didn’t have to go to such an obscure place (no slight intended, Chesterton) to find an example of a bad web site, but I was choosing sites at random from the Yahoo history list, and, well, this was the most glowing example from my “What were they thinkin’!?” list.
The most egregious and most obvious error of web page design on this site is that there are too many font styles, sizes and colors, making the information hard to read. Contributing to this is the text, which goes from the left of the screen all the way over to the right (the italic font doesn’t help). The next most notable error is that nothing is aligned on the page and there are too many focal points. The map of Indiana is far off to the right and poorly designed, and there are two bars that stop a quarter of the way across the page. The navigation bar at the top is out of place, as is the order of choices; shouldn’t “Contact Us” be the last option on a navigation bar rather than the second? And it gets worse; when you click on some of the links on the navigation bar you end up on pages that are not any better than the home page and in some instances worse (check out the Museum Exhibits link) . The links in the text are, for the most part, all external ones, taking the visitor to more professionally designed sites (thank goodness). While having to scroll down the home page in order to read all the text is not preferred, in light of all the other problems on this site, it’s the least of their worries. And, most amazing, the site was last updated on – June 7, 1999!
What would I have done differently? I would create a theme for the page, one that incorporates a professional map, unobtrusive background color, and use of one font style and color that is easy to read and blends nicely with the background. The text would be in narrow columns, also making it easier to read. I would carry this theme throughout the other pages of the site. The navigation bar would be featured vertically at the left hand side. The title of the page would be centered across the top.
An example of good wed site design is the Virginia Historical Society.
The home page is plain and simple yet gets its message across. The fonts are the same and the colors they chose for boarders are simple. The white background accentuates the positive aspects of this page. The pictures on the page are simple and convey a message of Virginia through time. Clicking on one of the pictures will take you to the exhibit “The Story of Virginia.” The links on the left will take you to internal pages that are equally well designed and carry the same theme as the home page ie. same colors and fonts.