The Readable Future
17th December 2011
No app built for reading starts with the premise that the publisher has done an acceptable job.
You would think that those in the publishing business would have some sort of basic appreciation of why people come to their sites, and some sort of basic aversion to doing things that irritate their users. Unfortunately, you would be wrong therein.
If you have a site, presumably you want to have people visit the site — more than once, if possible. So why go out of your way to irritate them by making the Content difficult to get to?
A pop-up window that obscures the Content, and has to be clicked somewhere to get rid of it, is irritating, no matter what it’s for. Starting the user experience by being an asshole BEFORE SOMEONE EVEN GETS TO YOUR SITE is not a formula for success. (Yes, this means bullshit ‘registration’ requirements. ‘But it’s free!’ No, it’s not; it takes time and effort, and my time and effort are limited, and therefore valuable — and clicking the BACK button is less time and effort than your bullshit registration process, however ‘free’.)
Things that move (advertisements, twitter feeds, breaking ‘news’) are irritating, no matter what they’re for. We are hard-wired to be attracted to movement, and moving shit THAT IS NOT THE CONTENT WE CAME FOR is an unprofitable distraction. I always make a note of vendors who do this sort of thing, so I know to avoid them — not, I suspect, the hoped-for result. No such thing as bad publicity? Dude, keep thinking that way; the vultures will feast on your flesh.