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The Use and Misuse of Flash
Aesthetic Studios | White Paper
Before & After Screenshots

Home Page - Before & After

 

What's wrong with this image?

• No real content on the home page; it's just one large image and some moving text.
• Menu isn't very functional; it is hard to see and search engines can't pick it up (so they can't see any other pages of the website).
• Layout is ineffective; the eye is drawn to many different things at once (all the moving text distracts it from focusing on one thing) and 1/2 of the screen is taken up by a static image that serves no purpose (the clock).
• Visitor isn't encoraged to browse further into the site; nothing draws attention and asks the visitor to "Click here for more information."
• The page takes a long time to load. After waiting for the preloader to complete, the visitor must allow all the parts of the site to "fly in."

How we fixed it?

• The layout is effective; the eye is drawn to the 8 key sections by the emphasis on the titles and the images, and if the visitor finds it interesting he can read the small caption and click a link to find out more information. It encourages the visitor to browse further into the site.
• Plenty of content on the home page to satisfy many different segments of the target market - pulling them into different pages of the website.
• The only flash is used in the banner at the top advertising a specific service of the company. It's singular use draws attention and if the visitor finds it interesting, it provides a way for him to find out more. The sparing use of flash causes it to compliment the site and project the banner's message rather than distract and annoy the visitor.
• All the top-level menu choices are visible and text-based. This allows for the visitor to quickly see the different sections of the site and gives search engines the ability to search the rest of the website.
• The homepage loads quickly because of its focus on text and small images, rather than large movie files that slow the loading process down.

Inner Page Before & After

 

What's wrong with this image?

• Content is limited to a small box; if the content exceeds the size of the box, a scrollbar is needed.
• The page isn't well laid out; content is limited to less than half the screen while the other half is wasted by an image.
• Since the content is in a flash file, a visitor is unable to perform even basic actions: copy/paste, highlight, change font size and search the page for keywords (using the browsers find feature).
• If a visitor finds this page compelling, he is unable to bookmark it; he can only bookmark the top-level domain (the home page).
• If William Pear International wants to fix a misspelled word, they need to contact us to make the necessary changes. The change itself takes much longer than it would on an ordinary html page (resulting in a higher maintenance cost for William Pear International).

How we fixed it?

• Content isn't limited to a small area; it is given the majority of the page. The image is given a small area in the top right of the page to compliment the content, rather than wasting over half the page and drawing attention away from the content.
• The content is text-based, so all the functionality is restored.
• If a visitor finds the page compelling, not only can he bookmark it but he can also view related pages (listed on the left side).
• Small modifications like fixing a misspelled word or replacing an image is no longer difficult for William Pear International. All they need to do is log in to their Content Management System and make the change. It takes less time for them to fix a misspelled word than it would take them to write an email to us to fix it.

Introduction/Corporate Presentation Before & After

What's wrong with this image?

• When one went to the William Pear International website, he was presented with a preloader for the introduction/corporate presentation, and after a long time of loading (if the visitor hadn't left yet) he was presented with the corporate presentation. While it is a good corporate presentation, a visitor should only see it if he wants to.
• The preloader takes an extremely long time to load (due to the large images and music) which drives visitors away. If a visitor stumbled in to see what sort of services William Pear International offers, more than likely he will be gone before the preloader finishes - not even seeing the corporate presentation.

How we fixed it?

• Instead of starting the website with the corporate presentation, we chose to feature it on the home page and provide a link to view it. This way the visitor isn't forced to see anything he doesn't want to see. This improves visitor retention (most visitors were gone before seeing the site).
• The corporate presentation page (the page describing the corporate presentation and presenting screenshots, linked to from the homepage) has made the corporate presentation increase in value; instead of simply being an annoying "intro" one must sit through to see the website, it has now become a high-quality addition that is seen only by those interested in the company and the presentation. By telling the visitor about it and showing a few screenshots, he will more likely sit through the preloader and watch the presentation in its entirity rather than skip it or leave the site (as he would have most likely done in the previous version of the site).

Conclusion

Changing William Pear International's website from all flash to a hybrid has done more than fix problems caused by flash; it has increased its value to the company and the public. Flash is still used when necessary, but now usability and functionality comes before "what looks cool." That is, in essence, the basis of user-centric design: design the website with the user in mind.

If you are interested in having Aesthetic Studios redesign your website, don't hesitate to contact us. We'll tell you exactly what we think will improve the value and functionality of your website.

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