At TeamBWS we have been working on some new websites and I am more than amused by the differences in what is considered a good site.

According to designers on the internet, the "in" thing is Web 2.0 using CSS (Cascading Style Sheets) and free floating, unboundedtext. The idea, as I understand it, is to give a website a more flowing design and fewer boxes on the screen that can't be moved without extensive programming. None of those old fashion "pill" buttons. No crass visual overload with flashing icons competing for attention. Screens are less crowded; easier to read. They have a more sophisticated look.

So we put together several sophisticated, edgy, graphic oriented websites. Most of our clients are in the computer business so we figured they would know what the newest look is for websites.

Wrong. The sites they like are the ones built about 5 years ago. I tried to figure out where we had gone wrong. So I looked on the internet to find out what the "best" websites looked like and then a found a site called "Your Website Sucks". They had check lists of what not to do and I matched what my boss wanted with the things on the list. He pretty much wanted everything that the "Sucks" website said was wrong or passé.

I figure if we build a website that is exactly what is on the Your Website Sucks list, we will build the perfect website for our clients.

I haven't quite figured why this is. The best I can do is look back at 15 years of working with websites and see the different trends. There was a time you had to have a splash page, preferably with music, starting your website. Now that is considered a website design crime. Animated gifs were new and cute. Does anyone even remember how to do those? Gaudy, rotating logos were very cutting edge. Preferably with a light glinting off the edge as the logo turned.

What it boils down to is that websites follow fads and technology just as much as any other means of communication. The clean, graphic look of one website bores the people who want lots of buttons and action. The button people are considered to be in very bad taste by the graphic people.

The only thing that we can agree on is that the site needs to work. You have to be able to find what you want. No dead ends. No confusing loops. No e-commerce sites where you bomb out when you try to check out. So we are back to programming metallic looking buttons and somber, gritty cy-fi colors. Ce la vie.