what not to do on a website

please contact me if you have anything to add.

• advertising business model
• dark patterns
• unrelated content
  • reddit "More posts ..."
  • youtube "Recommended for you"
  • news sites that load another article at the end
  • youtube autoplay. soundcloud neverending music
• trend-copying design
  • infantile design examples
  • flat design
  • these people example
  • dribble example
• peek-a-boo elements examples
• large sections with bountiful negative space that look nice but have no real content
  • example: every startup website on the internet
• endless scrolling
• 5 min. read
• change default scroll behavior whatsoever
• giphy support
• open links in new tabs
• autogenerated mathy profile images example
• intercepting native copy-paste
• mindless humor bereft of biting truth used in an attempt to not seem stuffy
• indulgent explanations of basic concepts instead of just enough detail
• exclamation points
• social icons
• most modals
  • medium.com aggressive signup links
  • dimming window showing anything
• sticky headers
• almost all comments sections
• conversational titles
• "Yes, ..."
• "... Here's Why."
• unhelpful 404 pages
  • cute oopsie messages
  • anything hinting that the user has done something wrong
  • error pages that don't try to figure out what the user was looking for to help direct them
• circle avatars
• anything with mustaches, bacon, ftw, coffee, beer, chuck norris, etc
• made with <3 in toledo
• pop-ups for a tour of features you can't exit
• gamification
• transition animations everywhere as you scroll
• intentionally buried or hidden settings
• forced features
  • twitter moments
• misplaced ai
  • twitter, facebook altered timeline with no options
• mention blockchain

created september 2019. last edited may 2021.