1. Unwanted Modals
The general concept of a modal window is actually very clever. It lets developers add content over the page without using JavaScript to pop open a new tab. But modal windows are not the problem. Unwanted modals are the problem and they always drag down the user experience. I’d say there are three different types of “unwanted” modal popups:- Exit intents which open when the user’s mouse leaves the page body, usually hovering the browser tab;
- Timed modals that open after a set amount of seconds;
- Scroll modals that open after the user scrolls a certain distance down the page.

2. Guilt in Copywriting
I recognized this trend years ago but I couldn’t put it into words until I read this article by Katie Notopoulos. She uses plenty of great examples to show how guilt-based copywriting annoys users and increase signups. This writing style appears in those annoying modals I just covered. But this writing can also appear in sidebar fields or in-content opt-in forms. One example from Good Housekeeping is just terrible (hover the browser tab to trigger).
3. Fullscreen Interstitials
It should go without saying that completely taking over the screen with an opt-in or squeeze offer is just plain obnoxious. This trend is like the unwanted modal window on steroids. These interstitials take over the entire screen and block the page unless you close the window. And sometimes it’s almost impossible to close these windows!
4. Slide-in Ads/offers
Sometimes you’ll be scrolling down a homepage and see a small box slide into view from the side. This might be a feedback box for user testing, or it might be social sharing links or even a discount/promotion. I can deal with these every so often. If they stay out of the way and aren’t too obnoxious then, whatever. But on sites like AccessPress you can find at least 2 different slide-in boxes on either side of the page, and sometimes even a 3rd!
5. Custom Scrolling
Most trends in this post have been marketing-oriented because, as Gary V says, marketers ruin everything. But custom scrolling can’t be blamed on anyone. It’s just a trend that’s been around for far too long and feels like a remnant of an older web. Nowadays browsers like Chrome have their own custom scroll features that users can enable/disable on a whim. But websites like Click and Grow still have these annoying JS-based scroll features that turn navigating the site into a chore. Usually these custom scroll animations have one of two effects. Either the scroll goes too fast beyond where you wanted to rest the page, or it goes too slow and you have to whip your mouse wheel just to move. Why would any designer think these two options are better than the default? Tied into custom scrolling is a newer trend I’ve seen on single page layouts. They have fullscreen page “sections” where your scroll wheel only moves down one section at a time. Gladly has this trend on their homepage.
6. Nav Menus Without Padding
This is a tough trend to explain but you know it when you see it. Every site has a navigation menu and most links have padding around them. But sometimes the padding isn’t clickable, so to navigate you need to click on the exact block area of the text itself. This drives me crazy! It takes maybe 30 seconds to move CSS padding from a link’s container element to the link itself. The navigation menu looks the same, but now users can click the link and the space around the link. So much easier! Take a look at Tilde's navigation for a live example. The craziest thing about their site is that their mobile responsive navigation actually does have clickable padding. Only their desktop nav is plagued by the text-only click area. On the flip side you’ll find many sites that understand the importance of this very subtle yet crucial detail. One example is Think With Google where you can actually see the full link size while hovering:
7. Paginated Listicles
Last but not least I’m poking a bit of fun at blogs that design their content into one-item-per-page listicles. I cannot imagine that any person enjoys constantly clicking the “next” button to read through a clickbait post. You’ll find tons of these on many different websites and none of them consider the user’s experience.
Jake Rocheleau
Jake is a writer and user experience designer on the web. He publishes articles discussing HTML5/CSS3 and jQuery coding techniques. Find out more on his website or you can follow his updates on Twitter @jakerocheleau
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