1. Pop-Ups
If I ask you to name the single most irritating thing on the web, the odds are that you’ll reply, “Pop-ups.” According to the NN Group pop-ups are the most hated web experience ever. We all know that feeling. You visit a new website, the content on the page seems to be interesting. You begin to read it and just when you are halfway through the text, you are suddenly interrupted by a huge overlay asking you to either subscribe to a newsletter or offer you something. In most cases, your immediate reaction will be either to close the overlay or to close the entire page, the overlay along with it.![opt6](https://www.webdesignerdepot.com/cdn-origin/uploads/2018/02/opt6.jpg)
![opt1](https://www.webdesignerdepot.com/cdn-origin/uploads/2018/02/opt1.jpg)
2. Infinite Scrolling
Infinite scrolling is a technique that allows users to scroll through a massive amount of information with no finishing line in sight. The page simply keeps refreshing while users scroll down. The technique became popular in the era of mobile devices (scrolling is much more comfortable than clicking on a tiny screen). At first glance, this technique is a perfect solution for many problems—it requires less effort and makes content comprehension as easy as possible (all users need to do is to scroll). However, it’s not a one-size-fits-all solution for every site or app. The main downside of the technique is also its primary advantage: there’s no finishing line in sight. When users get to a certain point in the stream, they can’t bookmark their location and come back to it later (notice, I mean position, not certain item). So if they leave the site (eg, move from one device to another), they’ll lose all their progress and will have to scroll down again to get back to the same spot. The inability to determine the scrolling position often annoys users and hurts the overall user experience. In 2012 Etsy, an e-commerce website focused on handmade or vintage items, experimented with layouts for their product page. They implemented an infinite scroll interface and found that the new interface just didn’t perform as well as a previous version with pagination. Although a number of purchases stayed the same, user engagement went down. What does Etsy’s example tells us? It tells us that with every design decision we should weigh the pros and cons before incorporating it into our designs. Speaking of infinite scroll, it works well for something like Twitter/Instagram where users are happy to scan an endless stream of data without looking for anything in particular.3. Push Notifications
Have you ever paid attention to the number of notifications you receive on a daily basis from various apps? How many of those notifications do you actually care about? Not too many, I guess. Everyday, we are bombarded with useless notifications that distract us from what we do. They annoy us.![opt5](https://www.webdesignerdepot.com/cdn-origin/uploads/2018/02/opt5.jpg)
![opt3](https://www.webdesignerdepot.com/cdn-origin/uploads/2018/02/opt3.jpg)
4. Scroll Hijack
Hijacked scrolling is one of the most annoying things for many users since it takes control away from them and makes the scrolling behavior completely unpredictable. When designing a website, in most cases it’s better to avoid scroll hijacking and let the user control their browsing and movement through the site. But in some rare cases scroll hijacking might work fine for your users. For example, Tumblr uses this technique on their homepage to present information in chunks.![opt2](https://www.webdesignerdepot.com/cdn-origin/uploads/2018/02/opt2.jpg)
Conclusion
It’s worth saying that all techniques mentioned in this article aren’t bad per se. Users hate them only when designers blindly incorporate them. Each technique or pattern on your website or in your app should be used intelligently and with some moderation.Nick Babich
Fireart Studio is a design studio passionate about creating beautiful design for startups & leading brands. We pay special attention to nuances all the time to create professional while cool products that will not only meet all expectations, but exceed them.
Read Next
15 Best New Fonts, July 2024
Welcome to our monthly roundup of the best fonts we’ve found online in the last four weeks. This month, there are fewer…
By Ben Moss
20 Best New Websites, July 2024
Welcome to July’s round up of websites to inspire you. This month’s collection ranges from the most stripped-back…
Top 7 WordPress Plugins for 2024: Enhance Your Site's Performance
WordPress is a hands-down favorite of website designers and developers. Renowned for its flexibility and ease of use,…
By WDD Staff
Exciting New Tools for Designers, July 2024
Welcome to this July’s collection of tools, gathered from around the web over the past month. We hope you’ll find…
3 Essential Design Trends, July 2024
Add some summer sizzle to your design projects with trendy website elements. Learn what's trending and how to use these…
15 Best New Fonts, June 2024
Welcome to our roundup of the best new fonts we’ve found online in the last month. This month, there are notably fewer…
By Ben Moss
20 Best New Websites, June 2024
Arranging content in an easily accessible way is the backbone of any user-friendly website. A good website will present…
Exciting New Tools for Designers, June 2024
In this month’s roundup of the best tools for web designers and developers, we’ll explore a range of new and noteworthy…
3 Essential Design Trends, June 2024
Summer is off to a fun start with some highly dramatic website design trends showing up in projects. Let's dive in!
15 Best New Fonts, May 2024
In this month’s edition, there are lots of historically-inspired typefaces, more of the growing trend for French…
By Ben Moss
How to Reduce The Carbon Footprint of Your Website
On average, a web page produces 4.61 grams of CO2 for every page view; for whole sites, that amounts to hundreds of KG…
By Simon Sterne
20 Best New Websites, May 2024
Welcome to May’s compilation of the best sites on the web. This month we’re focused on color for younger humans,…