In my spare time I face daily usability problems on the web, and constantly talk to web site owners and managers about them. Out of these I distilled the following as the Most Problematic Usability Issues of 2014.
* Advertisements blocking essential functionality;
* Insisting all web form users to upload a document or picture when some devices like Apple's iPad have been unable to allow document uploads since 2010, and then failing to implement a cross-load alternative;
* Failing to include labels on webform inputs, causing people using older browsers to scratch their heads in wonder;
* Making content available via javascript only when some browsers like Opera Mini and search engines like Bing have been unable to parse that javascript, making it so that your target audience never sees your content;
* Forcing international customers to fill out an American-only postal address, and then claiming your customers are stupid;
* Redirecting your mobile-device-using web visitors to a defunct mobile-specific variation of your web site that either does not contain the content / functionality, or simply does not work at all.
* Less web sites feature templates that assume large monitors (obviously iPhones and similar smartphones have small screens).
* Insisting all web form users to upload a document or picture when some devices like Apple's iPad have been unable to allow document uploads since 2010, and then failing to implement a cross-load alternative;
* Failing to include labels on webform inputs, causing people using older browsers to scratch their heads in wonder;
* Making content available via javascript only when some browsers like Opera Mini and search engines like Bing have been unable to parse that javascript, making it so that your target audience never sees your content;
* Forcing international customers to fill out an American-only postal address, and then claiming your customers are stupid;
* Redirecting your mobile-device-using web visitors to a defunct mobile-specific variation of your web site that either does not contain the content / functionality, or simply does not work at all.
Luckily some things have started to improve, too:
* Less content and functionality depends on Flash and other vendor-proprietary plug-ins which are unavailable on devices like iPad and in browsers like Opera Mini;* Less web sites feature templates that assume large monitors (obviously iPhones and similar smartphones have small screens).
What problems have you encountered?
Missing any from our list? Please talk to us!Worried about your own website?
Describe your problem to “failurenotes at protonmail dot com”, to discuss how we can solve your website‘s issues.