MTV.com (Finally) Dumps Flash
7.05.07 @ 4:14 pm
Never again. (Image courtesy of Fantasy Interactive)This is slightly old, but the failed experiment of MTV.com as a completely Flash site is over. The site was a disaster from the start and it was painful to see Flash (as well as online advertising) so blatantly abused. Many folks on the internet were quite vocal about their disagreement with the direction towards Flash and bid the old MTV.com a not-so-fond farewell when it finally died. I still remember seeing it for the first time and having the load-times, performance and amount of ads just blow my mind. I am not a fan of MTV in general, so the move pretty much solidified what was already a great amount of animosity towards the brand. That site will most likely go down as one of the worst high-profile Flash sites of this decade. Let this all be a lesson to us…
Ironically, I personally think the new version of MTV.com is not too hot either. It gives me a kind of MySpace meets music vibe - but perhaps that is just me.design, dot com, flash, internet, media, mtv, web, web design web site
May 8th, 2007 at 12:39 pm
$0.00 in Comment Love for September
I hate hate hate MTV.com. And this is strictly from a web user’s point of view, although I DO indeed hate the channel itself and its garbage…I mean content. In the past, I attempted to search the site for a specific band’s discography and bio. What I encountered was the most convoluted navigation and visual hierarchy ever. Not to mention the lag time in clicking through the site due to all of the flash features. The new site still doesn’t work very efficiently, although it is a vast improvement. You would think that a site with so many high roller sponsors and popularity would invest in quality UI design and programming…
May 8th, 2007 at 12:53 pm
I personally think MTV, much like their programming, were putting the priority of what was cool over the priority of what was smart. Perhaps they think because they view their audience as trendy and hip (or at least trying to be), they do not want their parent’s kind of website.
The problem is, that train of thought just does not seem to be the case in reality. When it comes to user-interfaces, people want ease and familiarity. That does not mean it has to be boring, it just means that they shouldn’t have to spend time to learn how to browse through the site. Creative and usable should be in a direct relationship.