Why you shouldn’t get too creative with your website (UX)

Hello and welcome back to The Digital Brew Podcast! In this episode, we dive into why getting too fancy with your website’s user experience can actually hurt your business more than help it.

What We Mean by “Too Fancy”

We’re talking about websites that break away from what users expect – unusual navigation placement, strange scrolling behaviour, creative image and video usage that leaves visitors thinking “that looks cool, but how do I actually use this thing?”

Our Biggest UX Pet Peeves

Hijacked Scrolling

Two main culprits here that drive us absolutely mental:

• Forced smooth scroll – when your page swooshes down instead of moving normally
• Snapping sections – where one scroll wheel movement jumps you to an entirely different section, often before you’ve finished reading

Overused Animations

We’re not anti-animation, but not every element needs an entrance animation! Use them sparingly and tastefully, and always respect users’ reduced motion preferences for accessibility.

Pointless Loading Screens

Unless you’re showcasing a massive portfolio with tens of megabytes of content, there’s no excuse for a loading screen on a business website. If your site loads that slowly, fix the performance issues instead of slapping a preloader on top.

Autoplay Everything

Just don’t. No autoplay video, no autoplay audio, and definitely no background music (especially if users can’t pause it). It’s not the MySpace days anymore!

The Common Thread

All these issues share one problem – they take control away from users. When people feel uncomfortable or confused on your website, they’re more likely to leave.

Our Advice

Keep it simple and within standard expectations. Menu and logo at the top, easy-to-scan headings, plenty of breathing space, and straightforward navigation. You don’t have to make it ugly – just make it normal and user-friendly.

Remember: function first, creativity second. Always ask yourself if your fancy ideas will negatively impact what you’re trying to achieve with your website.