Don't Make Your Users Work!

This seems like common sense, but I continue to see the problems everywhere. I'm a bit frustrated, and it has a lot to do with artists and web cartoonists.

Scrolling. Extraneous Clicks. Javascript/Flash load times for a tiny picture.

Do you not want me to come back to your site? Is that why you stacked three banner ads across the top, and then put the daily content half way down the page? If you expect me to come back every day, your site needs to be a pleasure to use.

If you want to use a fancy script to light box your pictures, make sure that script includes navigation! The bad scenario I see too often: I have to click on a thumbnail, wait for the pic to load (which you have now more than doubled the load time with all the special effects) and then I have to click to close the pop up (window or lighbox, either way) before I can go on my way. I can almost guarantee I won't be looking at many of your pictures. It's nice that your script presents your art well, but it also needs to function well.

Same goes for web cartoonists. You update daily (or with some regularity), and yet every time I come to your page I have to scroll down to see the whole comic? Bad call. It should also be super easy to navigate backwards if I am a first time reader. Give me a button that takes me all the way back, a button to go one back, one forward, and of course a 'Last' button. Don't make me work! For a lot of you every page impression is how you get money through ads. If I get sick of your navigation and bail, you lost potential click through.