Tuesday, June 01, 2010

Flash

(Visiting The Oatmeal for the first time in awhile always has me getting caught up and following the occasional real world links he includes. I wasn't going to do two posts in one day, but this is the funniest thing I've read in forever -- and it's from 2003!)

Uproar over Anti-Flash Intro Survey Results

Quote from Macromedia employee (pre-Adobe buyout) on website Flash intros:

"When we have clients who are thinking about Flash splash pages, we tell them to go to their local supermarket and bring a mime with them. Have the mime stand in front of the supermarket, and, as each customer tries to enter, do a little show that lasts two minutes, welcoming them to the supermarket and trying to explain the bread is on aisle six and milk is on sale today.

"Then stand back and count how many people watch the mime, how many people get past the mime as quickly as possible, and how many people punch the mime out.

"That should give you a good idea as to how well their splash page will be received. That's the crux of it."

1 comment:

SpaceMonkeyMojo said...

I agree with the article - I think flash is much more effective and useful as a learning tool and for sheer entertainment - movies, games, animations and the like. Flash intros suck as they completely disregard the universal design concept of utility. We don't need our hammers, wrenches, refrigerators, or cars to do a tap dance routine. And most people access a site with a particular aim in mind, and are using the site a tool to get what they want. The mime analogy is right on.