You know the feeling. It’s the “aaargh!” annoyance of a poorly designed website.

Poorly contrasted text and stretched images are my kryptonite. Or a website could look really slick but there’s just that one thing that gets yer goat, like a misleading advert in a big green box hogging the limelight from the legitimage download button you’re actually looking for.

Ugh.

The truth is you can create a website that seems to technically tick all the boxes (like these 45 things to sort before hitting the ‘go live’ button) but still irks users and leaves them frustrated. It’s a waste of their time and your money.

The art of getting this stuff right is called UX design, which stands for User Experience design. It’s all about making a visitor’s experience with a website or application as simple and fuss-free as possible, hopefully adding a touch of delight along the way too.

I know what annoys me about some websites but I thought it would be interesting to open it up a little. This wasn’t just a cathartic exercise, it’s really helpful to understand (and inform others about) good and bad design practices.

Drumroll please…

Worst Mistakes in Web Design