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Wouldn’t you love to see the Flash site they tested? Sounds to me like they didn’t use device fonts, had a set size Flash interface, and had no idea how to compress (or not compress) images for use in Flash. Bleh… any test like this is goob-i-fied if you get just a summary. People like me want the real data to know what points were valid.
<a href=”http://www.internetretailer.com/dailyNews.asp?id=11184″>http://www.internetretailer.com/dailyNews.asp?id=11184</a>
Interesting article. Sometimes HTML is definitely better than Flash. You use what fits the problem. What is interesting about this comparison is the description they give for the “RIA”. Of course it isn’t visible for us to pick apart, but from the brief description it sounds like a flat out usability nightmare. Turning pages similar to a paper catalog?? Why? That sounds like something I wouldnt want to use. Toys R Us I believe did something similar and it was horrible. The point of whether one is better over the other needs to be made when both implementations are very solid. The Flash UI would need to be very fast responsive and easy to use. I don’t want to use an application that is a burdon to me. I want info and I want it fast. If the flash UI was constructed properly it could be way more effective, efficient, and add value to the users experience. Main point..I think the study was skewed because of a bad UI.
Exactly. I’m not defending Flash, I just want to know what problems they had, and hopefully either I or Macromedia can improve in those areas.
Studies are great, but frikin’ worthless and insulting when they are “talked about” in the way the article did. It’s such a waste of time, and negative use of PR without the facts.
/agree
Going off of the very little detail given I am 93.29147% sure that this was more of a design/usability issue then a problem with Flash.
Articles like this could be beneficial to our community. Sadly most would rather blame a technology for a team failure then give specific information as to where and how the project failed.
Bah!
-erik
U havn’t read the article but I love Peir1’s website they have a little app were you can view the current “mailer” (not catalog) and you can go from page to page and you see the pages flip and on any given page you can click on a section and it zooms in. I thought it was great, but it was not for my to buy something and it actually had a link to the “page” that would hold the actual items. It was a great way to find something i liked in the mailer.
This is the kind of thinking about Flash that really bothers me. I wish I could stop the creation of Flash sites that don’t work or load well. Because in the end…people think that problem is Flash, not how the site was designed or how much sound or pictures etc are being used.
it’s a shame we can’t see that site….
just launched a flash site for a clothing company that is similar to Patagonia. working on integrating the e-commerce within flash using Remoting. I think when it’s done right, flash offers a better overall experience. http://www.prana.com
f00kin’ phat use of Halo, mate! Add some loading animations + your Remoting, and I’d agree with you, much better experience. Mad props to yaz!