There are plenty of websites you have to expect will be terrible. Every second, new shanty towns of animated gifs, bad photoshop, and obese cats spring up thanks to armies of 13 year olds, eager to spread their love of (insert one: ponies, Star Wars, obese cats) to the far reaches of the internet. While these websites deserve ridicule, it makes sense that they suck. But some websites are supposed to be good.
The web designer's catastrophe. Say, for example, you design websites for a living. In 1995, Geocities was introduced to the world as a source of free web hosting. After quickly becoming a hotbed for the fugliest websites on the internet, an enterprising young person decided to share their love of web design with the world. Sadly, this is how it turned out. Epilepsy Warning!
Unusable usability. From 2001 to 2003, the European Union funded an initiative to study how websites could be come more user friendly. Unfortunately, the result was a pretty staggering misuse of government funds. The people in charge of the project decided to create a website to to examine this topic in depth. Describing themselves as a source for "usability and user centred design resources" they urge users to "click the WAMMI button" to let them know how their website might become more user friendly. Unfortunately there isn't a start the fuck over button.
The bad ad...for yourself. Leo Burnett is one of the most celebrated and well known advertising agencies in the world. The multi-billion dollar company produces advertising for some of the largest brands on the planet including Visa, Kellogg's, Samsung, and hundreds of others. Which is why I was a bit surprised to note that the website for their Canadian office is one of the most ugly, complicated, and confusing websites I have ever visited, proving that dumping money on shit will not turn it into gold.
NASA tops off the internet with suck. Despite the occasional mishap, NASA has been a focal point for cutting edge technology for the past 50 years. With 17 thousand employees and billions of dollars in funding, NASA has produced some of humankind's most astonishing accomplishments, inspiring generations of scientists and engineers. The fact that it looks like they let a third grader make the website for a $450 million dollar spaceflight is a bit troubling. For the full effect, make sure your speakers are on.
The largest internet newspaper. Since the introduction of the internet, traditional print newspapers have been slowly cannibalized by free and easily-accessible online newspapers such as Slate or Salon. I am excited to report what could be a reversal of this trend by introducing an online newspaper horrible enough to make you pine for old fashioned newsprint. Instead of hiding articles behind its front page, Havenworks has taken the revolutionary new approach of providing all the articles and links you could possibly want on one single colossally enormous page. Imagine the freedom and convenience of searching for the article you want amid a densely packed wasteland of questionable color choices.
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