There are those who like Flash, those who don’t and some who don’t care either way, but love it or loathe it, Flash has made a significant difference to web design and website users alike.
For many website visitors though, their main gripe with Flash is its use in intros and to be fair, I think they have a point. I’ve said before that using Flash animation for website intros tends to be a bit off-putting for visitors who I think are inclined to skip them more often than not.
Reducing Vital Seconds!
The problem is best summed up by that oft-used phrase ‘you only have seconds to capture a visitor’s interest’ which is still true and perhaps the only thing to remain constant about internet marketing since its inception so the use of Flash in intros seems to contradict this generally accepted rule.
Slowdown
Flash takes that little bit longer to load and longer still on older, less powerful computers, but even for those with newer machines, a Flash intro is sometimes enough to make visitors leave the site altogether. As a user, there’s little doubt in my mind that Flash has its place, and done correctly plays an important role in engaging visitors and persuading them to a desired course of action.
Quicker and Quicker
Website visitors are notoriously impatient and usually want to browse at an extremely fast pace when looking for information or products and services and as such unlikely to bother with or even appreciate a Flash intro regardless of how creative or visually stunning it might be.
Opinion?
I’ve asked friends and colleagues about their opinions on Flash intros and most of them told me that although they quite liked or didn’t mind the use of Flash itself, they’d never actually watched an intro because they usually skip them to get to the site’s other pages.
I’m sure the debate about Flash will continue and probably more so with the emergence of HTML5. Personally, I quite like Flash and especially the creative things web designers manage do with it, but along with others, I don’t think it helps websites when used for intros.
Until next time.
