Cutting it out
Posted by Andrew Faulkner on September 21st, 2005.
Andrew Faulkner has posted 208 articles.
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We all love a new trend. I know I do. Correct me if I’m wrong but I think this one’s fairly new.
‘Cutting it out’ does exactly what is says on the tin. Elements (usually stickers, titles or banners) are only partly shown in a browser window.
Normally as an accessibility chap I’d hate to see content that’s only partially available. But this effect has been applied purposely so that users don’t see the content. (Actually, a user with a screenreader wouldn’t notice this effect - instead just being informed that an image is present.)
But back to the task in hand - reviewing the trend. When reaching Nice for the first time I really did sit there and stare for a few seconds. That little badge gave me the inkling that more content was available - things I couldn’t get to instantly. I wanted to know more and so I clicked the badge and was presented with an about page. Nice. I find it interesting that something obscured on a website could get me to explore further.
Now the critics out there may say “But you ranted on about this.” Well my response to that would be to inform you that this badge isn’t relied on to navigate around a site. It just provides an interesting way to get to content already available through the conventional site navigation.
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12 Responses to Cutting it out
I think what it also does is allow the site to have a, how can I put it. A more “real” feeling to it. Like if everything was to fit perfectly within the windows boundaries then it just looks a little too “perfect”.
I’ve always liked this effect, using it and viewing it. It provides the atmosphere that there’s more to the site than what’s seen at first glance.
Yes it does leave you wanting to explore. Welcome to fadtastic, Phil.
Another fad I’ve noticed [which I just was reminded of when seeing this post]:
In a sentence containing examples or so, many of the words are linked to the examples.
(As in ‘are only [link]partly [link]shown’)
Veracon:
Care to give some more examples? Would be interesting to see who else does it.
We started it at fadtastic as it got boring listing examples with URLs one after another.
Personally, I like the “bonus” feel of these things. It’s like a little treat if you discover it. If done poorly, it can obviously be a usability/accessibility nightmare. But if done well, I think it can definitely add a little more depth and excitement.
I agree, having something continued “off screen” can be intriguing. For instance, Blue Flavor went with a shot of their feet on their main page, with a smaller shot of their faces. I thought this was interesting, considering that many of them are recognizable not only by face, but simply by their names.
That’s quite an interesting effect, really makes you click. This idea could work quite well on advertisement banners.
I don’t see a problem with layout objects hiding off the screen, but when there is text hiding, that’s a bit different - makes it look like something is broken for starters. Yesterday Is Here also uses this trend (and looks very cool at the same time).
Veracon/Andrew: Slashdot articles often contain sentences with each word linking to another area: example.
This idea could work quite well on advertisement banners.
I have a feeling this trend was inspired by the print industry. Just a hunch though.
Nathan and James - thanks for the examples.
I always felt that the best use of feet on a website was http://www.theniceagency.com/main.html.
Lots of feet there Dave. Many thanks.
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The above post has obviously kept you amused. Why not discover similar material:
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