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Flash and the User Experience

By John Wooden
Fredrickson Communications Usability Lead

In Jakob Nielsen's list of Top 10 Web Design Mistakes of 2005, Flash is number 3, which he regards as "a personal failure" after his usability work with Macromedia, the company that produces Flash.

But how does a tool end up on a list of web design mistakes? Does this mean AutoCad is to blame for bad architecture?

Flash doesn't hurt people—Flash designers hurt people, at least the ones who should know better. Context and user expectations count for a great deal, too. A Flash ad that takes over half your screen and provides a barely visible Close button will almost certainly cause annoyance. In contrast, a Flash animation that users can launch and interact with in an eLearning course can, if done well, be very enjoyable.

Remembering just a few tips will go a long way in Flash design:

1. Provide users with control. Allowing users to control what they see and what they hear in a Flash movie helps to create a better user experience, and so controls need to be visible and easy to understand. If you're using icons to represent controls, consider labeling them so that users do not have to guess which control has which effect.

   Users should have the ability to play, stop, pause, replay, and skip, as well as to turn sound on and off. (And if narration is turned off, equivalent text should display.)

   When controls are visible, users will be less likely to try to use the browser's Back and Forward buttons. Use of these browser controls is less of a problem with Flash movies that play within a site or application than they are for sites or applications created entirely in Flash. In those environments, users' expectations have been formed by the HTML page model. But a Flash site or application is really only one page, and so a navigation history of visited pages does not apply.

   The problem is that many users do not know this and will still want to use the Back button because that is what they are accustomed to. In response, some Flash developers have tried to address this issue. For a discussion of a development workaround, read Mike Chambers' article at the Macromedia Developer Center (see link in right column).

2. Make navigation options clearly visible. Don't make users guess whether clicking this image or that odd shape will take them somewhere. Place navigation options prominently and consistently. If you are creating a presentation, consider dividing it into several short scenes or chapters and then labeling them (similar to what you would see in a DVD). Also, provide a progress indicator to tell users how much is left in each scene. Remember, a 5-minute Flash presentation can seem like an eternity.
3. Use a preloader to inform your audience about the progress of the presentation-loading process. You can use the preloader animation to set the tone of the piece that follows.
4. Present legible text. Use a font size of at least 10 points—preferably larger—and ensure good contrast between text and background. Dark text on a dark background just doesn't work.

   Sharp, clear text has been absent from many Flash presentations, partly because Flash anti-aliases text by default, creating a somewhat blurry look for smaller fonts in particular. Now Macromedia has introduced FlashType in Flash Player 8, a new text-rendering engine that provides developers with more control over fonts. This improved rendering might tempt some developers to try (or continue) using small fonts because they look better than they used to. Resist.

5. Do not use Flash as a substitute for good content. Users want substance, and they are very quick to move on if they do not find what they are looking for. You need to be sure your Flash movie is serving a purpose for your users, and not just pleasing a particular stakeholder. Before you begin creating a Flash presentation, be sure you know your audience and your goals, and ask if Flash is the best tool for the job.

Finally, make sure you test with sample users, and ask them if you've been successful with tips 1–5.

About the author

John joined Fredrickson Communications in 2000, when he moved to the Twin Cities from the wilds of southwestern Ontario. He has worked on a variety of usability, information architecture, and UI projects for numerous clients. Last year, he taught a course on usability and user-centered design at the University of Minnesota.