10 Questions to Ask Yourself Before Using Flash
Adobe Flash has been habitually misused by design-centric website developers — so much so that a few of us at FutureNow tend to wince when it’s even mentioned in passing.
It’s not that we don’t like Flash. When used purposefully, Flash has the potential to dramatize a product or service’s benefits in ways that static pictures and text can’t quite match.
The micro-site for the Sigma DP-1 camera (choose language preference to start) is a good example of Flash done right.
Notice how the choreographed presentation of text and pictures dramatizes the benefit of having a DSLR image sensor in a compact camera body. And notice how the site’s designers capture your attention from the beginning of the presentation and lead you to a place where you can then interact with the camera’s features.
Sigma’s Flash presentation creates persuasive momentum, then leverages it by bringing viewers to an interactive website where they can drill down into specifics.
For an example of Flash used within a website — rather than as an introduction to a website — I recommend taking a look at this page from the Leo Diamond website. No, it’s not the prettiest site out there, but the Flash tools provide visitors with a better feel for diamond carrot size and color than either text or static pictures could. And it works.
Flash can be an effective tool when used intelligently and sparingly. But before you decide on using it, ask yourself the following questions:
1. What will this allow me to convey that text and static images wouldn’t?
2. Am I actually conveying benefits or just adding sparkle and glitz?
3. Is there a way to make this more interactive and not just a push-presentation?
4. If I can’t make it interactive, what can I do to hook the viewer right from the start, so they don’t skip the presentation? (You ARE going to provide a “skip” option, right?)
5. What pathways am I providing to the flash viewer when they are done with the interactive tool or presentation?
6. Are there clear links and pathways forward that will lead to conversion?
7. Will the static content allow visitors to drill down into the topics most important to them?
8. Does it address the visitor’s true concerns?
9. Will you capitalize on the persuasive momentum from the Flash presentation?
10. Do your calls to action continue to build on that momentum?
If you can answer those questions, it might be smart to use Flash sparingly.
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About the Author: Jeff Sexton is a Persuasion Architect, and on June 2nd, he’ll be taking the day off from helping clients fuse style and substance to teach FutureNow’s Persuasive Online Copywriting seminar in Manhattan.
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Written by:Jeff Sexton
Great article. People definitely “over flash” their sites these days to the point where it’s not only uncrawlable by the search engines but becomes an unpleasant experience for the visitors - especially those who include spiffy sounds to accompany the flash. We love the idea of using flash sparingly only to enhance needed features within your site but most think flash is better. Mind sending this out to the millions of clueless companies out there who allow their webmasters to go wild?
Good insight into when and when not to use flash. Thanks Jeff for always writing great posts.
good article - i also find out that a lot of webmaster uses flash without thinking of possible problems with search engines. Especially fashion companies hire “flash-webdesigner” for a good-looking site. I hope that one of them read your post.
A huge fan of flash, but as you point out very well not always the right tool for the job. So much use of flash seems to be a bit self-indulgent and not really as focused on the needs of the site user. Your 10 questions should be asked by all marketers and designers before they scratch the flash itch.
I built my first and only Flash intro screen about 7 years ago for a website I was designing at the time. The biggest thing I noticed back then was how big the Flash files were.
I think the Flash websites, all mostly about the web designer saying look at how good I can make things look. I am a great web designer, aren’t I? Yes you can have little widgets and video to do certain things in Flash but designing an entire website in Flash is like having midi files load up and play music when you first go to a website. An old way of doing things, we have learned and move beyond that now.
Yes Flash may look pretty and cool, but I do not think it allows you to sell more products, good navigation, quick downloadable pages, simplicity to a point and good copy, will win out in my opinion.
I am in the process of redesigning my category pages right now because hopefully I am learning to do things better. My guess is we are all learning to do things better, and designing a website totally in flash, we have learned, there is a better way of doing it.
Amen, Jeff.
Flash gets abused, horribly, even now.
One item I’d add: “Can I get the same effect using something that degrades gracefully?”
The same can be said for video! Just replace the word Flash with video. The abuse aside. I’ve seen Flash sites I liked but, they have rarely been indexed well by search engines.
We’re a case in point - we preach conversion but refuse to give our clients a site like ours!
It’s okay for us - we’re a design agency and our site is designed to catch the eye, and has - but we want our client’s sites to load super-quickly and get straight to the point.
Our work has become World renowned because of our designer’s use of Flash, but any site that’s serious about selling, should keep the Flash to a minimum - used very sparingly it can add to the process, but sparingly is the operative word here.