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Why Japanese Web Design Is (Still) the Way It Is
- Mononokay 9y agoAm I the only one who thinks that the Japanese versions of the Starbucks and Toyota sites look infinitely better?
- aplc0r 9y agoYou won't get any argument from me. The large images and lack of useful text make sites seem like they are made for children. Another thing that you don't see as often anymore, that most Japanese sites have, is a site map.
- digi_owl 9y agoWell more and more it feels like devs, not just web devs, but all devs, envision their users and drooling idiots...
- anfilt 9y agoI think, that's kinda been trend with western design in general. Also I agree with the article, that a lot websites are basically low information brochures. If I am going to your website it means I want detailed information. However, a lot products, the site is devoid, and just looks nice.
- digi_owl 9y agoI wonder if this is an effect of print media getting involved with the web, thus trying to adopt various "guidelines" from printed documents to web sites.
- bitwize 9y agoOne thing I can't stand. Crooter: "I have a position open at Foobarco that I think you'd be a great fit for, be sure and have a look at their web site." le me, goes to Foobarco's web site "Foobarco's solutions can help raise your company's metrics while minimizing costs." later Crooter (calling back): "So how do you feel about Foobarco? Do you think you want to move forward on that?" Me: "I don't know what they do exactly." Crooter: "Did you look at their web site like I asked?"
- probablynot 9y agoRestraint in design is more important than just vomiting copy all over the page.
- bovermyer 9y agoFor reference: http://www.starbucks.co.jp/ http://www.starbucks.co.jp/ vs https://www.starbucks.com/ https://www.starbucks.com/ http://www.toyota-ej.co.jp/index_top.html http://www.toyota-ej.co.jp/index_top.html vs https://www.toyota.com/ https://www.toyota.com/ Personally, I prefer the American versions of these websites. That may be biased, however, since my command of Japanese is limited, which impacts my ability to navigate the sites.
- ghostbrainalpha 9y agoDiscussion from yesterday: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=16254569 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=16254569
- olyjohn 9y agoI am a huge Honda fan, particularly of their vintage vehicles. I used to spend hours navigating their Japanese website. I don't know any Japanese, but somehow I could still find my way into new parts of the website and get around. The site complexity goes way beyond just the front page. The entire thing is massive, it's full of tons of stuff that you wouldn't find American corps even bothering to put up there. There are tons of articles, facts, diagrams, fan sites, historical information, photos. At one point they had games with little virtual cities. So many cool, and fun things. The US site is nothing but marketing. It's so boring, I never even bother going to it. There's no hidden stuff, nothing interesting, just a very sales-centric site. It's like anything that doesn't directly make money isn't bothered with... while the Japanese developers are having fun putting together cool things.
- exikyut 9y agoCould you post some links to some of the more fun things you've discovered?