5 ms·

Japan it's basically it's own little world. Their local version of Yahoo is not only still very popular, but it looks like it's stuck in the early '00s for some

Japan it's basically it's own little world. Their local version of Yahoo is not only still very popular, but it looks like it's stuck in the early '00s for some inexplicable reason.

ladberg 6y ago
I think most Japanese websites look like that for some reason.
- Hamuko 6y ago
  They're pretty decent now (apart from legacy) but it feels like 2004 lasted until about 2013 when it came to Japanese websites.
- Nadya 6y ago
  Because most people accessed the internet on their clamshell phones and not through a PC/laptop. So most websites were designed to be mostly text and easily browsed from clamshell-phone internet browsers. Now that smartphones have become ubiquitous more sites are finally being designed to look nice on smartphones - sometimes still at the consequence of desktop use. It took a few years after the iPhone release (aka: for it to get widespread market adoption) for JP websites to start "catching up" with Western web design. There are some other reasons too - but I'd wager the above is the #1 reason and others are more of an "in addition to that" type thing. More info: https://randomwire.com/why-japanese-web-design-is-so-different/ https://randomwire.com/why-japanese-web-design-is-so-differe...
  - kmeisthax 6y ago
    It is absolutely amazing how simultaneously ahead of the curve and behind the times Japan was. Galapagos syndrome reigns supreme.
fomine3 6y ago
Yahoo! JAPAN is most familiar website brand for older people, but not very well for younger people. Maybe they use apps like Twitter, Instagram, and LINE rather than websites. I think that's why their design isn't refined.
totetsu 6y ago
Yahoo maps Japan is much better than google maps because it follows the Japanese system of numbering buildings not streets more closely.
lmm 6y ago
It's not Japan's web design that confuses me, it's the rest of the world. Since the late '00s it seems like removing half of your content and replacing it with larger fonts, huge margins and just blank space became the cool thing to do.
- giantrobot 6y ago
  Someone somewhere said of content "let it breathe" and that got repeated until breathing content became a cargo cult. That cargo cult summoned the demons of flat design. They brought with them Metro, Material Design, Bootstrap 3, and iOS 7. Content started breathing heavily, fonts got almost too skinny to read, and it's almost impossible to tell if text a button.
- paddim8 6y ago
  Makes sense to me. It looks cleaner, it's easier to read, and it's less confusing. If you have a ton of things, it gets confusing and overwhelming. Keep it simple. And stop with the tiny text damn it, there is no reason for it to be tiny. cough hackernews cough
afterburner 6y ago
Japan gets a rep for being technologically forward thinking, but given their heavy use of faxes and paper records in banking and government, they seem to have shown they are very slow to move forward in broad ways.

Japan it's basically it's own little world. Their local version of Yahoo is not only still very popular, but it looks like it's stuck in the early '00s for some inexplicable reason.

ladberg 6y ago

I think most Japanese websites look like that for some reason.

Hamuko 6y ago
They're pretty decent now (apart from legacy) but it feels like 2004 lasted until about 2013 when it came to Japanese websites.
Nadya 6y ago
Because most people accessed the internet on their clamshell phones and not through a PC/laptop. So most websites were designed to be mostly text and easily browsed from clamshell-phone internet browsers. Now that smartphones have become ubiquitous more sites are finally being designed to look nice on smartphones - sometimes still at the consequence of desktop use. It took a few years after the iPhone release (aka: for it to get widespread market adoption) for JP websites to start "catching up" with Western web design. There are some other reasons too - but I'd wager the above is the #1 reason and others are more of an "in addition to that" type thing. More info: https://randomwire.com/why-japanese-web-design-is-so-different/ https://randomwire.com/why-japanese-web-design-is-so-differe...
- kmeisthax 6y ago
  It is absolutely amazing how simultaneously ahead of the curve and behind the times Japan was. Galapagos syndrome reigns supreme.

fomine3 6y ago

Yahoo! JAPAN is most familiar website brand for older people, but not very well for younger people. Maybe they use apps like Twitter, Instagram, and LINE rather than websites. I think that's why their design isn't refined.

totetsu 6y ago

Yahoo maps Japan is much better than google maps because it follows the Japanese system of numbering buildings not streets more closely.

lmm 6y ago

It's not Japan's web design that confuses me, it's the rest of the world. Since the late '00s it seems like removing half of your content and replacing it with larger fonts, huge margins and just blank space became the cool thing to do.

giantrobot 6y ago
Someone somewhere said of content "let it breathe" and that got repeated until breathing content became a cargo cult. That cargo cult summoned the demons of flat design. They brought with them Metro, Material Design, Bootstrap 3, and iOS 7. Content started breathing heavily, fonts got almost too skinny to read, and it's almost impossible to tell if text a button.
paddim8 6y ago
Makes sense to me. It looks cleaner, it's easier to read, and it's less confusing. If you have a ton of things, it gets confusing and overwhelming. Keep it simple. And stop with the tiny text damn it, there is no reason for it to be tiny. cough hackernews cough

afterburner 6y ago

Japan gets a rep for being technologically forward thinking, but given their heavy use of faxes and paper records in banking and government, they seem to have shown they are very slow to move forward in broad ways.