Quick summary
People on Reddit and in web dev circles agree that many modern web design trends frustrate users, especially scroll hijacking, intrusive pop-ups, excessive animations, and gimmicky features like custom cursors. Overly minimal layouts that force endless scrolling, bloated frameworks, and cluttered designs with autoplay content also get heavy criticism. The consensus is that the most pointless trend is scroll hijacking, since it takes away user control without adding real value.
Web design trends come and go. Some look shiny and clever, but most visitors don’t care about “fancy” — they just want a website that works, loads quickly, and gives them the information they came for.I recently read a lively Reddit discussion where hundreds of people shared what frustrates them most about modern websites. The same complaints came up again and again, and they’re exactly the kind of issues that can make visitors leave a site before they’ve even had a chance to engage.In this post, I’ve grouped the most common frustrations, explained what each one means in plain English, why people dislike it, and how you can avoid these mistakes on your own website. I’ve also included notes on how they affect SEO and links to research, so you can see the bigger picture.
1. Losing control of how the website works
Scroll hijacking
What it means: Code changes how your mouse or finger scrolls. Instead of moving smoothly up and down, the site might snap to sections or move sideways unexpectedly.
Why people hate it: It fights muscle memory and can feel disorienting.
SEO angle: Frustration increases pogo-sticking and reduces engagement.
Fix: Let people scroll naturally. If you include motion, respect the user’s reduced-motion setting (MDN: prefers-reduced-motion).
Back button and history hijacking
What it means: Infinite feeds append content and change the URL or fail to preserve position, so “Back” returns you to the top or to a different page.
Why people hate it: They lose their place and patience.
Fix: Prefer “Load more” or well-implemented pagination; if you use infinite scroll, push state and restore scroll position correctly (Smashing Magazine on pagination vs. infinite scroll).
“Links” that aren’t links
What it means: Navigation is bound to divs or buttons via JavaScript, breaking middle-click, open-in-new-tab, and accessibility expectations.
Why people hate it: Basic browser features stop working.
Fix: Use semantic <a> elements with real href values.
Hover-only mega menus
What it means: Large nested menus that disappear if your cursor drifts a pixel; unusable on touch.
Why people hate it: It’s fiddly and easy to lose progress.
Fix: Prefer click/tap to open, generous hover-out delays, and keyboard support (see the NN/g Menu Design checklist).
2. Popups, notifications, and digital obstacles
Intrusive interstitials and “doorslams”
What it means: Full-screen or blocking overlays that appear on entry or mid-read, obscuring the content people came for.
Why people hate it: They can’t read the page without dismissing something first.
SEO angle: Google has warned against intrusive mobile interstitials and has treated them as a negative ranking signal since 2017 (Google interstitials penalty summary).
Fix: Use non-blocking, well-timed prompts with easy dismissal. The Coalition for Better Ads standards also discourage formats like auto-play with sound and large sticky ads.
Cookie banners, push-notification nags, and auto-opening chatbots
What it means: Consent banners with too many choices, sites asking to send notifications, and chat widgets that pop open automatically.
Why people hate it: It’s distracting and breaks focus.
Fix: Keep consent simple and unobtrusive; don’t ask for notifications by default. Chrome even introduced a quieter notifications permission UI because of user fatigue.
3. Fancy designs that slow everything down
Over-the-top animations
What it means: Text and blocks fade, slide, and count up before the content is usable; heavy custom cursors lag behind the pointer.
Why people hate it: It delays access to information and can cause motion sensitivity issues.
Fix: Keep motion minimal, and honor reduced-motion preferences (MDN: prefers-reduced-motion).
Auto-playing video or music
What it means: Media starts on page load, often with sound.
Why people hate it: It’s startling, uses bandwidth, and disrupts assistive tech.
Fix: Don’t auto-play with sound; provide controls and a way to pause/stop moving content to meet WCAG 2.2.2 (Pause, Stop, Hide).
Oversized hero sections
What it means: Two or three full-screen photos before any real content.
Why people hate it: On mobile especially, it wastes time and pushes key info too far down.
Fix: Use images strategically but make sure important information appears quickly, above the fold.
4. Poor usability choices
Carousels and sliders
What it means: Rotating hero banners that try to say five things at once.
Why people hate it: Users often ignore them. A 2013 study found only 1% of users clicked on carousel slides, and nearly 90% of those clicks were on the first slide (Erik Runyon: Carousel Interaction Stats).
Fix: Use a single, focused hero with clear copy instead of rotating messages. Baymard research also found most homepage carousels have usability issues (Baymard Institute on carousels).
Custom dropdown menus and date pickers
What it means: Replacing simple browser dropdowns with complex, styled versions.
Why people hate it: They’re harder to use, especially on mobile, and often break accessibility.
Fix: Stick to standard, accessible form elements.
Hidden buttons and tricky menus
What it means: Hover menus that vanish if you move the cursor slightly, or buttons that only appear when hovered.
Why people hate it: It’s easy to lose track and frustrating to navigate.
Fix: Keep navigation stable and visible at all times.
5. Redesigns that make things worse
What it means: Websites are redesigned for style or branding, throwing away familiar and working elements.
Why people hate it: Users lose familiarity and useful features.
Fix: Evolve your website gradually. Keep what works and improve what doesn’t. Consistency is more valuable than chasing trends.
6. The golden rule: form should never come before function
The biggest theme that came up? Websites prioritising style over usefulness.
- A simple, fast, clear website will always beat a flashy but frustrating one.
- High bounce rates (visitors leaving after one page) are often the result of poor experience. Typical e-commerce bounce rates range from 20–45% (Bounce rate on Wikipedia).
Quick checklist for your site
- Can people scroll naturally?
- Are popups and banners kept to a minimum?
- Does the site load quickly without unnecessary effects?
- Is all the key info visible without hunting?
- Are standard controls (links, forms, menus) used properly?
If you can say yes to those, you’re already ahead of most modern websites.
Final thought
You don’t need to follow every web design trend. In fact, avoiding most of them will make your site better. Focus on clarity, speed, and helping your visitors get what they came for, and they’ll thank you with longer visits, more trust, and better conversions.
And here’s the most important principle of all: build a website for your users, not for yourself. Visitors don’t care about flashy features or what you think looks impressive — they care about finding what they need quickly and easily. Keep their needs at the centre of every design decision, and your website will always perform better.
