Win MSDN subscription and REMIX tickets

(Credit: Microsoft)

We've got a full MSDN subscription and four tickets to Microsoft's REMIX conference in Sydney next week to giveaway. Enter here!

Thanks to our friends at Microsoft, ZDNet.com.au and Builder AU are giving you the chance to win tickets to REMIX09 on 11 June at Star City in Sydney. Now in its third year, REMIX will draw together coders, strategists, information architects, visual designers, UX professionals and digital marketers who all share an interest on what's coming next on the web.

Up for grabs, we have:

• Major prize: Visual Studio Team Suite with MSDN Premium 12-month subscription (valued at $19,000) and two tickets to REMIX09 (valued at $299 each)
• Runner-up prize: two tickets to REMIX09 (valued at $299 each)

Unfortunately, we're unable to provide transport or accommodation for the winners.

To win, answer the following question in the talkback below this article. You can post as anonymous if you wish, but make sure to include your correct address in the email field so we can let you know you've won!

The ZDNet.com.au and Builder AU editorial teams will choose the most creative and engaging entry after a week of discussion and announce the winner on the morning of Wednesday, 10 June. Terms and conditions here.

"What is the worst-designed web page or application you've ever seen, and why?"

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Worst of the worst Anonymous -- 03/06/09

Hey guys,

I've been developing Web apps for over 10 years - for projects of varied scope and with teams of varied sizes. In all this time, I've seen (and used) some horribly designed Web sites/apps, but the most dreadful of them all has been:

HavenWorks (news site) - http://www.havenworks.com

It made me visually impaired, so to speak, the first time I saw it. The homepage HTML weighs around 800Kb! Complete FAIL :)

Cheers :)

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msy... Anonymous -- 03/06/09

It has to be www.msy.com.au. A business like them should have a visually appealing webpage not something from 1995.

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Damn Anonymous -- 03/06/09 (in reply to #320140974)

You beat me to it!

The one above is blindingly worse, however.

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MSY Renai LeMay -- 03/06/09 (in reply to #320140974)

Yeah I've been complaining about that for years. Not bad prices though.

Renai

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MSY Anonymous -- 04/06/09 (in reply to #320140983)

I don't think MSY is that bad. Sure it is super boring but I can find what I am looking for very quickly and that is the most important thing.

http://www.havenworks.com -> that is super funny!!

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Nice prize ... Anonymous -- 03/06/09

I suspect more readers of this article will either already have access to an MSDN subscription or don't care about it but that's a hell of a prize for 25 words or less.

Personally, I has trouble thinking of an worst-desgned webapp because I use RSS feeds more than I use apps/sites these days. However, for a representative of Microsoft, Major Nelson's site is still a pretty good example of ugly: http://majornelson.com

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25 words or less Renai LeMay -- 03/06/09 (in reply to #320140975)

Have taken that requirement out; its inclusion was my mistake when posting story.

Cheers,

Renai LeMay
News Editor
ZDNet.com.au

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Irony? Anonymous -- 03/06/09

http://www.webpagesthatsuck.com/

OK, so this may not the WORST designed app/ web page ever but I think it deserves a special mention because of nature of the site.

The unappealing graphics/colours, the horrible side menu, the ever-present Google ads and the in-consistent layout all contribute to a truly horrendous browsing experience.

Perhaps they should take some of their own advise, or maybe the whole thing is intentional? Either way this page makes my brain hurt.

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We are Microsoft. Resistance is futile. SnowCrash -- 03/06/09

And the winner is... The MS Office 2007 Ribbon!

After a steady diet of File, Edit and Help menus which have been the mother's milk of Windows-based applications ever since Minesweeper replaced Reversi, the team that brought us such wonderful innovations as the Paper Clip Guy have struck again. It seems that we've been wrong all these years. We didn't really want a stable, simple and predicatble user interface model after all. What we really wanted was a system designed by the love child of Erno Rubik and Forrest Gump.

But that's ok, I'm sure there's an option to disable the ribbon and return to normal space right. Wrong. You have been assimilated. You're distinctive short-cut keys and macros will NOT be added to our own. Resistance is futile.

I bet if I look at the Help->About menu it will say "Copyright Aneurisms-R-US".. oh wait.. there isn't one!

(Hmmm... Competition + Flame MS != MSDN Subscription)

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MSDN Blogs Anonymous -- 03/06/09

http://blogs.msdn.com/
It's an ugly, barren and useless UI, obfuscating some really fantastic developer content, but you can never find what you're looking for.

I've had to use a variety of Readers and years of pruning just to make the best of it, and I know there's still a lot I'm missing.

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Worst Website Anonymous -- 04/06/09

Just from usability I hate the telstra site, even after years of using it, I can never quickly or easily find what I'm after. On that topic IBM is also rates a mention

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One of the worst Anonymous -- 04/06/09

The Optus web site is badly organised and information is hidden in endless page clicks. also try to find any meaningful support or contact information quickly? as a matter of fact most telco web sites are quite bad. Nearly as bad as their automated phone help systems.

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worst web site Anonymous -- 04/06/09

MSY is way better than fluidtek
http://www.fluidtek.com.au/

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limewire Anonymous -- 04/06/09

i think the worst application ever made was limewire.
pretty much everthing on limewire has a virus or malware. there is no real security when downloading.

lol, i used it when i was young and stupid. now that i have the know how, skills and certification i realise that i was just a noob back then lol.

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There's too many out there but... mel ellis -- 04/06/09

Try going on: http://www.weird-websites.com/ (mildly NSFW)

This is the place to go to find ugly millionaires to date, find unique advertising opportunities and see why fully clothed naturists are really weird.

Why? Design's dated, colours nauseating and weird flashing advertisements and animations.... Anyone else miss angelfire?

MSY is good- they important information is there without all the glitz and glamour of other sites.

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"What is the worst-designed web page or application you've ever seen, and why?" Anonymous -- 04/06/09

Nothing beats the AFL (Australian Football League) site. It is soooooooo over done and you can't find any information about football just advertising.

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so much pain for the eyes Anonymous -- 04/06/09

http://www.reflected-images.com/
i came across this months ago as a example for poor web design with quicktime and the colors (watch the colors for 30sec then look at your hands)

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Pointless! Anonymous -- 04/06/09

http://www.milliondollarhomepage.com/
Great money spin idea, but now what? You can't buy more, you cant trade, and most ads cannot be read!

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Worst WebApp Anonymous -- 04/06/09

My vote for worst webpage is the prometric website (used to schedule Microsoft Certification Exams) www.prometric.com
I mean not only is it ugly, but it has the worst navigation system I've ever seen. I mean it's a webapp without a link to login/register...Need I say more.

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WORST WEBPAGE HAS TO be Anonymous -- 05/06/09

BIGPOND. COM / HOMEPAGE,

IT has to be the most cluttered home ge/ website i have ever seen, including the fact that Security Suites have to be modified to use it.

Such a mess that, it is very hard to find out, for the average end line consumer, as to where each page leads, and with no return to previous page link, i personally gave up after a few uses, even under instruction from the online consultants, this plus the exorbitant fees charged by the firm for contracts with unreachable "free Extensions", or links, defies the mind

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LG Arena Anonymous -- 07/06/09

URL: http://arena.lgmobile.com/au/

The website makes it hard to find important information such as technical specifications about the phone in one spot. Most companies have downloadable PDFs.

Instead the user has to play around with Flash-based navigation cubes (or the Device Features menu) and in each case, the user has to wait for the time consuming Flash components to load. LG also uses annoying sound schemes which are over the top.

As a potential buyer, the LG Arena website definitely loses any appeal to purchase the product quite quickly.

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Worst website! Anonymous -- 08/06/09

http://www.abc.net.au/local/

This website actively works against you doing the most obvious things you would like to do when you land here - and then when you do you find a mass of bad formatting and simple usability no-nos. Each show has a sub-site, but they all seem to use different style sheets, so the whole thing becomes a mess as soon as you dive in.

Given our national broadcaster does such a great job with things like iView, it's a shame they mucked this one up so badly!

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by far... Anonymous -- 10/06/09

Telstra.com

As one of our biggest companies and being about communication, their site is bloated, difficult to navigate and difficult to search. What communication!?

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EMC ERooms Anonymous -- 10/06/09

That havenworks site is great.

I nomiate EMC ERooms - http://www.eroom.net/ - click on join now. All the buttons that do things (like the one to submit your login details) are in the blue bar at the top of the page - takes users ages to figure that one out. The app itself is also fairly annoying - lots of little side tracks and links that all do the same thing, and links to empty pages. At least the graphics are OK.

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