Ugly is in the eye of the beholder, and by no means does plain equal unappealing (just look at Google). But coming from a multibillion-dollar technology corporation, Microsoft鈥檚 surprisingly vanilla website is borderline hypocritical, says Shaoolian.
Its homepage lacks the interactive "Web 2.0" feel, he says.
鈥淢icrosoft looks like it was made by developers, for developers,鈥� he explains. 鈥淭here鈥檚 no attention to aesthetic detail.鈥�
The company鈥檚 site looks especially backward when compared to their chief competitor, Apple.com. The two sites share a black-and-gray color scheme, but that鈥檚 about it.
鈥�Apple鈥檚 site is user-friendly. It鈥檚 not overcrowded,鈥� says Shaoolian. 鈥淚t talks to you as a user. It answers your questions and has big text.鈥�
The lackluster visual effects on Microsoft鈥檚 homepage don鈥檛 inspire thoughts of cutting edge innovation. Shaoolian warns that it could deter those potential customers grappling over the Mac versus PC debate. So why doesn鈥檛 Microsoft redesign their website?
鈥淧art of the problem is that these huge companies are slow to move on things,鈥� says Shaoolian. 鈥淭here鈥檚 a long bureaucratic line to get things done. But it does hurt their bottom line.鈥�
Microsoft's new phones get it. Why doesn't its homepage?
