December 8, 200916 yr At first I thought 'what a horrible website!' then after spending ten minutes on it i realised ... it might not be the best design, but i took 10 minutes of my time to have a good look through it Well done Ling!
December 11, 200916 yr The "Noodle Song" is actually the Internationale (great for the proletariat to sing along to) sung by a Chinese Punk band (God knows who). Not meny versions like that. A classic. Eat fast and listen.
October 21, 201114 yr I think with Ling you'll find that the design is very much so deliberately bad. It's tongue in cheek. It's silly. The woman herself is completely hilarious, but she sure knows how to run a business. She once parked a de-commissioned missile next to a motorway to promote her business. Also, Ling is established so she doesn't need her website to promote herself as "reputable" - so she can get away with this. Further, in some ways it's a good website. Take this page: http://www.lingscars.com/Citroen/C1/980281-1.0_i_12v_(68bhp)_VTR_(AC)_Hatchback_3dr_998cc-personal.html In 5 seconds flat you know the car, the cost, the details, and how to get it. It is a bad website but in being like it is, it's a marketing tool in itself. If it was a good website, she would be indistinguishable. Having said all of that, this couldn't work again for anybody else. Edit: The missile! Edited October 21, 201114 yr by brightonmike
October 21, 201114 yr That website is a punishment for the eye. But it is a proof that content is king.
October 21, 201114 yr Here ya go... you were beaten to it. Seems the 'crazy web site' works a charm http://www.webdesignerforum.co.uk/topic/27038-i-think-this-is-the-best-website-design-ever/page__p__179455#entry179455
October 21, 201114 yr Some of the tweets are hysterical.. I have every sympathy for blind visitors to LINGsCARS, but I am saving them (& other road users) from themselves by not leasing them a car.
October 21, 201114 yr yes i remember when it was posted here before, even popped on and said hello to us.
October 21, 201114 yr How the hell would you update that without taking 5 years to work out the source code...
October 21, 201114 yr http://www.lingscars.com/Citroen/C1/980281-1.0_i_12v_(68bhp)_VTR_(AC)_Hatchback_3dr_998cc-personal.html In 5 seconds flat you know the car, the cost, the details, and how to get it. OR you get a 404 like I'm doing, but which is also quite amusing.
October 21, 201114 yr Heh, you all kind of funny (for web designers). Proof that Macs work on my site, eh. ===...=== Thanks for the critique (sheesh). But you know nothing about my accounts. This year (March 2011) I made a profit of OVER £100,000. That's after I have paid all my dividends etc. On sales of £350,563 (all ex vat). Now, that relates to £35 million to £40 million of new cars, but as I don't actually buy the cars with my own cash (very sensibly as buying cars is a mug's game), the only turnover is commission income. So, I think your ignorant analysis of my accounts is incorrect. 28% profit on turnover is fantastic. No one else in my industry approaches that ratio. Duncan Bannatyne and the BBC were also entirely incorrect, using estimated figures they completely made up. Correct figures are published on Companys' House in full public view. Feel free to check. As for the web code, I stand by my claim: Visitors don't give a toss about validation, they just want results. You can validate until the cows come home but it achieves nothing and sells nothing. Utter tosh. Try my website on an iphone. Links from this website to my website will now kick off my rainbow left hand menu, just because I enjoy to upset web designers. LINGsCARS hahahaha ===...=== Nits. Ling. Edited October 24, 201114 yr by MikeChipshop
October 21, 201114 yr Now, that relates to £35 million to £40 million of new cars I work for a private jet charter company. If you added up the total value of the jets we charter out per year, we are talking £3.83 trillion worth of private jets chartered out each calendar year. Sorry Ling, couldn't resist!
October 21, 201114 yr Well, in my view, my website is **GOOD** because it makes money. Fullstop. What other measurement can there be? Or are you submitting for Turner prize? There is **NO** design manual... I can do what I want. There are no design police. There are no rulez. Seriously, this is a big issue for people who claim "web designer", also for @andybudd who ended up apologising to me after using me as a "bad" example in some talk in Oslo. He is a nit, too. Ling Edited October 24, 201114 yr by MikeChipshop
October 21, 201114 yr Well, in my view, my website is **GOOD** because it makes money. Fullstop. What other measurement can there be? Or are you submitting for Turner prize? There is **NO** design manual... I can do what I want. There are no design police. There are no rulez. Seriously, this is a big issue for people who claim "web designer", also for @andybudd who ended up apologising to me after using me as a "bad" example in some talk in Oslo. He is a nit, too. Ling ^^ This should be immortalized somewhere. That's what webdesign is all about
October 21, 201114 yr I work for a private jet charter company. If you added up the total value of the jets we charter out per year, we are talking £3.83 trillion worth of private jets chartered out each calendar year. Sorry Ling, couldn't resist! [snip] Why? Because I compete with car dealers. A car dealer (however) is daft enough to buy the cars before selling them. ...>>> It is ****SMART**** not to pay for the cars. Paying for cars in full isn't big or clever, it's daft... when I move them without paying. I get all of the profit and none of the overheads. Every penny I make is GROSS profit Hope this helps. hhahaha Ling Edited October 24, 201114 yr by MikeChipshop Personal attacks are not allowed here.
October 21, 201114 yr Edit: I'll save my reasonable comments for people that don't call me an idiot. Charming. Edited October 21, 201114 yr by brightonmike
October 21, 201114 yr Every penny I make is GROSS profit Hmmm hate to burst your bubble here but we all know that isn't true.
October 21, 201114 yr Idiot. Why? Because I compete with car dealers. A car dealer (however) is daft enough to buy the cars before selling them. ...>>> It is ****SMART**** not to pay for the cars. Paying for cars in full isn't big or clever, it's daft... when I move them without paying. I get all of the profit and none of the overheads. Every penny I make is GROSS profit Hope this helps. hhahaha Ling Whoa. First of all, I was joking and I'm sorry you can't see that and decided to insult me. Secondly, I don't see what you leasing and not selling has to do with what I said.
October 21, 201114 yr I agree with you Ling but I'm not sure about your stance on validation errors. They may not make a huge difference to your visitors, but ironing them out and fixing them up can be nothing but good. Personally, I think your site does work in a sort of tongue in cheek manner. You know it's flashy, garish, bright, cluttered, but you intend it to be. I don't have a problem with that, though again, personally, I'd tone it down a little. Like the rainbow effect is possibly a step too far for me. And sure, you make the business, nobody would deny that. But improving your site could bring you more business. How do you know that your website isn't losing you 25% potential customers. Effectively you don't, you have no way of knowing unless they tell you, and 99% won't. Being purely theoretical, if you found our your current website was costing you business - would you change it? Having a pink button instead of a blue one could lose business
October 21, 201114 yr Well, in my view, my website is **GOOD** because it makes money. Fullstop. What other measurement can there be? Or are you submitting for Turner prize? There is **NO** design manual... I can do what I want. There are no design police. There are no rulez. Seriously, this is a big issue for people who claim "web designer", also for @andybudd who ended up apologising to me after using me as a "bad" example in some talk in Oslo. He is a nit, too. Ling Does it work? Yes. Could it work better with good design? Yes. The bad design gimmick is funny, but ignoring the benefits of good design is short-sighted at best, stupid at worst. If you're succeeding, you're succeeding despite the site's design, not because of it. Some of the tweets are hysterical.. I have every sympathy for blind visitors to LINGsCARS, but I am saving them (& other road users) from themselves by not leasing them a car. Hysterical? Maybe. Can it get you sued? Definitely.
October 21, 201114 yr Whoever I called an idiot, that was a compliment. I put a smiley after it. I was busy at work earlier and maybe rushing my reply made it less charming. I wasn't being rude, honest. Does it work? Yes. Could it work better with good design? Yes. The bad design gimmick is funny, but ignoring the benefits of good design is short-sighted at best, stupid at worst. If you're succeeding, you're succeeding despite the site's design, not because of it. Hysterical? Maybe. Can it get you sued? Definitely. Re the above, I have never read such nonsense. There is no "bad design gimmick". To be able to create a "bad design gimmick", I would have to employ a web designer who was trying to be "bad". I don't. I don't have a designer at all. I just do everything myself and with my two coders. They are not designers, but they are good with javascript. I simply try to entertain visitors and the reason you are indignant is because I just do things that visitors like, not things that designers like. The reason people get angry/indignant about my webpage is because they are not sure how it can work without a designer involved. IMHO, mostly, designers are putting lipstick on pigs. Hey, valuable work... but like painting my front room and hanging a picture, I can do it myself - I don't need Sarah Beeny. Make it bigger, make it brighter, make it flash, add great pictures, reward visitors. Easy. hahahaha. The only thing worse than uptight designers ranting on their apple macs, is UX "expert" people saying I have got it wrong. Currently today, I have had 8109 unique visitors with 90 minutes to go, so will finish on about 8500ish today - but today has been quite high. Now, with the best will in the world, people LIKE my website. They aren't just coming to stare (like at a dwarf). Lots of people have a new car from me, too. If you think I am doing it wrong, find me someone who you think moves massive-ticket items better, from (purely) a webpage (I have no other route to market). I never pay any PPC. No one will sue me. I told the RNIB to p*** off when they wrote. The "blind" comment was because, on Twitter, some of the idiotic "UX experts" were insisting (in some biblical tsunami rant) that I should make my new car site accessible to blind people. Sometimes people have to employ a little bit of common sense. That's like a butcher making their site available to vegetarians. Blind people do not drive, usually. But, I have an answer: I do have an accessibility page (shock), where LINGANI, my Indian robot call centre girl will read out (or "voice" like some minor BBC channel) car details on my car deals. Yes, she has an Indian accent, but that covers off any Indian or Pakistani sighted visitors who cannot understand my website, too. No-one else has this. It is here ACCESSIBILITY PAGE FOR BLIND VISITORS. Why on earth should I get sued? For having a sense of humour? I am allowing blind people to laugh WITH ME about the car deals. Sheesh. Ask Jeff Zeldman or Jared Spool about my UX. They will back me up, they both used me in their presentations. Some designers here need to lighten up. You can do websites how you want, you know. Ling Edited October 21, 201114 yr by LINGsCARS
October 21, 201114 yr To be honest Ling that was kind of why I started the thread, I wasn't having a go as such - if anything I thought it was quite interesting how successful the site had been. Kudos. Yeah I thought this thread was sort of saying that we all spend our lives trying to perfect design yet this site throws all those ideas in our faces. I think that was pretty much the outcome of the previous thread too haha. Ling, it's successful and I wouldn't want you to change it for anything! Edited October 21, 201114 yr by MikeChipshop
October 21, 201114 yr To be honest Ling that was kind of why I started the thread, I wasn't having a go as such - if anything I thought it was quite interesting how successful the site had been. Kudos. Yeah, I understand that. It was the comments about my accounts that kicked me off, then the "precious" comments of some others. No problem, though. I'm always happy to put it right. hahahahaha, all good fun.
October 21, 201114 yr Re the above, I have never read such nonsense. There is no "bad design gimmick". To be able to create a "bad design gimmick", I would have to employ a web designer who was trying to be "bad". I don't. I don't have a designer at all. I just do everything myself and with my two coders. They are not designers, but they are good with javascript. If you don't understand the value of design and UX, you have nowhere to stand when you throw words like "nonsense" around. It's not nonsense just because you don't understand it. I simply try to entertain visitors and the reason you are indignant is because I just do things that visitors like, not things that designers like. Bad design, used as a gimmick. Designers like things that make websites easy and pleasant for visitors to use - it's what our whole discipline is based on. You've already admitted to not understanding design, so kindly don't make statements about either design or my motivations, both of which are clearly beyond your understanding. No one will sue me. I told the RNIB to p*** off when they wrote. The "blind" comment was because, on Twitter, some of the idiotic "UX experts" were insisting (in some biblical tsunami rant) that I should make my new car site accessible to blind people. Sometimes people have to employ a little bit of common sense. That's like a butcher making their site available to vegetarians. Blind people do not drive, usually. Blind people do not drive themselves - but there's nothing to prohibit them from buying or owning cars. Nonetheless, it's a legal requirement (see the Equality Act 2010) for a business website trading in the UK to be accessible. It only takes one person to decide to make an example of a business with a test case - who are they going to pick, someone who's polite and respectful, or someone like you with an attitude problem? But, I have an answer: I do have an accessibility page (shock), where LINGANI, my Indian robot call centre girl will read out (or "voice" like some minor BBC channel) car details on my car deals. Yes, she has an Indian accent, but that covers off any Indian or Pakistani sighted visitors who cannot understand my website, too. No-one else has this. It is here ACCESSIBILITY PAGE FOR BLIND VISITORS. That's not accessibility, it's a bad joke.
October 21, 201114 yr The only thing worse than uptight designers ranting on their apple macs, is UX "expert" people saying I have got it wrong. Technically you have got it wrong. You've just also completely overpowered it and diminished its importance with other aspects. I would equate it to making an omelet with little pieces of plastic in it. Technically it is wrong, very wrong and most of the time would be clearly the worst thing about the dish. You though, you sprinkle truck loads of really spicy hot sauce. So much that nobody even notices the plastic anymore. Your personality is the spicy hot sauce btw. Take away Ling and you get one of the worst sites ever imagined. It's a very rare thing to have working and pretty much only celebrities with hyper personalities can pull it off. For everyone else there are Standards and UX principles. Your site is something no designer would ever build. It's a weird catastrophic happy accident. With all that said. A well built site AND Ling. Unstoppable. Hire someone. Edited October 21, 201114 yr by Glowbridge
October 21, 201114 yr Bad design, used as a gimmick. Designers like things that make websites easy and pleasant for visitors to use - it's what our whole discipline is based on. You've already admitted to not understanding design, so kindly don't make statements about either design or my motivations, both of which are clearly beyond your understanding. Blimey. You are like a music critic who says normal people are tasteless because they send a "dreadful" tune to No1. Or like an art critic who says an untrained eye can't tell the difference between art and rubbish. ==== My website *IS* easy and pleasant. In fact, it's beautiful. It is designed for my users, not for high-end critics. That's why so many people buy and transact new lease cars from it, every day. There are hundreds of other car websites which I guess tick far more of your designery boxes but yet most are useless. And very few people visit most of them. But, I'm sure you will claim they have higher design values than mine. It must be good to be broke but to tell the bank manager "Good news! Still no revenue, but my designer says my website is 'easy and pleasant'" I don't have to understand design, because it is not about design. That's lipstick on the pig. Good work if you can get it. It is about people. Normal people. I'm surprised you think design is beyond my understanding when my figures are published at Companys' House. DOES IT WORK? = Yes (well designed), or NO (poorly designed). That is all there is to it. Read and learn. Ling Edited October 21, 201114 yr by LINGsCARS
October 21, 201114 yr Technically you have got it wrong. You've just also completely overpowered it and diminished its importance with other aspects. I would equate it to making an omelet with little pieces of plastic in it. Technically it is wrong, very wrong and most of the time would be clearly the worst thing about the dish. You though, you sprinkle truck loads of really spicy hot sauce. So much that nobody even notices the plastic anymore. Your personality is the spicy hot sauce btw. Take away Ling and you get one of the worst sites ever imagined. It's a very rare thing to have working and pretty much only celebrities with hyper personalities can pull it off. For everyone else there are Standards and UX principles. Your site is something no designer would ever build. It's a weird catastrophic happy accident. With all that said. A well built site AND Ling. Unstoppable. Hire someone. I am more inclined to agree with **SOME** of this, but still you designery types can never manage to realise that great things can be managed without you. You see, maybe you don't realise it is not an omlette, and in fact the cat has just been sick in the frying pan. And you are saying "yum, I'll have chilli sauce on that, please". Delicious. Ling
October 21, 201114 yr I think it is a little disingenuous to say it works because of the design. Unless you have done some A/B testing with a professionally designed alternative you have no way of proving that surely? Perhaps a professional design would double your conversions, you never know.
October 21, 201114 yr Would ya look at the size of the schlong on the wheelchair guy! Imbecile. That is why he is in the wheelchair: He cannot walk with that! By the way, my rainbow effect left hand menu is just for this forum... normal visitors don't see it (unless the cache catches it accidentally). Heh. Ling
October 21, 201114 yr Blimey. You are like a music critic who says normal people are tasteless because they send a "dreadful" tune to No1. Or like an art critic who says an untrained eye can't tell the difference between art and rubbish. What you're effectively saying here is that he's like someone who knows what they're talking about, who has more of a clue than your Joe average. People are indeed tasteless because they send a dreadful tune to no. 1 and the untrained eye can indeed not tell the difference between art and rubbish. ==== My website *IS* easy and pleasant. Easy yes. Pleasant no. Entertaining yes. In a kind of kitsch sort of way. I think by being so bad at design you've kind of inadvertently designed something entertaining. In a funny way it works. In fact, it's beautiful. Come on are you serious? My take is it almost suits the kind of business you're running - quick easy and cheap car hire that moves in volume. You're not specialising in Aston Martins are you? In which case it might not work so well. The design is haphazard and chaotic, with bad use of almost everything. On the other hand I find it quite entertaining. And you do have a very personal touch with it. So I guess if you find it's working for you then stick with it and good luck to you. But as of yet you have no yardstick. How would it work with a good design? You could be doubling your profits. Or, depending on the kind of customer you have, you could be halving your profits. But if I were you I personally would feel no need to change it if the money's rolling in. You strike me more as a businesswoman than someone who's that concerned about web design.
October 21, 201114 yr I think it is a little disingenuous to say it works because of the design. Unless you have done some A/B testing with a professionally designed alternative you have no way of proving that surely? Perhaps a professional design would double your conversions, you never know. In other words this. Glowbridge got there before me.
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