Oh my God! What happened to lasikplus?!

**1985** · 04-18-2002, 07:17 PM

I noticed that they switched totally to html a couple of months ago, but they kept the design 2a made for them. What happened to the site?!, I mean, its nice and all, but the style is totally different... Don't you think it was better before?

http://www.lasikplus.com/

**fla999** · 04-18-2002, 07:56 PM

Much!

Maybe they wanted to have the in-house ability to add to their "news" etc.

They should have had a splash page with the 2 options.

**gdstudios** · 04-18-2002, 08:13 PM

Perhaps they couldn't afford the services of 2A anymore.

**TheOriginalFlashDavo** · 04-19-2002, 04:06 AM

Fair enough 2A may be too expensive for them nowadays, but it looks like they went the other end of the spectrum, with some students or kids...

Not very professional looking at all...

**alohaha** · 04-19-2002, 04:36 AM

site looks like a freshman kid in college made it for a homework project (sorry no offense freshmen lol)..

agree, boring, not very good site

**gangstaaar** · 04-19-2002, 11:03 AM

Just because a site is not developed in flash does not make it unprofessional
as long as the site does what ever it is supposed to do that is all that matters

**gdstudios** · 04-19-2002, 12:45 PM

I am not sure where you are going with that comment? Are you saying you think this lasik site is professional? Did you make it or something?

**unrealreality** · 04-19-2002, 01:35 PM

i agree with gangstaaar.

The original 2a version was nice, slick, cool, etc. but i always had a problem. The graphic style did not fit the content. I think this new version is going to better communicate with the target audience, i.e. older people who want to fix their vision loss. And that's what it's all about, right? Granted, it's not as refined as it could have been, but still.

I never saw the 2A html version that 1985 was talking about, so I can't comment on that.

**gdstudios** · 04-19-2002, 02:10 PM

I can agree that they will reach their target-audience with the HTML site, but necessarily this one. I just don't particularly like the way it is put together, that's all. They could have done a better job. That's why I think it's a financial issue with them.

**mikaelian** · 04-19-2002, 06:30 PM

Originally posted by gdstudios
Perhaps they couldn't afford the services of 2A anymore.

I do not think money could be the most critical moment. For, that site was one of the most important projects of 2A and they (2A) were interested in keeping that site on air. So they would hardly require much money for corrections, etc.

***

Here is the next reason that suggest itself. The new Lasik site is more informatiove (it contains much text, etc.). So probably, they wished to simply have a place to post their texts. However, this argument also don't seem to be complete. And here is the reason why: OK, they have removed the flash site of 2A; but WHY have they removed the FLASH intro as well??? Huh? Couldn't they simply use that intro for a splash page?

***

I would suggest somebody who knows the situation (Novak?) from inside to explain it here.

Thank you in advance,

Vahagn

**gdstudios** · 04-20-2002, 01:14 AM

That's a good point. Clearly they could have kept the intro at the very least. I hadn't thought of that.

**TheOriginalFlashDavo** · 04-20-2002, 09:38 AM

Originally posted by gangstaaar
Just because a site is not developed in flash does not make it unprofessional as long as the site does what ever it is supposed to do that is all that matters

Dude, has nothing to do with the technology used, and everything to do with look and feel, and functionality. This smacks of amatuerism in my opion (note: "in my opinion").

You may be simply a Flash user, but many of us here are VERY experienced industry people with skills across multiple technologies (Flash being one of them), with very valid opinions.

[Edited by TheOriginalFlashDavo on 04-20-2002 at 09:45 AM]

**TheOriginalFlashDavo** · 04-20-2002, 08:11 PM

Originally posted by mikaelian
but WHY have they removed the FLASH intro as well??? Huh? Couldn't they simply use that intro for a splash page?

Mate, Flash intros annoy a lot of people. They're a little passe nowadays. I can see all the reason in the world why that would be one of the first things to go, and equally valid reasons why they would want a HTML, database generated site. To me Flash was never the best tool for this kind of company anyway.

**aversion** · 04-20-2002, 08:17 PM

Originally posted by TheOriginalFlashDavo

Originally posted by mikaelian
but WHY have they removed the FLASH intro as well??? Huh? Couldn't they simply use that intro for a splash page?

Mate, Flash intros annoy a lot of people. They're a little passe nowadays. I can see all the reason in the world why that would be one of the first things to go, and equally valid reasons why they would want a HTML, database generated site. To me Flash was never the best tool for this kind of company anyway.

exactly. I think the days when intros were cool are over. Plus that intro tacked on to this site would just be horrible!!!

**gdstudios** · 04-20-2002, 08:31 PM

I would argue that the intro tacked onto the site would only be horrible because of how unprofessional-looking the new HTML site is.

**TheOriginalFlashDavo** · 04-21-2002, 07:00 AM

Originally posted by gdstudios
I would argue that the intro tacked onto the site would only be horrible because of how unprofessional-looking the new HTML site is.

I'm not going to argue, I'm just going to look at the research and figures which tell me that web users - the target audience - get annoyed by having to sit through an intro OR click a "skip intro" button. Those in the industry have recognised this for a while now, mainly due to the overuse of intros over the past three years.

No. 1 rule of web design: don't piss off your audience

**gdstudios** · 04-21-2002, 09:37 AM

Understood.

Then what about lasik embedding some Flash on their homepage? That would work, right?

**mikaelian** · 04-21-2002, 01:08 PM

Originally posted by TheOriginalFlashDavo

Originally posted by mikaelian
but WHY have they removed the FLASH intro as well??? Huh? Couldn't they simply use that intro for a splash page?

Mate, Flash intros annoy a lot of people. They're a little passe nowadays. I can see all the reason in the world why that would be one of the first things to go, and equally valid reasons why they would want a HTML, database generated site. To me Flash was never the best tool for this kind of company anyway.

Good point. But was the Lasik intro one of the intros of that category (annoying intros)? After all, one can set up a tasteful splash page and kindly suggest his visitors to chose from intro/nonintro versions...

I agree that these days flash intros are not that much fashionable for professional flashers. But for the general public the flash intros still are very attractive products.

Also, I do not think that the flash intros will die. They will gradualy transform into more interactive flash application used within websites for a practical purpose. So start suggesting products of that type to your clients and you will be among the pioneers of that direction.

***

I think a more natural reason why they do not use the 2A Lasik intro is that their initial contact with EJ was in the form that they either have to use the entire site (wiht intro), or not to use its elements, too.

***

Will Mr. Novak tell us the truth?

**WAZ** · 04-21-2002, 03:07 PM

Yeah - I am intrigued. What happened to the relationship between Lasik and 2advanced? Why go from very cool to a hack job? I mean - there are some slick looking HTML pages out there with nary a bit of Flash in them - if their aim was to reach an older less technically aware audience - although it would seem that the lucrative market segment that they would be trying to reach would be the young to middle-aged professional with lots of disposable income who has everything but perfect eyesight and in that case wouldn't you want a website that was catchy or (dare I say) FLASHy.

**TheOriginalFlashDavo** · 04-22-2002, 01:50 AM

Guys, all these questions and opinions you're posting up have one very, very simple answer: best business case.

The company obviously looked at their target market, the type of information they wanted to convey, and their end goals and apparantly decided that Flash was not the way to best achieve what they wanted. Very simple really, and no great mystery. It is a very common occurance, especially from those companies that were suckered in with the hype on Flash being "the next big thing" rather than actually looking at what the best tool for the job was. Now they are actually examining what they really want to achieve from their site, and in a lot of cases ditching Flash altogether.

Flash intros ARE annoying, if all you want to do is find out some information as quick as possible. The only possible business case you can ever make for a Flash intro is to help brand a product, in the same way you would use a TV commercial. I don't know how many users would be happy to view a commercial every time they enter a website.

And unfortunately the feedback here shows that we still have the "Flash-is-best" group out there still, which makes it harder to actually sell a high-end Flash application to a client - when it is the best solution - because they've seen all the crap intros and overblown Flash sites that have been developed previously and don't want a bar of it.

Guys, simple phrase to remember: best tool for the job. Don't do Flash just because you can.

Cheers
Dave

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