User Experience and Mobile Flash

I recently had a bad experience at a local restaurant. So what does that have to do with web design?

My wife & I were told to view the carryout menu online. As we were physically at the restaurant, we attempted to view the menu on the restaurant’s website from our smart phones. That failed, due to the site being created solely in Flash.

Historically, I’ve not been a fan of Flash, though recently, I’ve lightened up a bit to view Flash as a valuable embellishment to a website’s content. However, this event reminded me how the priority of “eye candy” can negatively impact the user experience.

The restaurant industry heavily leverages Flash. In my experience, the majority of restaurant websites use Flash, to create rich, memorable experiences. However, restaurants should consider the user experience from various channels more than the eye candy. This restaurant, at least, has lost business due to this poor user experience.