One of the most frequent requests I get in the beginning stages of a project is to create a splash page. I'm not completely anti-splash page, I'm just a big fan of usability. For this reason, I've turned down so many such requests that I've been thinking of writing up a post explaining why its usually not a good idea. Well, Smashing Magazine has done just that and included some examples of when splash pages can work.

Not every visitor is patient, in most cases the page will be closed right away. Or the visitors land on the Adobe-page where they are asked to download the latest version of Flash plug-in. Or they are directed to some design-award web-site where they can observe dozens of beautifully designed web-sites. You can be sure that they won’t get back. Here you go - an optimal way to lose a visitor in few seconds.

The article is really well written. It starts with 12 Common Reasons For Using Splash Pages and then goes into two case studies about 'how to lose your visitors'. The article ends with a showcase of splash pages from each of the twelve common uses. Read the full Smashing Magazine article

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