User Experience Is Lost in a Sea of Clutter
We’ve all heard the saying, “Just because you can do it, doesn’t mean you should.” This is a simple blog on pop-ups and clutter on websites.
With all this mess, I can’t even remember why I clicked on this page.
Many times when I find an article that is interesting to read, seconds after I read a few words, the screen is interrupted with a pop-up. “Subscribe now. Donate now. Buy now.” 
I realize that many of these websites are just click-farms with little thought given to the sustainability of me as a regular user. But with a site that lives and dies by return visitors, how could I possibly know if I want to subscribe, donate, book a ticket, now or any time in the future? I’ve only had an infinitesimal taste of your content.
It reminds me of the sales clerk that immediately runs over to you and asks if you need help. Then, after you’ve been looking for a little while, you can’t find the sales clerk when you really need help. Again, put the customer, donor, stakeholder or patient first. What do they need and want?
Long live user experience.
Mark Mathis
Mark wrote his first direct-mail fundraising letter in 1981 for the University of Iowa Center for Advancement. The effort raised a few million dollars in undiscovered wills and legacy gifts. From that day forward Mark discovered a love of the big idea that moves the needle.
After 12 years at KWWL, Mark became a business owner as a co-founder of ME&V — rebranded as AMPERAGE in 2015. After 25 years of leading creative teams in video production, graphic design, PR, writing and web development, Mark transitioned out of ownership in 2021. Today he serves in an employee role as special projects consultant.
He is creatively ambidextrous — son of an artist and engineer — and famous for distilling complex ideas down to a few words and a few visuals. Mark is a writer. When he found that many nonprofits struggled with complex branding puzzles, he wrote the book, “NonProfit-NonMarketing .” He also wrote a novel called “Reenactment.”
Mark is an active blogger OneMinuteMarketer® with nearly 1,000 readers each week on LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter. One of his most popular YouTube videos is on “How to Look Good on Zoom.”
One of Mark’s fondest business memories was being named to INC 500 two times and attending the INC 500 conference with other winners. Mark is considered by some a Civil War expert (and that explains his novel). Mark also served as an adjunct professor in the business and in the communications departments at Wartburg College.
Mark is a graduate of the University of Iowa and is currently vice president of the University of Iowa Journalism and Mass Communications Advisory Board.
Mark is married to state Sen. Liz Mathis, and the two love to travel, even when it means being trapped by a volcano in the Czech Republic for three weeks.