2007-02-23 15:23

Funny web applications

When you’ve signed up for a new online service and you’re exploring the interface, you’re not first and foremost expecting humor — which is probably why it works.

Today I’ve signed up for two online services, Picnik and FeedBurner, and in both cases they brought a smile to my face. Here’s why:

Picnic’s loading progress bar

Reminiscent of The Sims’ progress bar while loading (“Reticulating splines” etc.), Picnik’s progress bar signals that the application is setting up a perfect day out:

Screenshot of Picnic's progress bar while loading

FeedBurner’s info boxes

When you log on to FeedBurner before your feed has gone live, you’re faced with this message, which made me laugh a lot:

'Your feed is so new, we're still playing with the bubble wrap.'

Also, if you try and look at stuff that’s only included in their pro package, you get this:

'Hall pass and secret handshake required from this point on.'

Informal != unprofessional

There’s enough seriousness in the world as it is, and a little lightheartedness is often a good thing. Being informal and funny doesn’t necessarily mean you’ll come off as unprofessional, so go ahead and make me laugh a little! Of course, at some point you might want to start looking around for that thin line and make sure you don’t cross it …

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