So I’ve been avoiding this…
This kind of writing, talking, calling-out. I’ve been dodging it. Maybe out of courtesy. Maybe fear of misinterpretation. Maybe respect for folks I know.
But at some point, somebody has to say it.
Because it’s out of hand.
I’ve read a few takes, seen some blogs—maybe others are saying it too. Even if they aren’t, I’ll say it.
The problem isn’t the tool
You’ve got GSAP. You’ve got Motion. Webflow. Three.js. Lottie. Framer. All powerful tools. All wildly capable.
But put them in the hands of the undisciplined—or the over-excited—and what do you get?
Carnival. Chaos.
Not interaction. Not clarity. Not even delight.
What are we building?
A website is not the medium.
It’s the container. The vessel. The delivery mechanism for the thing:
Text.
Images.
Video.
Interaction.
You know, information.
But not the main event itself.
So when the site becomes the spectacle—when scroll is hijacked, content hidden behind orchestrated animations, and the browser is gasping for air—then we’ve broken something. A lot, really. A. Lot!
What the perf’s going on?
You scroll.
You wait.
You get dragged through someone’s portfolio like a ride at an amusement park.
Fancy timing. Parallax. Easing. Fade.
But what did you actually see?
Nothing.
No work.
No info.
No usable signal.
Just a demo reel disguised as a website.
And this isn’t a jab
This isn’t to say “don’t experiment.”
Or “don’t play.”
Or “don’t show off the tool.”
It’s to say: context matters.
If the site is about the animation, fine.
If the whole point is exploring what’s possible, cool.
But don’t pretend it's a homepage.
Don’t pretend it’s an about you.
Don’t pretend it’s usable.
Why does this bother me?
Because the web is already heavy.
Because we’re already fighting load time, accessibility, CPU strain, bandwidth waste.
And then someone builds a motion playground with zero restraint and gets an award for it.
Seriously?
It’s not discipline anymore. It’s indulgence
Scroll shouldn’t fight me.
Pages shouldn’t trap me.
I shouldn’t need to reverse-engineer your sequence just to revisit something I saw three seconds ago.
We’re not designing scroll experiences. We’re designing scroll traps.
Wait, what’re scroll experiences? Exactly.
Who’s this for?
If it’s not usable, not informative, not even skimmable—
Then who’s the audience?
Other animators?
AWWWards judges?
Your mirror?
It’s not the web. It’s self-worship.
And what do we lose?
Restraint.
Purpose.
Real talk.
We’ve forgotten how to use tools in service of something.
We’ve forgotten that not every page is a movie.
Not even a single page should be a movie! What am I even saying?
The best design is the one that just shows you what you came to see. And does so while out of your way.
So here’s my ask
Bring back restraint.
Use your skill, sure—but on purpose.
Because this energy, this brilliance, this engineering prowess—it could build something meaningful.
Instead, it’s spent animating—nothing.
That’s the waste. That’s the grief.