I think y’all are conflating two completely different things.
There are “fun” sites where proper UX, information hierarchy, and general good design patterns take a backseat to some wild design (band websites for example).
Then there are sites that focus on productivity which should have all the elements of good design. Craigslist is from the 90s, yet it doesn’t have sparkles and random shit scattered across the page.
Everyone is reminiscing about the wild designs of the past. How many of those sites you visited were actual productivity focused sites vs now? You can’t compare Geocities to Jira…
There are “fun” sites where proper UX, information hierarchy, and general good design patterns take a backseat to some wild design (band websites for example).
Then there are sites that focus on productivity which should have all the elements of good design. Craigslist is from the 90s, yet it doesn’t have sparkles and random shit scattered across the page.
Everyone is reminiscing about the wild designs of the past. How many of those sites you visited were actual productivity focused sites vs now? You can’t compare Geocities to Jira…