I don't know if its just me but honestly anytime I try to use a Nigerian website to do anything, I get frustrated both government and private websites. The aesthetics are very horrible, 90 percent of the functionalities the website are meant to offer dont even work. I mean the government builds a website to digitize a service, it doesnt work and you still have to leave your house to go to their office to go and do what the website was actually built for. That of private individuals is even worse. Imagine paying for a product for a small business through their website and the business doesnt even know it has been paid o. Like what was even the essence .

My beef isn't even with functionality. It's the way the websites all look. We are in 2022 and Nigerian websites look like they were made in 1998 and the funny thing is the budget on these sites. One site can go for as much as 150 million and it looks absolutely ridiculous. Even the cheapest ugliest websites on ThemeForest does not look as horrible as some Nigerian sites.

https://immi.homeaffairs.gov.au/what-we-do/skilled-migration-program/skilled-visa-newsletters/april-2021

Thats australian immigration website.

https://immigration.gov.ng/

Nigerian immigration

https://denmark.dk/

A danish government website.

Even for private businesses no difference

https://www.innosongroup.com/

Thats innoson website

https://www.bmw.com/en/index.html

Thats the international website of BMW.

Even startups that are raising a ton of money have ugly sites. Only paystack and kuda stands out to me. The rest are rubbish. Is it cultural? I know amazing Nigerian designers but it seems they dont work for Nigerian companies at all.

That's what happens when people are always cheap

Bros there are so many beautiful Nigerian website also there are so many ugly foreign website

etoluw:
Bros there are so many beautiful Nigerian website also there are so many ugly foreign website

There are beautiful sites in Nigeria yes but the ugly ones outnumber the beautiful ones by a very high ratio. There are ugly sites in the west yes but the beautiful ones outnumber the ugly ones by a wide ratio. I don't even remember the last time I used an ugly foreign website but I use ugly Nigerian sites everyday. In fact it's all I see. See nairaland sef.

blaquebelle:
That's what happens when people are always cheap

These sites aren't cheap sef. Most federal government sites have a budget of 100 million and above. Compare them to their foreign counterparts. See that innoson site. They could have paid as much 5 million for that crap. Compare it to any major automaker even small Chinese automakers have better looking sites than Nigerians do and it's the same for various Nigerian businesses.

You see all those government websites, ugly as fucck.

Karleb:
You see all those government websites, ugly as fucck.

It is not just government, even businesses all have terrible sites.

https://vicprop.com.au/

This is a site we did at work. Look at the design

Now compared to property pro https://www.propertypro.ng/

Nigerians dont even engage a UI UX designer before they even go to building a site

tensazangetsu20:


It is not just government, even businesses all have terrible sites.

https://vicprop.com.au/

This is a site we did at work. Look at the design

Now compared to property pro https://www.propertypro.ng/

Nigerians dont even engage a UI UX designer before they even go to building a site

The difference between the two site posted is damn wide. See nice Aesthetic from the vicprop own; it make sense.

islamics:

The difference between the two site posted is damn wide. See nice Aesthetic from the vicprop own; it make sense.

I have worked with foreigners for a year and some months now and now I don't even talk again. I just humble myself say I no Sabi anything. The way these guys do things eh. You haven't even met Danish developers or Swedish developers. See those ones are on a completely different level. I swear if someone works ten years for a Nigerian company that does things by nigerian standards that person might not be up to someone who has worked abroad for even 2 years.

I think it’s because the older generation of tech clients in Nigeria is yet to acknowledge and respect the position of UI/UX in web design.
You can’t tell me that those sites were designed by a UI guy. An average (even a mediocre) Nigerian UI/UX guy can deliver far better products than majority of what we see online. And these guys aren’t even expensive at all.
On LinkedIn I see Nigerian product designers pulling off mad concepts everyday, but you just don’t get to see these products actualized in reality; except in new startups anyway.
The old moneybags simply don’t believe in the existence of product designers.

Rgade:
I think it’s because the older generation of tech clients in Nigeria is yet to acknowledge and respect the position of UI/UX in web design.
You can’t tell me that those sites were designed by a UI guy. An average (even a mediocre) Nigerian UI/UX guy can deliver far better products than majority of what we see online. And these guys aren’t even expensive at all.
On LinkedIn I see Nigerian product designers pulling off mad concepts everyday, but you just don’t get to see these products actualized in reality; except in new startups anyway.
The old moneybags simply don’t believe in the existence of product designers.

Seriously, I see amazing designs on LinkedIn and Twitter too and it's not seen on our cyberspace. All that talent is going outside Nigeria. It's a shame honestly.

It as a result of unprofessionalism of the developers they recruit and poor pay. You will visit some government or private company websites you will be frustrated to navigate around the website. Some function of the said website will not even work and if you lodge complaint they would answer you.
Poor aesthetics poor navigation poor responsiveness poor fonts usage.

Sheriman:
It as a result of unprofessionalism of the developers they recruit and poor pay. You will visit some government or private company websites you will be frustrated to navigate around the website. Some function of the said website will not even work and if you lodge complaint they would answer you.
Poor aesthetics poor navigation poor responsiveness poor fonts usage.

At the end you will still go to their office to pay bribe whereas the website was created to prevent that.

Seconded! To your success bro

Seun left the chat

tensazangetsu20:


At the end you will still go to their office to pay bribe whereas the website was created to prevent that.

You already know them

Comparing Nairaland with Reddit or Quora, honestly, I would still go with the minimalistic looks of Nairaland, easy to navigate unlike the other two platforms I mentioned, it's looking a bit old, but it's far from "not beautiful", at least, to me.

tensazangetsu20:

There are beautiful sites in Nigeria yes but the ugly ones outnumber the beautiful ones by a very high ratio. There are ugly sites in the west yes but the beautiful ones outnumber the ugly ones by a wide ratio. I don't even remember the last time I used an ugly foreign website but I use ugly Nigerian sites everyday. In fact it's all I see. See nairaland sef.

https://mono.co/
https://www.lazerpay.finance/
https://www.trybrass.com/
https://fluidcoins.com/
https://www.getequity.io/
https://mvm./
https://www.busha.co/

Boys are trying o. beyond trying cef but these guys are not cheap. quality work costs money and sadly a lot of Nigerians don't wanna pay for a top tier product.

someone in my network reached out to me that he wants something exactly like https://dappradar.com/. Told him how much it's gonna cost if he wants it to look like that. i'm not a frontend person but i've got a great taste and know when a product doesn't look and feel sleek. Sadly he didn't see the need to want to pay good money for a top product.

so we've got the talent. can you afford them?

We don't have many good UI/UX/product designers in Nigeria. That's the problem.

Even a time when Seun hired some people to rebuild nairaland, they still ended up coming up with the current trash.

At least, put in some interesting colours and layouts. These won't slow down a website.

There are good UX Nigerian designers like a lot, but those government contracts goes to people who don't know Tech and give the contract to anyone, especially those cheap developers and they collect their money. A lot of Good Nigerian UX Designers out there.

Google Leslie Williams

Google Francis Otougbai

Google Joshua Oluwagbemiga

Let me contribute my own token of experience with the government website. This story is sadly true.

I was at federal secretariat abuja sometime early 2020. I was quite opportune to see some people who'd promise you heaven and earth just because they are seeing you. But once you leave... Pele my dear.

So, talk dey bring talk and I mentioned what I do and surprisingly, this dude asked to see my portfolio. I went ahead to show him my work then. He was amazed and impressed, and I mentioned to him, the pandemic of all Nigerian government websites. The guy laughed and laughed... he said my brother, there are things in this country no single individual has the power to change.
He took me to one of the offices and greeted a guy there, me sef I follow greet the guy.

Hahhaah... when we came out, he said to me, that's the guy doing your job. And he went ahead to open the current url the guy was working on. Omorrrr... the thing be like curse. I said, shey you see you can't compare my work with what is done here, that he should let me bring in something better since he obviously affirmed mine was 100x better and he smiled and said, he wishes he had that power to make such decisions. He said, shebi I see say na their brother dey do my work too... ?

He opened up a file and showed me an outline and said every website within the government sector MUST follow a particular templating system(color theme, font, images, design pattern and all...). If you deviate in any way, na you know ooo. And from what I saw, I'm sure that template guideline was introduced when Nigeria gained her independence.

Truth is, in the Government, the capable ones are either not picked or kept very quiet while working with the people that owns it.

And when you're picked as the capable one, it's just like US military for certain immigrants... you no fit reach a particular level lai lai.

This dude said to me that he practically does all the work while his boss just party and live life as a f**King minister.

From the templating system you need to follow, down to people doing the work. My brother no be our country be this. Who ever told you we are equals anyway? But finally, what to do?

The dude that we had the long discussion is a yoruba guy, my first time of meeting him and baba was so down to earth and welcoming., I only accompanied a lady down there and that's where I saw people chopping our money without sense. Agonising really.

That was even when I first heard about the national youth empowerment fund even before it was publicised I guess. Thinking I'd jump on the opportunity.... But in this country, you got to know some top top people that owns the country ooo otherwise you no go win any contract or office ooo! Even the dude was on a becareful mode...

So all government websites being ugly and static are actually very intentiional.

niel63:
Let me contribute my own token of experience with the government website. This story is sadly true.

I was at federal secretariat abuja sometime early 2020. I was quite opportune to see some people who'd promise you heaven and earth just because they are seeing you. But once you leave... Pele my dear.

So, talk dey bring talk and I mentioned what I do and surprisingly, this dude asked to see my portfolio. I went ahead to show him my work then. He was amazed and impressed, and I mentioned to him, the pandemic of all Nigerian government websites. The guy laughed and laughed... he said my brother, there are things in this country no single individual has the power to change.
He took me to one of the offices and greeted a guy there, me sef I follow greet the guy.

Hahhaah... when we came out, he said to me, that's the guy doing your job. And he went ahead to open the current url the guy was working on. Omorrrr... the thing be like curse. I said, shey you see you can't compare my work with what is done here, that he should let me bring in something better since he obviously affirmed mine was 100x better and he smiled and said, he wishes he had that power to make such decisions. He said, shebi I see say na their brother dey do my work too... ?

He opened up a file and showed me an outline and said every website within the government sector MUST follow a particular templating system(color theme, font, images, design pattern and all...). If you deviate in any way, na you know ooo. And from what I saw, I'm sure that template guideline was introduced when Nigeria gained her independence.

Truth is, in the Government, the capable ones are either not picked or kept very quiet while working with the people that owns it.

And when you're picked as the capable one, it's just like US military for certain immigrants... you no fit reach a particular level lai lai.

This dude said to me that he practically does all the work while his boss just party and live life as a f**King minister.

From the templating system you need to follow, down to people doing the work. My brother no be our country be this. Who ever told you we are equals anyway? But finally, what to do?

The dude that we had the long discussion is a yoruba guy, my first time of meeting him and baba was so down to earth and welcoming., I only accompanied a lady down there and that's where I saw people chopping our money without sense. Agonising really.

That was even when I first heard about the national youth empowerment fund even before it was publicised I guess. Thinking I'd jump on the opportunity.... But in this country, you got to know some top top people that owns the country ooo otherwise you no go win any contract or office ooo! Even the dude was on a becareful mode...

So all government websites being ugly and static are actually very intentiional.

Omho men but what of private businesses. See that innoson website. It was designed by a digital agency in this Lagos. That agency has also made a lot of websites for big Nigerian companies see how they are all rubbish. See jumia. See Konga. See spar. See ShopRite. Compare them all to their foreign counterparts. The difference between them all is like day and night.

Even indigenous oil and gas companies in Nigeria compare their websites to their foreign counterparts like ExxonMobil Shell chevron and co. There's always a world of difference.

tensazangetsu20:


It is not just government, even businesses all have terrible sites.

https://vicprop.com.au/

This is a site we did at work. Look at the design

Now compared to property pro https://www.propertypro.ng/

Nigerians dont even engage a UI UX designer before they even go to building a site

PropertyPro beat yours, in fact, I find nothing wrong in most Nigerian website examples you posted, stop comparing, no design is bad.

tensazangetsu20:


Omho men but what of private businesses. See that innoson website. It was designed by a digital agency in this Lagos. That agency has also made a lot of websites for big Nigerian companies see how they are all rubbish. See jumia. See Konga. See spar. See ShopRite. Compare them all to their foreign counterparts. The difference between them all is like day and night.

Even indigenous oil and gas companies in Nigeria compare their websites to their foreign counterparts like ExxonMobil Shell chevron and co. There's always a world of difference.

Two things I can say here... either they are way too cheap or they just don't care.
Someone wanted me to revamp his wix website. An executive private jet coy here in lagos.

Well, seeing the business model and looked through some UK, US based kinda that business. I showed the dude the examples, baba asked me if I could pull it off.. I responded by saying, but I am the one who showed it to you.

When I gave him bills, first he lamented it was in USD, secondly he said it was way way way over his budget. He was hoping to get the job done for less than $300... for something I even considered that we are in Nigeria... how he went from $1500 to $300
Omo mehn I no fit. I'd rather use that time and play fifa or watch American Dad, or kukuma start learning another framework. Make hungry kii me if e want. It's better than those kinda client that'd disturb your life with unreasonable talks.
Some people just can't afford it, while some just don't care.

Lol @ innoson website. Even the agency website get as e be. Compare am to this https://bendingspoons.com/
Or a few more out there.

Nigerians believe spending money developing or making their website look clean and crisp is a waste of resources. Well, who am I to argue with them.

There's a different between a tailored solution and regular stuffs. And 90% of websites here in 9ja are not custom made.

Omor if Nigerians could start seeing a different light to these stuffs, we'd be in better positions rather than seeking remote roles.
Wait until you have to start explaining to some the importance of the server their site is hosted on.

I run a private, managed server for my good clients that doesn't give me headache. Others, I let them choose out of the numerous out there. It's that simple. What I manage, I manage well.


We're talking about those one cos it's ugly, what of the ones wey no get atall and those their own was created far back 2008

niel63:


Two things I can say here... either they are way too cheap or they just don't care.
Someone wanted me to revamp his wix website. An executive private jet coy here in lagos.

Well, seeing the business model and looked through some UK, US based kinda that business. I showed the dude the examples, baba asked me if I could pull it off.. I responded by saying, but I am the one who showed it to you.

When I gave him bills, first he lamented it was in USD, secondly he said it was way way way over his budget. He was hoping to get the job done for less than $300... for something I even considered that we are in Nigeria... how he went from $1500 to $300
Omo mehn I no fit. I'd rather use that time and play fifa or watch American Dad, or kukuma start learning another framework. Make hungry kii me if e want. It's better than those kinda client that'd disturb your life with unreasonable talks.
Some people just can't afford it, while some just don't care.

Lol @ innoson website. Even the agency website get as e be. Compare am to this https://bendingspoons.com/
Or a few more out there.

Nigerians believe spending money developing or making their website look clean and crisp is a waste of resources. Well, who am I to argue with them.

There's a different between a tailored solution and regular stuffs. And 90% of websites here in 9ja are not custom made.

Omor if Nigerians could start seeing a different light to these stuffs, we'd be in better positions rather than seeking remote roles.
Wait until you have to start explaining to some the importance of the server their site is hosted on.

I run a private, managed server for my good clients that doesn't give me headache. Others, I let them choose out of the numerous out there. It's that simple. What I manage, I manage well.


We're talking about those one cos it's ugly, what of the ones wey no get atall and those their own was created far back 2008

It's why I left web design, I used to design websites, but in Nigeria it was seen like artisan work , Plugin Development and others are more lucrative

niel63:


Two things I can say here... either they are way too cheap or they just don't care.
Someone wanted me to revamp his wix website. An executive private jet coy here in lagos.

Well, seeing the business model and looked through some UK, US based kinda that business. I showed the dude the examples, baba asked me if I could pull it off.. I responded by saying, but I am the one who showed it to you.

When I gave him bills, first he lamented it was in USD, secondly he said it was way way way over his budget. He was hoping to get the job done for less than $300... for something I even considered that we are in Nigeria... how he went from $1500 to $300
Omo mehn I no fit. I'd rather use that time and play fifa or watch American Dad, or kukuma start learning another framework. Make hungry kii me if e want. It's better than those kinda client that'd disturb your life with unreasonable talks.
Some people just can't afford it, while some just don't care.

Lol @ innoson website. Even the agency website get as e be. Compare am to this https://bendingspoons.com/
Or a few more out there.

Nigerians believe spending money developing or making their website look clean and crisp is a waste of resources. Well, who am I to argue with them.

There's a different between a tailored solution and regular stuffs. And 90% of websites here in 9ja are not custom made.

Omor if Nigerians could start seeing a different light to these stuffs, we'd be in better positions rather than seeking remote roles.
Wait until you have to start explaining to some the importance of the server their site is hosted on.

I run a private, managed server for my good clients that doesn't give me headache. Others, I let them choose out of the numerous out there. It's that simple. What I manage, I manage well.


We're talking about those one cos it's ugly, what of the ones wey no get atall and those their own was created far back 2008

Omho the mentality in Nigeria is sickening. I remember someone asking me to build them a jamstack car auction site. Showed me some well made american ones, I charged him 500k he ran away. Looking back with that I know now that the project won't fly for less than 3 million. Good UI UX designers are very very expensive.

AdeOri99:


PropertyPro beat yours, in fact, I find nothing wrong in most Nigerian website examples you posted, stop comparing, no design is bad.

I'd so much love to agree with you that no design is bad. But bro!!! That's a fat lie. There are terrible designs. Even me sef dey fó for some really sweet UI/UX bro. We can only be honest to ourselves so as to improve. Why do you think we have W3Awards if there are no bad designs.?

Oya na post one Nigerian government website for there and seek for votes. No whine me ooo

tensazangetsu20:


Omho the mentality in Nigeria is sickening. I remember someone asking me to build them a jamstack car auction site. Showed me some well made american ones, I charged him 500k he ran away. Looking back with that I know now that the project won't fly for less than 3 million. Good UI UX designers are very very expensive.

It's just only a few people that can design and still code their designs, add animation, do SEO plus other small small thing. Remembering the mobile first design culture.

Omo it's not a bad thing to show off sometimes.
Oya see...
https://www.figma.com/file/UyL6Bl9gkB2JJT0mVbqoS7/Vehicle-Vin-Check?node-id=18%3A887

That's what I designed myself on FIGMA

Now I'm coding through that design (frontend and backend) or JAMstack
https://ongad.ng

The one I have locally has gone far in design than this sha.. na to commit e remain, make the CI/CD pipeline do him own work.

These are things I'd rather use my time for than doing a project that won't benefit me.

qtguru:


It's why I left web design, I used to design websites, but in Nigeria it was seen like artisan work , Plugin Development and others are more lucrative

And all these marketplace theme and tools.
I dey reason enter shopify custom storefront with their newly released Hydrogen Commerce Framework.

niel63:


It's just only a few people that can design and still code their designs, add animation, do SEO plus other small small thing. Remembering the mobile first design culture.

Omo it's not a bad thing to show off sometimes.
Oya see...
https://www.figma.com/file/UyL6Bl9gkB2JJT0mVbqoS7/Vehicle-Vin-Check?node-id=18%3A887

That's what I designed myself on FIGMA

Now I'm coding through that design (frontend and backend) or JAMstack
https://ongad.ng

The one I have locally has gone far in design than this sha.. na to commit e remain, make the CI/CD pipeline do him own work.

These are things I'd rather use my time for than doing a project that won't benefit me.

Bros you need to be selling these things men. They will move on themeforest.

niel63:


And all these marketplace theme and tools.
I dey reason enter shopify custom storefront with their newly released Hydrogen Commerce Framework.

Join our slack, we will give you the ginger to do it, I want to design Shopify Themes but not Storefront, that is good money there bro, you are on the right path.

Join our slack, and we will share more resources, NL is restricted so there's little I can do here