Comment by xnx
2 days ago
I like it.
Good user experience isn't about dogmatically sticking to "text only", but about making a useful, understandable, navigable site.
Emojis seem to help section the dozens of links on the homepage without adding unnecessary visual distraction or page payload.
> unnecessary visual distraction
I think I personally see emojis used in this manner as unnecessary visual distraction, because it detracts from whatever self-consistent design system you had going on (when used for high visibility items like front page headings). Emojis don't even render the same on every platform, so its a move that dilutes your design language.
Even if it's a useful visual guide, I would wager nine times out of ten you'd be better off with a self-consistent icon set...depending on what you're going for, of course.
The page uses 'font-family: sans-serif'. They've already given up on any control over what the page looks like. They leave it up to the browser, which, IMO, more sites should do.
> Emojis don't even render the same on every platform
This is a feature, not a bug. That it's using your platform-specific emojis makes it easier to scan, since it's the ideograms you are already accustomed to. Much faster to scan familiar symbols than to read each section heading serially.
Sites having individual "design language" is part of the problem that got us to the current balkanized web.
It isn't a problem. Site authors being able to choose their own design is fundamental to the web, it is as much a platform for personal creative expression as it is information. Not everything has to look like a whitepaper.