Live data from Hacker News

McDonald's HTML5 promotion site

mcdonalds.co.uk

21–30 of 43 posts

Re: McDonald's HTML5 promotion site

#22
...it's stuff like this that makes me think i'll never be able to cut it as a professional web developer... I would never even consider making something this bloated. I'd complain that the UI is a terrible, pointless bit of eye candy that adds no value to anything. 'You shouldn't need a physics engine to navigate a website', I would protest, and then they would show me the door...

Re: McDonald's HTML5 promotion site

#23
The creator of this (Mat Groves) is also behind [pixi.js](https://github.com/GoodBoyDigital/pixi.js).

As an aside, I love the sound effects. I actually wish more websites played subtle "pops" and "clicks" when I interact with them. I can't quantify this, but I think those types of sound effects are one of the reasons why mobile apps feel so snappy. Clear is a good example.

I'm surprised that I haven't heard anybody complain about sound on mobile apps. I have two theories as to why this is:

1. The context is different. People use computers in quiet offices where they're expected to be working. Zips & zaps doesn't sound like Excel. 2. The mute button is physically closer. Muting an iPad feels much less interruptive than clicking the sound icon and dragging the slider down.

I'm seeing more and more front-end developers learning the fundamentals of animation and illustration. I predict that I'll start seeing the same with sound design too.

Re: McDonald's HTML5 promotion site

#24
post #22

...it's stuff like this that makes me think i'll never be able to cut it as a professional web developer... I would never even consider making something this bloated. I'd complain that the UI is a terrible, pointless bit of eye candy that adds no value to anything. 'You shouldn't need a physics engine to navigate a website', I would protest, and then they would show me the door...

You're just missing the point. This site is designed to be fun and engaging. The physics and sound accomplish that goal.

Re: McDonald's HTML5 promotion site

#25
post #22

...it's stuff like this that makes me think i'll never be able to cut it as a professional web developer... I would never even consider making something this bloated. I'd complain that the UI is a terrible, pointless bit of eye candy that adds no value to anything. 'You shouldn't need a physics engine to navigate a website', I would protest, and then they would show me the door...

Keep in mind that McDonald's is an established brand. They don't have to explain what "McDonald's" is anymore -- they're past that point. Now, they have to convince you to eat there by associating themselves with health-conscious imagery and family-oriented messaging.

This is an attempt to make McDonald's seem more "fun" than the average restaurant.

Most companies looking to build a web site are trying to solve a totally different problem because most companies are still trying to explain who they are. You definitely don't need a physics engine to explain who you are.

Re: McDonald's HTML5 promotion site

#26
post #22

...it's stuff like this that makes me think i'll never be able to cut it as a professional web developer... I would never even consider making something this bloated. I'd complain that the UI is a terrible, pointless bit of eye candy that adds no value to anything. 'You shouldn't need a physics engine to navigate a website', I would protest, and then they would show me the door...

You're just missing the point. This site is designed to be fun and engaging. The physics and sound accomplish that goal.

Yeah, I guess you're right.

Maybe i'm just a curmudgeon. It is a neat effect though. But I don't like that html5 seems to be repeating what I didn't like about Flash based sites when they were a thing.

Re: McDonald's HTML5 promotion site

#28
post #22

...it's stuff like this that makes me think i'll never be able to cut it as a professional web developer... I would never even consider making something this bloated. I'd complain that the UI is a terrible, pointless bit of eye candy that adds no value to anything. 'You shouldn't need a physics engine to navigate a website', I would protest, and then they would show me the door...

Keep in mind that McDonald's is an established brand. They don't have to explain what "McDonald's" is anymore -- they're past that point. Now, they have to convince you to eat there by associating themselves with health-conscious imagery and family-oriented messaging. This is an attempt to make McDonald's seem more "fun" than the average restaurant. Most companies looking to build a web site are trying to solve a tot…

Unless you're a physicist... :)

Re: McDonald's HTML5 promotion site

#29
post #21
post #8

I have absolutely no idea how I'm supposed to navigate this page. Really pretty, though.

You have to use click and drag to move around, scrolling probably would have been a bit more obvious...

Keyboard arrows, /\ moves left, and \/ moves right, but that's all that works for me, besides the touch pad which is the only way I could scroll up, and, or, down...

I also expected more media for such a long load time, however, the animations are kind of neat, but I'm not rushing out to McDonald's any time soon...

Re: McDonald's HTML5 promotion site

#30
Edit: ah, now it's loading. I mistook ten seconds with a white background to be a fatal error, not noticing the hundreds of files it was trying to download... It's hitting files named "test.php" and trying to grab an "undefined.mp3". Slick animation, but nothing else about this is impressive.

"Viewport argument key "http://www1.staging.mcdonalds.com/gtw/displayimage.do?image_... not recognized and ignored."

Post reply on HN