What we do < web development< the shiny thing

Part of the process promoting best user interface design practice involves the specification of anti-patterns to help tackle poor design practice. From a Marketing perspective one anti-pattern you must look out for is The Shiny Thing:

Anti-pattern name: Shiny thing
Most frequently sighted: On Web pages created by teams, on which visual impact or technology takes precedence over usability.
Root causes: The desire to create impact without getting the basics right first and a lack of awareness of good UX design principles.
Anecdotal evidence: "The hard part's done; now we can sort out the content." "But it looks really cool!"
Background: Flash and other technologies can create a huge visual impact on a site. A team can sometimes lose sight of the needs of users in the process of creating visual impact.
Symptoms and consequences:
- Some or all users are unable to access the site's content-particularly users using accessibility software.
- Users must download one or more plugins to view the content.
- Users experience increased download times.
- The site is not coherent in its message.
Typical causes: Over-representation of technologists, marketers or visual designers on the product team.
Known exceptions: Some Web sites that are aimed at very specific, well-understood user groups for which such content is appropriate.