The design isn't crashing their browser, the implementation of the design is. You could argue that the design is simply not implementable with current technology to serve the widest array of users (this is doubtful), and possibly Stripe's marketing team made a judgement that they just didn't care about that - but you seem to be laying quite a lot at a designer's door there. I would guess that they are prioritising standing out to a niche audience of developers with expensive laptops over casting a wide net, which would be reasonable for this kind of campaign. Perhaps what you dislike is the marketing campaign and it's goals, rather than the nebulous "bad design" of the page?

And, for the record, I clicked the link because it was at the top of HN and I was bored. How did it get to the top of HN? because a lot of people saw it and thought it was cool. If they took a more utilitarian approach, would that have happened? I guess we just don't know.

So what if it was a designer who acted on the whims of a marketing team? The criticism was directed at the design not at a person. Regardless of their intended audience the site is still representative of the point I wanted to make about modern day design.

And no, not everyone is clicking on all the front page links of the same score (you included) so your argument is kinda weak and something must have caught your attention about the title.

My point was that it seems you are critiquing the design of the page as if it's purpose is to display sales data, and I was suggesting that it's purpose is not to display sales data, but actually to simply advertise Stripe. When judged by this outcome, the design is (arguably, it seems) more successful.

Regardless, I find no joy or purpose in talking to someone that tells me I'm incorrect when I tell them my motivations for doing something. It betrays a certain ignorance on your part. I think let's just leave the thread there. Have a good rest of your day.

Even if the purpose was to advertise Stripe, the ad has very evident intention to provide value to the viewer of the ad, which is to provide information, so the purpose is not singular; and yet both its intended purposes are not being done very well.

I think that what really happened here is that you are upset because you found yourself arguing for a position that you can’t rationally and convincingly defend, which is a position that no one forced you to maintain in the first place. You should know that there’s also no joy in dealing with someone like that.