As with any business decision, it all boils down to understanding what our target audience wants. If you want to make a big impression from a graphical point of view, Flash is definitely a good approach. However, concrete evidence still points to the fact that most web users utilize the web to find information, and what they regard mostly is the quality of content, ease of navigation and speed.

Users also consider the web a highly interactive medium and they are unlikely to watch a computer screen for long periods of time without giving some sort of input.

Flash technology presents several problems that go against the way most people use the web. Sites designed with Flash take a long time to download and consume vast amounts of bandwidth. Not all users have a broadband connection and that delay can make them leave the site before they even see it.

Another problem is that when you navigate a Flash site designed with an older version, the back button does not work: instead of taking you to the previous screen, it will get you out of the Flash site. Also, the standard colours for visited and unvisited links will not work, and users have no control over the text size they want to use.

Furthermore, many times Flash sites go against the interactive nature of the web. Since Flash technology favours a "presentation style" approach that resembles television, users are many times reduced to mere observers that get bored after a while, no matter how good the graphics look. That’s why there must be some interaction between the website and the user which will keep him interested and amused.

There are also some search engine constrains. Although large search engines like Google now have some Flash indexing capabilities, these are still very limited. You will definitely have a hard time achieving high rankings with a Flash site. One option around this problem is to design a second, search-engine-friendly HTML version of your site.

However, there are some instances when Flash technology can be helpful. For example, when you need to show a presentation or a demo of your product. Also, if you want to add an interactive game or quiz to your website, with Flash that can be done very easily. In case you want to dress up a minimalist site, a small Flash animation or banner embedded in an HTML document will not consume excessive bandwidth, will load fast, and will enhance the appearance of a bare-bones site.

While Macromedia is actively working to improve Flash's usability problems, its use in web design must be carefully considered. Flash must be used in instances when it actually enhances the value of website’s content and must be avoided when the appearance is less important than the information on the site.