Common Web Design Mistakes

Unless you are prepared to retrain my mom, your mom, his mom, her mom, and the millions of other web users who have learned to follow these established conventions, do not break the rules, unless you have a very, very good reason. And no, that reason can’t be “it looks better.” Or “it won’t fit over there.” Make it work.

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During a particularly geeky conversation recently, the topic got around to Web Design Commandments. If I were to come up with them, they might be a little something like this. I'm sure not everyone will agree with these though, so please feel free to add to the list!

If you are thinking of having a new site or revamping your existing site you may want to make sure that these questions will be unnecessary before you appoint someone to carry out the work.

I learned quickly that business executives didn’t care about usability testing or information design. Explaining the importance of these areas didn’t get us any more work. Instead, when we’re in front of executives, we quickly learned to talk about only five things:

Thou Shalt Load Fast: Each and every entry page on your site should weigh in under 50-100KB total, including graphics and navigation. Interior pages can run larger, but the ‘front doors’ to your site should not make surfers wait long to start interacting with the site

No Surprises. Web sites are not meant to be mysterious. The web is not new. Certain standards of usability remain because they work. Users stampede away from sites that remain mysterious. Links should be written clearly, marked clearly as links, and users should be alerted to the mildest of surprises like opening a .pdf or Powerpoint.

Experience matters: Blue links are easier to click than black ones, even though black ones have higher visual contrast and are easier to see

Opening up new browser windows is like a vacuum cleaner sales person who starts a visit by emptying an ash tray on the customer's carpet. Don't pollute my screen with any more windows, thanks (particularly since current operating systems have miserable window management).

Bad Color Coordination – avoid using dark text on a dark background. Use dark text on a light background, such as black on white. Use colors that blend well together – observe nature or look at paintings to get some idea of good color combinations.