What Makes a Good Web Design?

Grand Master Math asks: "I'm currently redesigning my website and I have checked out tons of various web sites, gone from link to link, etc...to find the best web design techniques, layouts, and features. Wow Web Designs proved to be a pretty useful site, as it showcased virtually 'the best of the web' in design and creativity. I was wondering what the Slashdot community has to say about web design and what the best web design should implement and address. From browser compatibility, to simplicity and complexity, and customization to user interaction, what should a perfect web design incorporate?"

Comments

K.I.S.S.

[Em Emalb]

Keep it simple
To the point
Searchable
Flash-non flash versions
no unnecessary plugins
no popups/unders, etc.

two versions of the same website is cool.

Not everyone has a blazing net connection, so remember the little guy sucking on a 33.6 dialup connection.

that's it.

Here's what not to do...

[XaXXon]

Web Pages That Suck
http://www.webpagesthatsuck.com/

Check out Jakob Nielsen's website

[gmag3]

useit.com. It's a great resource for usability information, including a lot of stuff on web usability and design.

Ask yourself this question

[fobbman]

1) Are you selling a product or yourself?

If you are selling a product, keep it simple. Flashy shit, while nice as eyecandy, inevitably will cause problems with SOMEONE's browser out there if they don't have installed/activated the plugin that you require and then you've alienated a potential customer.

Also, make good use of the title tags. Put the page name AND COMPANY OR PRODUCT NAME in it, and not "Home" or, worse, "Untitled Document". Think of how you want your bookmark in their list to look.

Re:Don't Make Me Think

[richieb]

Don't make the user think. That's fairly depressing. Yeah, yeah, I know, "that's just the way it is, so deal with it/get a life/quit whining/get a job/go outside/computers aren't everything(tm) ©©©®®®"

You misunderstand. The book advocates a way to design websites so that it's easy to use and you don't have to waste your time trying to figure out how things work.

Imagine that the reply button on /. was at the very bottom of the page and you had to enter the number of the comment you were replying to.

Or think of doors, where you have to stop and figure out whether you need to push or pull to open it (sometimes instructions are taped to the door to make this task easier).

If you are interested in good user interfaces, I recomend this book.

Re:waste of time

[dkh2]

Actually, not. There's the normal page that 99% of users will use but through effective use of SSI it doesn't have to be duplication of effort at all.

If your default design requires Javascript, include a
<noscript>
<meta http-equiv="refresh" content="0;http://server.domain.com/texthome.html" />
</noscript>
in the HEAD.

This will send all of the folks with no scripting to the page that has none.
The very first thing that should appear on the default page is a link to the text-only version. This is for the benefit of non-sighted users who are using a browser that processes the scripting. This should appear first because you don't want them to have to wait while their screen reader recites the entire page before they get to the one piece they really need to function.

Yes, by all means "know your audience." But, remember that unless you are going to authenticate your entire audience there will be other people coming to your site.