Jakob Nielsen's Top Ten Web Design Mistakes for 2005
Always keeping an eye on what Jakob Nielsen's up to, we thought it helpful to post his annual Top 10 mistakes for the year that was.
Jakob Nielsen, in case you didn't know, is arguably the world's leading expert on usabilty in web design. His outspoken criticism of poor practices across the web have made him a household name among web designers and has spawned more than a few usability service companies.
A brief synopsis of his list for this year:
1. Legibility Problems - Bad fonts are a plague on the land!
2. Non-Standard Links - Keep them simple. Keep them predictable.
3. Flash - Too much of it today has no purpose. Should serve a solid function.
4. Content That's Not Written for the Web - Long, rambling, print material copy is a no no.
5. Bad Search - Basic element of good user experience. If it sucks, the user's gone.
6. Browser Incompatibility - It's a priority, accept it.
7. Cumbersome Forms - Long, scrollable forms based on print forms mut go!
8. No Contact Info - A surprising item on the list.
9. Fixed Page Widths - Stretch it and they will come.
10. Inadequate Photo Enlargement - Zoom photos should be a zoom, not an incremental increase in size.
For more detail from the horse's mouth, go to: useit.com