Web site usability on DesDev – I have joined the ranks of the pundits in making my opinions known on what makes good web design. The article is now up on the DesDev center. Come read it and let me know what you think here. There used to be a lot of articles on the web about best practices and I can't seem to find as many except for the specific ones that are touting one technique or another. I think there is room for another article to remind us all what traps we are likely to hit in designing a site.
The main points are:
Get to know your audience and design for them—not for yourself or your colleagues
Test your site with inexperienced web users
Make the content on your first page rich and explanatory
Archive content after redesigning or changing a site
Include useful search terms in meta tags and titles
Provide contact and copyright information on every page
Provide search options
Maintain consistency of design
Think about noise, movement, or anything that spins twice … no, wait … three times