Sorting Out Design Issues

Ben Hunt has put together a superb guide to Web Site Architecture on his website Web Design from Scratch. There are great tips on helping you through the Design Process, Site Architecture, Graphic Design, Usability, Copy writing and much, much more. It's a pity that web developers don't follow some of the simple rules when building client sites. Here's a sample from the "Basics" section:

How designers look at web pages

• We appreciate balance, depth, richness, and surprises
• We enjoy looking at designs
• We stare long and hard at the complete screen

How real people use web pages

• They move quickly because they don't like looking at the screen
• They're impatient - they tend to click the first promising link, and often don't wait for pages to finish loading
• They don't like to read, scanning text quickly for clues
• They're looking for things to help them do what they want to do

Site Architecture is another section that caught my eye and in it he explores the different ways that sites can be strcutured, such as the Multi-Dimensional Hieracrchy:

There are some great pieces of advice on this website, which should be of interest to both those developing a web presence and those who just want to make their site, and the visitor experience, better.