Perhaps a few years back, you jumped on the bandwagon, and created your own website, or hired someone to do so for you. Now, let's be honest, some of those first sites we not so pretty, or even functional.
And then Flash came along and it allowed us to do really cool things, but were they the right things, or were they just really cool? I liken Flash to the plethora of Photoshop filters, when they first came out. You could see filters on everything; watercolor, mosaic, graphic pen, create clouds (which I don't believe was actually to create clouds), etc.
And now, in the era of Web 2.0, what is changing? Well, I speculate it is a bit more about maturity, and the wearing off of the newness of "flashy" design. Don't get me wrong, I believe the beauty of sites in general is gaining every day, but it is perhaps a bit more strategic and refined approach. Functionality and Usability are more and more in the spotlight.
I think it is causing a lot of companies to take a good hard look of what they are presenting to the public. Of course, there are also some great notable exceptions. In the small to mid-sided business sites, the focus is more on making sure the audience is getting what they came there for, and my hope the focus on reflecting on an authentic representation of who the company is. What they stand for, and what their corporate culture is. After all, your brand IS your corporate culture.
So, here are some common mistakes that I have compiled from across the web, click on their respective links for more details and imagery.
How does your site fare?
The people over at UsabilityPost.com recently listed 7 top usability mistakes:
1. Inconsistent site-wide navigation
2. Links not identified by color and/or underline
3. Registration required to view content
4. Long registration forms
5. Too much pagination
6. Text that is too long and un-scannable
7. No contact information or contact form
Jacob Nielson has long been the icon for usability, so I would be remiss not to give space to him here as well, here are some of his thoughts on weblog usability:
1. No Author Biographies
2. No Author Photo
3. Nondescript Posting Titles
4. Links Don't Say Where They Go
5. Classic Hits are Buried
6. The Calendar is the Only Navigation
7. Irregular Publishing Frequency
8. Mixing Topics
9. Forgetting That You Write for Your Future Boss
10. Having a Domain Name Owned by a Weblog Service
And perhaps addressing some of my own personal pet peeves is the top 10 from Smashing Magazine:
1. Hidden log-in link.
2. Pop-ups for content presentation.
3. Dragging instead of vertical navigation.
4. Invisible links.
5. Visual noise.
6. Dead end.
7. Content blocks layering upon each other.
8. Dynamic navigation.
9. Drop-Down Menus.
10. Blinking images.