A user who parachutes deep into a site from a search engine or another site should be able to understand the context and subject immediately. The site's name and graphic identifiers should appear on every page. Page titles and headings should be clear and descriptive, not cute or obscure, i.e. "News" versus "What's Happening!"

Sites should expect users from a many cultural and linguistic backgrounds. English-language content should avoid slang, regional colloquialisms, offensive or exclusionary terms, and obscure cultural references (for instance, people over 35 or living outside the U.S. are unlikely to know the "Schoolhouse Rock" oeuvre). If the audience is multilingual, the site should be multilingual as well.

Good web content does not call attention to web structure. "Click here," "point your browser at ...," or "follow this link" are distracting and unnecessary. Good writing avoids web cliches like "check it out," "hot," or "cool."

Easily understandable visual cues

Human memory is very expensive, so don't abuse it. Users come to the site with a mental library of population stereotypes. For instance, users expect to see a "next" button to the right of a "back" button, so why reverse the expected positions and slow users down? The site's affordances should be clear and simple. If it's a text link, make it blue and underline it. If it looks like a button, it had better be a button and not a nonfunctional decorative element.

With software such as Outlook or Word, users may have no choice but to learn the application's quirky, confusing visual language. On the Web, they have a choice. A Web site has 10 to 15 seconds to grab and hold users. If they can't figure out your visual cues, they leave.

Logical framework

Carefully designed content and visual cues only work within a framework that presents information logically. This framework, or information architecture, includes the site's structure, navigation scheme, search functions, and personalization functions.

A Web site should provide several different paths through its content and tools. For instance, a site might be structured around tasks, accessible via a navigation bar labeled with verbs like "Buy" or "Get." However, users would not be limited to the task-oriented navigation bar. Personalization features would let users build their own paths through the site (see "Make The Site Flexible" for more). A search engine organized around topics and keywords would allow highly focused searching, and a site map would list content and tools within topic areas for easy browsing.

Some highly structured sites may require fewer paths through the content. For instance, a site offering step-by-step instructions for installing a ceiling fan would be linear in structure with little need for personalization, site maps, or any but the most basic search functionality. E-commerce sites should strip structure and navigation to the basics once a user chooses to pay for shopping-cart items.

On Amazon.com the navigation, personalization, and search functions -- even most graphics -- disappear when the user clicks "checkout." Each screen offers only a link to the next screen and a small text link back to the home page. No marketing questionnaires intrude in the middle of the process. Nothing is allowed to distract the user's attention until the sale is closed.

A navigation scheme is only as good as its navigational text, or "guide copy." A poorly labeled navigation bar will bore or confuse the user:

"Successful guide copy will work on two levels. First, it must do its job of helping visitors find the content they seek … good guide copy will also set the site's tone and reinforce its overall brand or identity. … Look at all the corporate sites that say 'About Our Company,' 'About Our People,' 'About Our Products.' As a reader I say, why should I care about your company and about your products? Seduce me, entice me, entertain me. Don't be cryptic, don't be stupid, but above all, don't be dull."9