A USABILITY BRIEF

• KEEP IT BRIEF  - Web surfers are looking for the information, not flowery prose

• Use lists - as a way to help users quickly see the important points.
• Use text highlights - to allow keywords and ideas to be picked out quickly by users scanning a page
• Use newspaper style writing - Make sure that the all the important information get out first
• Keep it on one screen - allow the user to see the information or link they are looking for
 
• KEEP IT SIMPLE - Allow the user to look at what they want to look at

• Animation is evil - don't use constantly animated graphics.  They distract from the page's content.
• <blink> is evil - 'nuff said
• Keep the graphics down - if the page hasn't loaded in 10 sec, the user will move on.
• Keep it printable - you would be surprised how many people print out web sites.
 
• KEEP IT PREDICTABLE

• Follow the standards - keep unused links blue and used ones red or purple.  Don't make the user learn a new set of rules just for your page.  [Originality is good, but radical design concepts can often just confuse the user.  Far better to ease them into a radical design by using organic growth from a know design.]
• Don't confuse the user - by having fake buttons or blue text which is not a link.
• Let them know where they stand - let he user see what information is available and how to get it.  The application of this abstract idea can sometimes be hard to implement.  Common procedures are manually created site maps, or super lists on the side, top or bottom of the page.
• Give the user a good idea of what is behind a link - let them find the info they are looking for.
• Frames are evil - who know what will happen when you click on a link in a page with frames.  Frames also break the "follow the standards" rule because they often defy the standard URL rules, not to mention that all important Back button.