Fresh vs. Familiar: How Aggressively to Redesign

Jacob Neilsen, the godfather of web usability, published a column recently on redesign. It’s a gem of a piece, as it highlights the main difference between how a business sees their website, and how a user does.

The basic idea: companies tend to think of web users as people that come to their site, click around for the sake of it, and admire all the time spent on their design.

Truthfully, users are task-oriented.

Users don’t care about design for its own sake; they just want to get things done and get out. Normal people don’t love sitting at their computers. They’d rather watch football, walk the dog — just about anything else. Using a computer probably rates above taking out the trash, though.

How does this apply to doing a re-design? While wild and unique designs have their place, it’s best to stick with the simple and familiar. This includes things like:

• Top or sidebar navigation
• Easily recognizable links
• Easy to read text
• Clear hierarchy of information

Of course, everyone wants their website to look good. But at the end of the day, it should help the user get what they want faster, without confusing them by having to learn your unique navigation or design.

Read the full article here.