Web Dogma. 10 rules for creating sites for users

Today I happened to attend a lecture by Eric Reiss, a specialist in information architecture, usability and user experience.

And although these terms sound rather scary, the latter does not have a Russian translation at all, but the subject area described by them is important for everyone working with the structure and design of sites and their content.

The lecture was devoted to a set of rules (Eric calls them dogma), following which will allow you to create websites for users free from the dictates of technology and fashion.
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These are the 10 rules.

1. Anything that exists only to satisfy the site owner’s internal policy should be eliminated.
2. Everything that exists only to satisfy the designer's ego must be eliminated.
3. Anything that does not fit the page should be eliminated.
4. Any functionality or technology that hampers freedom of movement on the site should be corrected or eliminated.
5. Any interactive object that forces a user to guess his purpose should be corrected or eliminated.
6. For proper operation of the site should not require any software other than a browser.
7. The content of the site should be possible to read, print, download.
8. Usability should not be sacrificed for style leadership.
9. The user should not be asked to register or provide personal data if it is not necessary to provide the service.
10. Violation of any of these rules before the start of work is a real barbarism.

In addition, two important points were made:

• Regarding the difficulties of negotiating with customers - site owners who have a tendency to demand violation of many points of these rules:
  - If we do not demand better sites, we will never get them.
• And about the priorities in the work:
  - Do not work on preventing problems. Work to get the best result.

No matter how silly it sounds, simple control of the structure, design and content of the site to follow these rules will help make it better, more convenient and more popular.