If the following makes sense to you, we'll be more than halfway to a productive working relationship wherein you - and your customers or clients - get exactly what you want from your website.

• Having to search high and low on a busy web page for what should be a very accessible and commonly desired link or piece of information (hidden "Store Locators" on the websites of national chains and franchises comes to mind).
   
• Having to watch a very cool, but ultimately irrelevant and time-wasting animated Flash intro that you cannot turn off or bypass.
   
• Really wanting to call the business, but cannot find a phone number.  This is the Internet version of looking in vain for a salesperson at Wal-Mart during the holiday season.
   
• Having to use your mouse to hover the pointer over mysterious graphic links in order to see the tiny little explanations that tell you what the heck they are and where they lead (see Rule 2 below).
   
• THE WORST: Wanting to buy something on the website and not being able to figure out how.

The Rules

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1. We should constantly ask ourselves these THREE GUIDING QUESTIONS:
    
   a) Who are your visitors? 
   b) What do they want from your website? 
   c) How do they easily get that? (benefit, benefit, benefit)
    
   There may be multiple answers to these questions. For example, there may be more than one type of visitor coming to your website. They may want more than one thing.  But we should be constantly mindful of these questions, and use them to at least prioritize your website features and functions.
    
2. Just because we can do a thing, doesn't mean we have to (cool Flash animations and imbedded audio come to mind). Something is only a good idea if it helps us address the questions posited in Rule 1.
    
3. Make it as EASY and INTUITIVE as possible for visitors to get what they want. If they guess at a thing, they should be right at least 95% of the time.  Don't make your visitors work - mentally or physically - to get what they want from your website.  Connect the dots for them.
    
4. A website is not just an online brochure.  Think about it. Websites are dynamic and interactive, so give your visitors something to do. If you can, update your content from time to time to keep it fresh.  Give your visitors a reason to come back and visit (benefit, benefit, benefit).
    
5. Be careful not to make your website "all about you" - except to the extent that talking about you answers the questions in Rule 1. What's in it for the visitor?  Benefit, benefit, benefit.
    
6. What clients and customers think about your website is much more important than what any other type of visitor thinks about it. This includes other website designers, well-meaning friends, spouses, family members and - least of all - your sister's friend who "knows websites."