Simplicity
The key to a successful website is obtaining a balance between simplicity, functionality and visual appeal. Many would argue that simplicity is the most important as if a website is a beautiful work of art full of functionality but no one knows how to use it, it will not be used. Keeping a website as simple as possible maximises the amount of people that can use / view the site and can therefore increase its success exponentially.
Obviousness (Recognition rather than recall*)
Jakob’s Law of the Web User Experience states that “users spend most of their time on other websites.”* For this reason, if possible, stick to the traditional web design preston conventions as much as possible. For example, having a logo at the top left of the screen that links to the site’s homepage is pretty much a given. People expect this to be a link to the homepage so make it so! If you have an e-commerce project, stick to the standard conventions of shopping baskets, checkouts and user accounts, with status updates appearing in the top right hand side. Keeping to these conventions reduces the user’s thinking time drastically so that they can spend more time taking in the information on your site.
Design Consistency
It is incredibly annoying and confusing to the user when the main navigation of a site changes from page to page. Keep a website structure as similar as possible throughout to allow them to instantly know where pages of the site are, see the structure and pick out the information they require with as little “thinking time” as possible. This will keep visitors on your website for longer and returning to the site again and again.
Target Audience
The design of your websites interface and functionality should not be aimed at yourself or your staff but your primary users, unless of course you and 
your staff are the primary users. A large or technical website can be quite daunting to many “technophobic” or less computer literate users so if this is your target audience keep it simple. If you need to be targeting professionals who want quick solid technical information, provide this accordingly. If your visitors are children don’t dumb it down (as many kids are more computer literate than adults) but keep it in a language they understand and keep it fun!
Usability Testing
Many people underestimate the power of solid usability testing but if done correctly it can make a massive difference to your site. Don’t just do quick, standardised tests but watch a selection of your target audience using your site and ask them to talk you through their thoughts (but don’t help them!). You may find that something you found obvious, such as how to log in, may not be so easy the first time you see the site.
Web Developers / Designers
Ask your clients (preferably someone who wasn’t involved in the development process) to meet you and watch them using the site. Ask them to talk through their thoughts, questions and comments but only help them if it is really required. Note down EVERYTHING they say and make changes accordingly. On larger projects this is more important but even smaller sites can have a drastic improvement from this technique as so much gets overlooked by designers assumptions.
Website Owners
Ask your friends to use the site and feedback to you. Ask for honest comments, constructive criticism and feed this back to the designer. Ask them what they think the website is about, the products / services that you provide and ask questions about the content rather than the layout. If they don’t understand what your business provides, change the headings, slogans, titles or even the images using your content management system (CMS) if you have one or feed this back to the developers. They will not mind you pushing your sites progress in a constructive way as if the job is successful they themselves will have more pride in the project.
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