Jacob Nielsen: Web 2.0 'distracts good design'

Making a site easy to use should be the first priority . Hype about Web 2.0 is making web firms neglect the basics of good design, web usability guru Jakob Nielsen says, according to the BBC website. Nielsen warned that the rush to make web pages more dynamic often meant users were badly served.

He said sites peppered with personalisation tools were in danger of resembling the "glossy but useless" sites at the height of the dotcom boom. Research into website use shows that sites were better off getting the basics right, said Mr Nielsen.

Good practices include making a site easy to use, good search tools, the use of text free of jargon, usability testing and a consideration of design even before the first line of code is written. Sadly, said Mr Nielsen, the rush to embrace Web 2.0 technology meant that many firms were turning their back on the basics.

"They should get the basics right first," he said. "Sadly most websites do not have those primary things right."

While some sites with particular demographics, such as MySpace, Facebook and Bebo, have large involved communities of users that will not hold true for all sites, he said. "Most people just want to get in, get it and get out," said Mr Nielsen. "For them the web is not a goal in itself. It is a tool."
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