The One Magic Rule of Web Design

Web design is not black and white. As of this moment, and for the foreseeable future, there is only one single rule that a successful Web designer or developer will adhere to, and this is this: There Are No Rules.

On Rules and Guidelines

In the last few years there has been significant advances by professional Web designers in making their sites more usable, more accessible and more successful. Web usability, information architecture and Web accessibility and the like are ever evolving disciplines designed to make Web sites better. These disciplines are ever evolving and there is still much to learn about how people interact with Web sites.

In the past, we had the limited knowledge of a select few gurus to help us make design decisions that would, hopefully, benefit our users. In many cases these "guidelines" translated into big wins, yet sometimes they did nothing. Worse still, if an opportunity was presented to test the site with users, these guidelines would prove to be detrimental.

One of the keys to building a successful Web site is to understand these guidelines and more importantly the root problems that lead to their development. A rule is nothing more than a solution presented as truth. It should be noted, that when it comes to Web design there are few few, if any, truths.

The Rules of Three and Seven

For example, there has been quite a bit of discussion lately about the "Three-Click Rule". This rule generally states that users will usually leave a site if they have not found what they are looking for after three clicks.

Sounds pretty reasonable. What is important to note here is not the three clicks, it's that a user will leave a site if they've not found what they are looking for. There is considerable evidence that many users will click as many times as it takes, as long as they are on the right track. In this case, the key is making sure they feel like they will eventually get to what they want.

The problem is a user not finding what they are looking for. A solution is to make everything within three clicks. Of what? The home page? What if a user comes to the site via a search and lands elsewhere? Does everything now need to be within three clicks of everything else? On a very content heavy site, if everything were three clicks from everything else it would quickly become very confusing to get around. As you can imagine this creates a problem.

On the other hand, it's fairly obvious that three clicks would be better than five. In the real world, this is less easy than it sounds. This rule might work very well for a site with one audience and not much content, and not work so well with a site that has multiple audiences and a lot of content. In most cases there is a balance to be reached here, and three clicks might be closest on average to that balance. It depends. Check with your users.

Another common Web design rule is the Rule of Seven. In the 1950's, George A. Miller put forth a general rule of thumb that the span of immediate memory is around seven +/- 2 items. Many Web designers still follow this rule today. Again, there is not usability data to back this rule up when it comes to the Web and how people use it. This rule could fit, or it might not - it depends on the goals of the site and the sites users.

Often times, what is the issue with menus isn't the number of items, but rather poor labeling or poor organization. If fact the Rule of Seven can contribute to these problems. If you have seven poorly labeled menu items it's not going to matter what your users remember. Again, look to the underlying problem.

To be fair, these two rules are related, and fairly easy to pick on, but they are also very common. As you can see, taking these rules at face value can create other problems and might not be the best thing for your site.

Besides the examples above, there are other possible issues:

• Users look for content in different ways. Some search, some browse and some do both.
• Users could be looking for different things. Is come content placed closer to the home page? Who decides?
• Less clicks could easily become an organizational nightmare. For example, placing things that don't belong together to save clicks can be confusing.
• Multiple audiences with different goals.
• Sheer volume of content.

There are many other rules to Web design, and there isn't one of them that doesn't have an exception. So what now? Well, these rules and guidelines can be used as a starting point, or as a general way to identify possible issues and solutions. I think the best way to see if these rules would be beneficial is to test them out with users, and see if implementing them helps your particular situation.

Look to The Cause

Implementing the three-click rule might be just the thing to make your content more accessible and drive your site to the next level. Or it might not. Check it out with your users, assess your audience and your goals. What you don't want to do it take a rule at face value and run with it. A good Web designer will consider the rule and then check it to make sure it works with the goals of the site.

No Web site is the same. Each has different goals, resources and audiences. Each presents its own unique challenges and deserves its own solutions. For a Web site to be successful, the designer needs to look beyond guidelines and rules and understand where they help and where they hinder those specific goals, resources and audiences. Seven menu items or three-clicks are not the problem. Not being able to find something on a Web site is. The Web is changing all the time. What seems like a good idea today might be revealed as a myth tomorrow. There is no absolute truth, or 100% right way to build a Web site. Understanding the Web is being able to address each site, each project and each problem individually. Those who "Get the Web" know that the phrase "Get the Web" is meaningless.

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