AN ANALYSIS OF THE USE OF WEB DESIGN CONVENTIONS IN COMPANY WEBSITES

Web usability advocates stress the importance of simplicity, consistency, and following web design conventions. Without this, users may get lost, feel confused or frustrated, or may abandon a site. Web usability authorities have made anecdotal remarks about the failure of sites to follow web conventions, but there have been few research attempts to address this issue. This study examines the websites of INC. 500 companies using five design measures related to link appearance and navigation. The results revealed that company practices with respect to these web design conventions are highly variable. This makes many websites more unpredictable than they otherwise would be and it imposes a greater cognitive load on web users. The results suggest that many websites might reexamine their sites from a usability perspective.