Opinion: With all the hype surrounding Web 2.0, don't forget the tried-and-true axioms of online design.It's an exciting time to be a Web professional. It seems like the Web is finally recovering from the dot-com bust and there is excitement in the air. While I don't think things will ever get as crazy as they were in the '90s (a good thing) I do see the potential that was always there for the Web coming around.
However, it's not because of anything "Web 2.0". The Web hasn't changed all that much, to be honest, and what we knew then still applies now. Content is first priority. Providing a rewarding user experience is key. Form follows function. Clarity and simplicity are to be striven for.
These are concepts that aren't new. What has worked in the past will still work now. In fact, in light of all the hype surrounding technologies like RSS and AJAX, my advice to every Web professional out there is to nail the basics first.
Content First
In most cases the majority of your time should be spent on your content. When publishing on the Web good content can overcome just about anything. If you've got something that people want to read, or use, or play with you've just won over half the battle.
Before you dip into the look and feel of your site, before you spend one hour on design or branding as it relates to the Web, you should have spent a good deal of time thinking about the meat and bones of your site—your content.
A Peoplecentric Experience
Providing an experience that is designed with real people in mind should be a no-brainer, however, the "average" Web experience is mediocre at best. This is usually due to inexperience or inadequate understanding of how people interact with technology.
It's not something you can guess at.
Take some time; get to know your audiences in person. Talk to them, gather feedback, go and watch them use your Web site or application. Ask them what they like and what they're looking for. Whatever you do, don't be blinded by the latest hype. Technology should be used to address people's desires and needs and not used for technologies' sake alone.
Don't be average. Provide the experience that your audience is looking for.
Form After Function
No matter how important branding and visual design is to you, it should almost always follow functionality. Take the time to make sure everything is working properly and that you've addressed the core problems before you get too far into thinking about the look and feel.
I realize these things are often intertwined and can be at odds with each other. However, they can be put into balance and to be successful on the Web it's best to, again, get those details down first and then move on to the fancy stuff.
The worst thing you can do to your brand and your experience is put something out there that is hard to use, or worse, doesn't function correctly in the first place. Getting over a drab visual design is relatively easy in comparison.
Clarity and Radical Simplicity
Contrary to what some people might tell you, most people don't get that much enjoyment spending their nights and days in front of a computer surfing the Web. Technology is supposed to work for us, not the other way around. The Web is here to enrich and aid us in our "real" lives.
Sure we can be entertained and have lots of fun online, but in the main people come to the Web to find some information or take care of a task. It's important to provide solutions, applications, content and designs that are clear and simple.
This last summer I had the pleasure of seeing BJ Fogg speak on the subject of why simplicity matters (you can get the notes here) and I really identified with a concept he called "radical simplicity".
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It's where something is at its most simple, most clear and therefore easiest to use. You see many successful Web applications nowadays striving for something similar. The idea is to take people's problems and solve them as simply as possible. Notice I said "as simply" not "as easily". Simple is hardly easy.
However, a simple solution has less chance of breaking (provided it's not messed with), it empowers the people using it, and it's easier to sell.
Take a look at your favorite online application. Chances are it does something really, really well and my guess is that's probably why you like it. I know my favorite sites and applications are focused, clear and simple.
I'll leave complexity to my movies, games and books.
On the Web it's about nailing the basics. I'm not saying it's easy, but if you've got the content, you're thinking about people, you've put function in front of form and you've tried to make everything as clear and simple as possible you're on the right track.
Web Design 
