A recent client request to review their web site usability prompted me to codify some of the rules with which I approach web navigation. These 3 principles work 100% and every deviation from them only brings confusion to the end user and thus lowers the corporate ROI (Return on Investment).

Rule Number 1:

Don't-Make-Me-Think.

Also the title of a best-seller book by Steve Krug, this principle is violated in many web sites because perhaps the developers love their craft so much that they forget what the whole site is for the end user or a customer who is there to either a) find information on a specific topic, or b) solve a specific problem.

Navigation must be 100% transparent for the user to trust the web content and the business entity behind the web content. If the user starts thinking about the quirks of navigation, you will lose her as a prospect as well.

If your visitors start asking questions or silently chew on statements like the following, it means you have failed in the Don't-Make-Me-Think test:

"Wow, that's interesting, why did they put this link here?"

"Oops, what happened to the left sidebar?"

"Oh, great, I have no idea how to get back to that page now"

"Why does this thing keep blinking?"

"I swear to god it was here just a second ago"

"Now, why would anyone have a 3-layer drop-down menu with 20 options each?"

"Jeez, this lime-green text on pink background is just killing my eyes!"

The finger that points at the moon must not call attention to itself. If it does, we all start to watch the finger, not the moon. And your customers are lined up to pay for the moon's beauty, not the up-close anatomy of a finger.