Happy New Year! 2003 has certainly been a great year and many beautiful and highly functional sites have been developed using proven usability and design techniques. Of course 2003 has also brought us some horrible examples of web design practices.

With this in mind, let's explore and share some of our design do's and dont's.

I'd like to begin by looking at a design don't I found at http://www.buffalosoldiers.net

What is going on with that background? The navigation simply disappears after you click on a link.

So what is the lesson in this url? I'll tell you:

-Background - Don't choose a background that draws attention away from your page, images are specially dangerous and should be used sparingly.

-Navigation - Your navigation should be consistent throughout your entire site. here is a great in-depth article on the subject http://www.smartwebby.com/web_site_d...ation_tips.asp

So, what are your design do's and dont's for 2004? Will any new technologies affect the way sites are designed in 2004? Do you think nothing much will change?

Look forward to some great replies as usual.