Woah! What a chapter! While the information was very beneficial to page design, there was a lot to get through. And it was also occasionally hard to get past the dated-ness of the book. The year 2000 doesn't seem like that long ago, but a lot has changed with the internet in the last 10 years.
Neilsen's main focus of page design was the keep it simple. Over use of anything is going to deter the user. People want to quickly find the information they are looking for. Neilsen says to keep extra graphics to a minimum, because they will cause pages to load slower. If a page takes longer than 10 seconds to load, the user is less likely to continue using that page.
A major point in this chapter was to design a page so that it is compatible with various monitor sizes and devices. Some people are going to be using a 19" screen while others may only have 5" worth of screen. The webpage has to be able to display properly for both users.
Despite the dated-ness of these recommendations, many of them still stand. I will argue, however, that clean and simple isn't always the way to go. While I think it's important to ensure that the pages load in a timely fashion, I also think it's important to stay true to the design. Especially, in this day and age - I know a great many writers, readers, and Internet-users who love exploring pages that have great graphics and design features. Besides, it's kind of difficult to gauge what will or won't slow down another person's computer. With today's super-fast Internet speeds, is that really even a prerequisite to putting up a well-designed website that makes full use of web graphics?
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