It is impossible to appeal to every visitor’s individual taste, but it is possible to create a site that reflects company’s image and elicits a positive response from viewers. Good layout, colour, style and font type can influence site user’s assumptions about company, or its products and services.

Businesses must understand their demographic and appeal to that visual sensibility. Too often companies are convinced by design firms try to be something they aren’t. Why an accounting firm would need a Flash intro is beyond me. Invest in simple, clean design that reflects spirit and guiding principles of company.

Site attractiveness also aids navigation and usability as well as adding to enjoyment and overall site experience for user. One of main reasons that a user will leave a site quickly is not being able to find relevant content. When aesthetics are good, navigation buttons are easy to read, clearly labeled and, lastly, quickly found and identified.

Aesthetics are not frivolous or wasteful. To ensure a successful site, companies must not only consider nuts and bolts of technical side of site, but visual appeal that site holds for user. A well-designed site will be cost-effective as it will last longer, create value for client and help market company in most professional way. Good design aesthetics add tangible benefits such as improved client response to Web site and a memorable and solid company image.

8) AND SOMEONE-ANYONE-PLEASE! Stop "ultra" dark background accented with an equally dark font! I have discovered many a website in which background, and text fonts, are indistinguishable from each other! It looks like your are staring into a black hole! Lighten things up a bit, and don’t make me turn brightness controls on my monitor to full! And no, I don’t want to highlight text so I can read information on your website!

9) While I love Marcomedia's Flash, I think it should be used sparingly. Unless you have a film site, or a product that requires a detailed visual description, just forget about using flash for e-commerce. There is a majority of people out there who still use those pokey dial-up modems (me being one of them) and I "hate wait!"

Even when I use skip feature it still takes to long for page to load. While doing research for The Ultimate Guide To Products For Resale I noticed that some designer clothing wholesalers where using flash to sell their product. The same applied to retail sellers of designer shoes, designer handbags, and designer clothing.

My question is why? If you are using your site to sell a product, just stick with high quality, fast loading photos, followed up with good creative descriptions of each item. If you have to make people wait to buy your product, people will buy their product somewhere else! If you absolutely, positively, must use Flash, make your files as fast loading as possible, especially if you are selling a product.

10) Solid blocks of text with no breaks between paragraphs. The only industry that gets away with that format is newspaper, book, and magazine publishers. The Internet is a different world altogether. People not only want their information quick, but they also want to read it in smaller, "bit size" portions of content.

I like to skim over articles for main points. If I have to "slog" through content that looks like a rambling diatribe with no paragraph breaks, I’m gone! Make your content clear and concise. Break up your paragraphs, and use plenty of "white space" when possible.

So there they are. My “Top Ten” pet peeves of dysfunctional design! Do you incorporate any of them in your website? When it comes to good design, and great site navigation, think of your website as if you were having guests over to your house. Make your house, as well as your website, “neat and ready to greet!” For more information about how to make your site user friendly, go to Jakob Nielsen's site for tips on better website design and usability.