Six Key Features of Web Sites that Work

“People often ask me what’s the most important thing they should do to make a Web site easy to use,” says Steve Krug, author of “Don’t Make Me Think: A Common-Sense Approach to Web Usability” (www.newriders.com). “A Web page should be self-evident, obvious and self-explanatory.”

Business-to-business cataloger Henry Schein’s site (www.henryschein.com) is emblematic of Krug’s ideal. It sports a clear mission statement on its home page, with links to major product lines clearly delineated. The site also quick-jumps to more corporate information, company news and investor data. In all, it takes about five seconds to figure out what’s going on there.