Site identity and mission. Right off the bat, the Home page has to tell me what site this is and what it’s for—and if possible, why I should be here and not at some other site. Site hierarchy. The Home page has to give an overview of what the site has to offer—both content (“What can I find here?”) and features (“What can I do here?”)—and how it’s

“three mindless, unambiguous clicks equal one click that requires thought.”

But I know that we all love to have definitive answers, so here’s a tiny collection of things that you should always do or never do. Don’t use small, low-contrast type.