It was sheer coincidence (serendipity?) that, during a break from a big web design project this week, I meandered by Matt’s online home, and found both a damn fine study on user’s expectations of websites and the damn fine usability newsletter from which it came. I like the study a lot, mainly because it’s supported by actual user data rather than supposition; it shouldn’t shock anyone that, coming from the world of medicine, I demand that conclusions be backed up by real data.

For those of you who demand the same, I’d recommend heading over to Research-Based Web Design & Usability Guidelines. Managed by the National Cancer Institute — another of those groups that is sorta stickly about having real data before doing something — it’s an awesome repository of information about implementing usability, and each recommendation is rated by the strength of the of evidence which supports it. It’s a don’t-miss in the world of website design.