Trend Central points out how so many web sites are moving toward a more image-heavy navigation, magazine style. Typical web site navigation and blog design are changing. Larger, higher-definition screens and faster downloads open new doors.

However, be careful not to use this flexibility as an excuse to overdesign. Jonathan Ive, lead designer at Apple, calls for a new approach to design, focused on heightened functionality, rather than visual clutter.

A lot of what we seem to be doing … is getting design out of the way. With that sort of reason, it feels almost inevitable, almost undesigned and it feels almost, like of course it is that way. Why would it be any other way?

Design should always be second to usability and content.

Information Architects say, “Technology often develops from primitive to complicated to simple.” They stress better interaction design and less graphic design.

This reasoning is best represented by the enormous success of sites like Facebook who rely on content sharing rather than clutter. MySpace is the antithesis of this simplified style. A classic example of overdesign, MySpace is falling out of mind to the cleaner, simpler user interface of Facebook.

Last night in about an hour I put together a quick child theme using the versatile iThemes Builder theme for my sister’s photography blog. She wanted a wider layout to display her photos, so I kept it simple with a wide content area. That is all it needed. Add a few simple pages for bio, contact and pricing and it’s done. Maximum of three hours including the header design and the site is done. (I used the new iThemes rotating images plugin for the header.)

Just clean lines and clean typography. It has been stripped to the essentials. I realize that this project demanded simplicity and some projects will have much more complex requirements. But the principle is the same. Eliminate excess. There are no sidebars with recent post widgets, or space-sucking category lists because they are redundant for this site. When these elements are helpful and necessary, they can add value to the design. But don’t feel like they are essentials to smart web design for every project.

1. Place emphasis on what is important by eliminating what isn’t.
2. Remember, visitors to the site did not organize it themselves. Make it easy, and obvious to navigate.
3. Don’t let design become a distraction to content.

Read what I’ve been reading about web design and usability trends here:

Trend Central: Web Design Makeovers
Information Architects: The Future of Web Design

UPDATE
1-21-10: YouTube introduces simplified user experience.

Google is quietly rolling out a new minimalist design for its YouTube video player pages, which it claims will be more appropriate for a wide range of content from the user-uploaded content that has always been a staple to feature-length films. By muting the “voice” of the old design, YouTube hopes to make videos stand out from everything else on its pages.

Read the rest of this article on Wired’s Epicenter Blog.

I’m not saying you need to be a web expert and do everything yourself. But if you don’t take a personal interest in your site, your customers won’t either. More than ever websites are a conversational piece of your marketing plan. They’re no longer about broadcasting your message, they’re about interacting with your audience. And that interaction is something you can’t fake or outsource. By all means bring in help to do it right, but if you’re not engaged and putting some of your personality into your site, it’s not going to work. If the people actually running your site aren’t empowered to give it personality, it’s going to flop.

You can’t just throw something online and hope it works. But if you put yourself online, if you’re engaged in the process and care about what it says and how it says it, then customers will notice. It’s no longer just a bit of marketing, but it’s a connection.

If you’re not in your website now, change it:

• Start blogging. Talk about what matters to you and your organization.
• If blogging sounds too involved, try Twitter. Share your hopes, dreams and favorite tips in 140 characters or less.
• Give people something of value. What about your business is incredibly valuable? Find a way to put that online. Whether it’s tips and expertise, coupons to entice people to come in and see the value for themselves, or something else.

You can’t just slap up your name in cyberspace and call it good. You need to have a clear and specific strategy for how you’re going to use your website to help your business.

You need a plan:

• Educational Marketing – You could use your website to education potential customers about your industry. You offer insight and knowledge and build trust with potential customers.
• Customer Service – You could put your site to work as a 24/7 customer service representative. Pack your site with instructions, FAQs, tips and anything that will answer customer questions. You could pair it with the more immediate response of Twitter or other social networking sites to give it a more relational feel and answer questions that don’t fit the standard mold.
• Offering Value – You could offer extra value on your website with special deals, coupons, or incentives your customers can’t get anywhere else. Amazon offers value by being cheaper, easier and having a wider selection than any brick and mortar bookstore. If e-commerce isn’t your thing, maybe you’re offering free resources that give customers value and establish a lasting relationship.

Whatever you do, make sure your website has a strategy. The last thing you want is the digital equivalent of a phone book listing.

You need to offer something of value on your site.

It’s kind of a no-brainer, but the rubber really meets the road when you have to convince someone to go to your site. You may think your site is valuable, but you need to offer something tangible that your customer will think is valuable.

That value needs to be determined by your customer, not you. It’s your company, so you would think anything about your company is valuable. But your customer probably doesn’t care about your phone number or your fancy pictures or your cute history of how you started. They want something valuable to them.

Once you have that something of value, then use that as an incentive to get people to your site. You can’t simply say ‘Check us out online!’ You need to give people a reason: “Check us out online for…”

• A restaurant might list daily specials on their site.
• A photographer might have prints available for sale.
• A realtor might have a blog with tips and insights for selling your home.
• A band might have free music downloads.

Give people a reason to visit your site.

The obvious answer is whatever you want. But if you’re tweeting for your business then you clearly need to be more intentional than that. You need a good strategy.

What Do You Want to Accomplish on Twitter?
Are you trying to address customer service complaints or are you hoping to bring in new customers? Maybe you just want to set yourself up as an expert in your field and start making contacts. Any of these goals will give you your strategy:

• If you’re tweeting to resolve customer complaints, you better start listening and tweeting helpful tips.
• If you’re hoping to bring in new customers maybe you’ll tweet coupons, brag about your chef or highlight new features.
• If you want to positioning yourself as an expert and make contacts, then you’ll post interesting and helpful links, share advice, and listen and respond to others in your field.

General Tips
In some sense you just need to dive into Twitter and see what works. Pay attention to what people respond to and do more of it. Here are a few tips to get you started:

• Not everything has to be about your business. If something is interesting, share it. If it’s funny, share it. If it makes you cry, share it. You can take that too far, but a little personality goes a long way.
• Offer real value—you should be providing something people can’t get anywhere else. Don’t just tweet your blog posts—give us something more: deals, extra links, behind the scenes scoops, photos, funny stories, etc.
• Twitter is about relationships. The hard sell doesn’t work any better here. It’s fine to push your wares, but avoid the appearance of a spammer: Don’t cram every tweet with links to your stuff, don’t repost the same thing over and over, don’t @reply or direct message people with unrelated information. It’s not all about you. Show some interest in other people. Consider introducing yourself and telling them what you like about their tweets.
• Ask questions. Especially as you gain more followers you’ll find that people respond. Ask what people like about your business, what they’re looking for, what they care about.
• Give credit where credit is due. Many of your links, resources and interesting finds were found somewhere, so give them some credit. It’s not only common courtesy, it’s ethical and gives people a source to track down further information.
• Twitter doesn’t have to be just text. You can link to photos or videos. A number of sites like Twitpic will let you post a photo from your cell phone and tweet about it.
• Whatever you do, don’t Twitter something you wouldn’t want the entire world to know. Anything you tweet better be public knowledge. If there’s a certain someone you hope won’t read what you’re posting, then don’t post it.

In the end, have fun. Twitter is a pretty laid-back communications avenue, so if you’re stressing over it you’re not doing it right.

Maybe you are the source of knowledge for all things plumbing. If your site answers all plumbing questions—and answers them with helpful insights and tips instead of ‘give us a call for an estimate’—then you’ve made yourself indispensable.

Maybe your website offers weekly appetizer specials that are too good to ignore. And too good to ignore means the office celebration party comes to your restaurant and not the chain down the street.

Maybe your website is chock full of financial links and insights, culled from your day of keeping up with the industry. Suddenly your website is an indispensable source of financial info. You’re a guru, sharing the good stuff with the masses.

Any of those options sure beats a bland site with your phone number and hours of operation. Do more with your web site. Make it indispensable.

A static website is better than nothing. But it could be so much more.

Use your website. Put it to work for you. Update your site. Post specials or coupons. Post news or updates about your business. Share customer testimonials. You don’t have to flood your site with daily content, but weekly or even monthly updates are something.

Don’t let your website just sit there. Make sure it’s working for you. Otherwise it’s not working.

You know the drill, there is always THE book everyone is reading. This is usually the book that becomes part of the popular jargon used by your customers, and becomes almost an obligatory read after the title enters the vernacular in business conversations. Next time, make those Tipping Points, Long Tails, and Purple Cows, work for you and take your consulting from Good to Great by blogging about them! Hey, you will end up talking about them anyway, why not lead the conversation instead of just being another follower?

Why not read the popular books before your customers do and write a brief review about them and post it on your blog (with an affiliate commission link to the book for an added benefit)? That way when people search for the book, they may come across your review on search engines. They might even be introduced to your blog when seeing the familiar popular title and your review in an internal company email or newsletter.

The same principle applies to news articles, blog posts from other business leaders, and those handy websites you find on the Internet. You can unpack a few pros and cons about the new products or services in your field in blog posts and get readership too.

Make your blog a place where people can stop by and see the solutions that will help them in their business. You are already reading and reviewing the leading ideas and products anyway, talk about them on your blog, and soon you will also be associated with the top business ideas in the minds of your customers. If you are not already staying up on these things, a blog could be just the thing to help you bring more discipline to your marketplace research.

When customers see your blog as a place to get the latest information and you become the person who takes them on a guided tour of the leading thoughts in your field. It won’t be long before your are fixed in their minds as a thought leader too. Because you are!