There seems to be a running trend in site layout to pooh-pooh the old style linear blog style and adopt what I call the classic publication style layout. It is certainly hard to dump design notions that have been adopted and implemented for the last 6–7 years but at some point you have to realize that the computing world, including its people, will change and you have to keep up. Here are some design assumption that can be done away with.

Fluidity in layout is an ideal goal

This had been used as a mark of "good web design" for the longest time. And for a while it was appropriate because there was a huge diversity of display sizes. But with flat screens saturating the computing public, the display size variety has been whittled down. Professional web designers have been aware of this for a while. I remember being in shock to when the results of a Smashing study found that 92% of specimen blogs used a fixed layouts. Not only that but these fixed layouts were trending towards 1000 pixel widths.

Since there is a fixed layout the partitioning of space within sections are easier to manage and the workable space defines constraints not only for the design but for the content. Constraints turn out to be a good thing. Not only that, the level of control wrought out benefits the aesthetics for all users regardless of display or browser size. Not as many worries about inappropriate whitespace, margins or padding.

Display content as soon as possible

Remember when Flash first hit the scene? It was the late 90's and every business that had any sort of web presence decided they needed some sort of splash page. It didn't take long for a backlash. So the mantra that followed was "content, content, content". Which was no doubt a progression but over time the content available on even the most trivial page started to overwhelm the user. The usefulness of an "LJ cut" or putting an article "behind the fold" has been recognized for a while. So like a good meal the content can be served in multiple courses selected from a good menu.

Give the user options on the front side. Partitioning the information with suitable teaser information, including thumbnails and maybe even sound bytes, will be less cognitive work for the user to find the information they want. Precisely because they will not have to slog through pages of full content to find what they're looking for.

There are still plenty of sites that subscribe to the linear blog format but in this day and age that style of presentation should really be rethought. Making the user scroll and scan when the breadth of information—and type of information—is so wide. Just a point to reinforce this argument, consider the popularity of link aggregators. These sites are just heavily edited menus with good summaries to full content.

Full navigation must be everywhere

When the user has selected some content make it the star! The more navigation on a content page is just a distraction. Users know how to use the "Back" button. Less is more when your behind the fold so think hard about whether you need 5 "submit link" buttons and the "email to friend" button with the "related links" section and the "you might also be interested in" link set. But for sure you don't need to just redisplay the front page with the selected content spliced in.

All pages must be highly dynamic

The world is finally retreating from the AJAX overload and has realized that, for most tasks, old fashioned controls are still the best. Take, for example, boston.com's The Big Picture. It is arguably the most popular photography blog on the internet. But you'll note that there is a stunning lack of JavaScript effects like fading, dynamic gallery selections and thumbnail to full size jumps. It's just a long page of high quality photos. The user doesn't fight with album controls or waits for dynamic loading. The user just has to scroll, taking advantage of reflexive motor controls that have been programmed into the user for years.

By working in constraints of normal web navigation and controls you give the user immediate access to options and navigation without the cognitive overhead of figuring out new affordances of unique dynamic controls.

The user must have control

User customizations gave an excuse to designers and programmers to implement new Web 2.0 technology which was cresting not too long ago. You only have to go to MySpace or LiveJournal to find out that this can be a very bad idea. Not only that but you incur a huge maintenance headache when you allow the user to tinker in unexpected ways with site layout. Again, well designed constraints are good.