Keeping it simple, regardless of media

In his most recent post, Mark Boulton confesses his fetish for signage design. I gotta admit, I have a slight thing for it too. Probably not as bad as his, and I actually have a particular preference toward airport signage (though I admittedly haven't paid that much attention to PDX's signage - probably not a good sign; pun not intended, sort of). His points on how the principles of airport signage parallel those of web design are spot on. A few of the points he makes really make sense but are unfortunately overlooked by many site owners and worse, many web designers: > Jargon Assume that all visitors know nothing about the airport. Select terminology geared to users rather than concocting clever airport gibberish. On a website this is just as important. Assume that your visitors know nothing about you or your website. With that in mind, keep your navigation simple and don't try to be clever with what you name your links. > Maps The number of passengers capable of reading (and correctly interpreting) a map is negligible. By and large, maps are display windows for the presentation of airport facilities and not substitutes for signposting. I personally can't stand site maps. I figure, not unlike drop-down menu links, that if you absolutely have to have a site map to help your visitors get around, there's probably something wrong with your site's structure. That said, site maps can be helpful but they shouldn't the main way people are getting around your site. > Pictograms Don’t expect too much of pictograms. Always add text to less generally known functions. Definitely holds true for icons. Even the most common icons can have multiple meanings to different people (such as an envelope icon; could mean email, could mean send, could mean something else). The point here of course is that anyone visiting your site should be able to get around quickly and effortlessly. Does yours allow that?