Do these 3 things before closing this tab:
1Scan for outdated or missing drivers - takes under a minute2Clear out junk files and repair common Windows errors3Fix the driver behind crashes, sound loss and screen glitchesWebsite design mistakes hurt usability when they make visitors work harder to find information, understand choices, or complete a task. Nielsen Norman Group (NN/g) identified ten recurring problems in a 2016 study; they remain useful diagnostic categories, not a current census or ranking of websites. Fixes can reduce friction, but the study does not establish a guaranteed conversion lift.
What are the most common website design mistakes?
NN/g’s 2016 study involved 215 participants in the United States and United Kingdom across 43 websites, from small local businesses to entertainment sites, nonprofits, and global organizations. The authors—Amy Schade, Yunnuo Cheng, and Samyukta Sherugar—described enduring problems in how people find and use information. They wrote, “Modern design patterns and aesthetics change, but underlying user needs remain the same.” Read the NN/g article on the ten mistakes for its original context.
As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.
Use the list as a set of questions to investigate on your own site, not as proof that every instance causes lost sales. For each issue, observe whether visitors can complete realistic tasks and where they hesitate, choose the wrong route, or need to recover.
- Content in unexpected places. If the site’s categories mirror internal departments or use unfamiliar names, visitors may not know where to look. Group content around visitors’ goals and language; test whether people can find specific items using realistic tasks.
- Competing links and categories. Overlapping categories and vague labels make it hard to choose a route. Watch which options people consider and where they go; resolve the actual overlap rather than deleting links indiscriminately.
- Islands of information. Pages detached from the wider site can leave visitors unsure where they are or what else is available. Keep useful links to related content and clear ways to return to the main structure.
- Repetitive links. Repeating navigation choices or links can add clutter and make content harder to scan. Review duplication in context: repetition can be helpful when it supports a task, so remove it only when it obscures more useful information.
- Hidden fees or prices. Withholding material costs makes informed decisions harder and may undermine trust. Show the total price and relevant conditions early enough for visitors to assess an offer.
- Microsites that strand visitors. A satellite site that loses the parent organization’s identity or navigation can make it difficult to regain orientation. Preserve recognizable cues and an obvious route back to the main site.
- Poor search results. Search fails as a route to information when relevant pages are hard to identify or no-match outcomes are unhelpful. Try realistic queries; improve result titles and descriptions and make the no-results state useful.
- Flawed filters and facets. Filters do little good if choices are unclear, inconsistent, or fail to narrow results as expected. Use visitor-friendly labels and make selected filters and result counts understandable.
- Too much information or competing emphasis. Visitors may struggle to see the next useful step when everything appears equally important. Prioritize around the task, structure content for scanning, and make essential choices distinguishable.
- Hidden or unrecognizable links. If links do not look interactive or their labels obscure the destination, visitors can miss them or hesitate. Make controls recognizable and use labels that indicate what will happen.
Why can’t visitors find what they need?
Findability depends on the match between the site’s organization and visitors’ expectations. A category can make sense to the people who maintain the site while remaining opaque to someone arriving with a specific question. Likewise, several similar links may leave visitors uncertain, while a disconnected page can make it hard to continue after they land on it.
#1 Best Overall
- HTML CSS Design and Build Web Sites
- Comes with secure packaging
- It can be a gift option
Start with a small set of tasks that reflect why people visit—for example, finding a return policy, comparing plans, or locating a support contact. Ask representative users to complete them without coaching. Note their first choices, detours, search terms, and points of uncertainty. Then adjust labels and groupings and repeat the tasks. This reveals whether a change improves the route, rather than whether the organization merely looks cleaner to its creators.
Do hamburger menus hurt usability?
Not in every context. NN/g’s 2016 navigation study observed 179 participants completing tasks on six sites on desktop and smartphones. On desktop, participants used hidden navigation in 27% of cases, compared with 48% for visible navigation and 50% for a combination of visible and hidden navigation. On mobile, they used hidden navigation in 57% of cases and combined navigation in 86%.
These are study-specific use rates, not universal benchmarks. NN/g did not fully test visible-only navigation on phones, and the study’s task-time findings do not establish a business outcome. The practical lesson is to make needed routes discoverable on the devices and tasks that matter to your visitors. NN/g recommends showing top-level navigation on desktop; for phones, it advises balancing screen constraints with discoverability. A hamburger menu is one design choice to test, not a rule to ban.
Rank #2
See NN/g’s navigation research for the study details and caveats.
How can I make website forms easier to use?
Forms are consequential task points: unclear labels, unnecessary questions, confusing grouping, or unhelpful errors can make a signup, inquiry, or purchase harder to complete. NN/g’s web UX study guide points to evidence-based form guidance on cognitive load, required fields, errors, and visual organization. It is an index to recommendations, not a quantified experiment proving that a particular change increases conversions.
- Label each field clearly and group related questions in a logical order.
- Ask only for information needed for the task, and explain requirements where they are not obvious.
- When a submission fails, identify the problem in understandable language and show how to correct it.
- Check the form with realistic entries, including invalid or incomplete values, and make sure recovery is straightforward.
How does accessibility relate to usability?
Technical accessibility standards are important, but compliance alone does not guarantee that people can use a site comfortably. NN/g’s accessible web design report draws on observations of people who are blind, have low vision, and have motor impairments using websites and intranets. Its landing page states, “Following technical standards alone does not ensure usability.” The report’s description does not establish a current version of any technical standard.
In practice, usability checks should include real tasks involving navigation, links, page organization, and forms, including how people using assistive technology identify controls and recover from errors. A page that appears clear to a sighted mouse user can still impose practical barriers for someone navigating with a keyboard or screen reader.
Quick wins for a faster PC:
Repair Windows errors before they cause bigger problemsFix Now →Fix the driver behind crashes, sound loss and screen glitchesFind Drivers →Clear out junk files and repair common Windows errorsFree Scan →Can poor website design lower conversions?
It can create friction in a purchase or signup flow and may contribute to abandonment: visitors may be unable to find a price, understand a choice, or correct a form error. NN/g’s 2016 mistakes article says these problems hurt business metrics, but it does not give a general conversion percentage or establish the causal effect of each mistake. Treat conversion effects as a question to measure on your own site, not a promised result of any single redesign.
Prioritize fixes by the task affected and the evidence of difficulty. Combine observation of task completion and errors with your own analytics, where available. Analytics can show where people leave; usability observation can help explain why. Recheck after changes, and avoid assuming that a visual refresh alone solves a navigation, content, or recovery problem.
Rank #4
Use screenshots to inspect pages at real viewport sizes
Captures can help a team review whether navigation, content hierarchy, and forms remain legible across pages and viewport sizes. They are a supplement to observing people complete tasks, not evidence by themselves that a design is usable or accessible.
Or skip the browser setup
ScreenshotNeo is a website screenshot API and MCP server for developers. One GET request can return a screenshot or PDF; for example, this cURL request saves a WebP capture of a page:
Crashes, No Sound, or Screen Glitches?
Random freezes, missing sound and display glitches usually trace back to one bad driver. Find and replace yours safely.Free scan · under a minutePC Slower Than It Used to Be?
A free scan shows the junk files, broken settings and background clutter dragging Windows down - then fixes them in one click.Free scan · Windows 10 & 11curl -G "https://api.screenshotneo.com/v1/shot" -d access_key=YOUR_API_KEY --data-urlencode url=https://example.com -o shot.webpSee the ScreenshotNeo API documentation for request options. Before capture, it accepts cookie or consent banners and removes more than 60 known consent platforms, newsletter popups, and chat widgets; each step can be turned off. Bot checks, blank pages, failed loads, timeouts, and cache hits are not billed, and response headers identify the page verdict and billing status. Its MCP server provides screenshot tools for AI agents, including Claude, Cursor, and other MCP clients. The Free plan includes 1,000 screenshots per month with no card; paid plans start at $5 for 3,000 shots. Sign up for 1,000 free screenshots a month, with no card required.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does the 2016 NN/g study show which design mistake is most common today?
No. It identifies recurring usability problems in a dated sample, not a current census or ranking of websites.
Will fixing a navigation or form problem guarantee more conversions?
No. The cited evidence does not establish a universal conversion lift for an individual fix; measure outcomes on your own site.
Quick Recap
Product prices and availability are accurate as of the date/time indicated and are subject to change. Any price and availability information displayed on Amazon at the time of purchase will apply.
