Posted in Website Design Tips	February 7, 2006

For the past 12 months, the Mequoda Research Team has been methodically discussing, reviewing and rating media websites. Each website is nominated by one of seven Mequoda Website Reviewers (Robert W. Bly, Terri Edmonston, Larry Kerstein, Kim Mateus, Roxanne O'Connell, Roger C. Parker, and Peter A. Schaible), who make the case that the website is very good (or very bad) at demonstrating one or more of the 14 Mequoda Website Design Guidelines. At least one other member of the reviewing team must second the nomination, then the detailed 14 step website design and usability review process begins, culminating with a peer review and publication in the Website Design for Publishers & Authors volume of the Mequoda Library.

• Fourteen of the 48 websites earned a Grade "A" website design and usability rating on the Mequoda Website Design Scorecard with a total score of 3.50 or better on the 4.0 scale.
• Atkins.com and Better Homes & Gardens (BHG.com) tied for the highest score, each earning a 3.86 Grade "A" Rating on the Mequoda Scorecard.
• The media websites under review includes both B2C and B2B websites and encompassed all seven of the Mequoda Website Archetypes.

In 2004, the Mequoda Research Team reviewed hundreds of media websites to identify what we now call the seven Mequoda Website Archetypes and to create a standard expert scale for measuring website design and usability—codified as the Mequoda Website Design Scorecard.

Media Website Design—The Good, the Bad and the Ugly

During 2005, our intrepid research team put the Mequoda Website Design Scorecard to work by using it to perform expert reviews of 48 media websites. With a high score of 3.86 (a tie between Atkins.com and Better Homes & Gardens (BHG.com) and a low score of 1.57, the scoring system validated its ability to help expert reviewers parse good website design from bad. The scorecard and the 48 expert reviews offer those who design websites for media organizations of all sizes an integrated set of concepts and cases to build better websites that will create happier users and healthier profits.

Mequoda Group 2006 Media Website Design Awards 48 Media Websites Compared on 14 Website Design Guidelines
Website Design Review	Score	Grade	Reviewer	URL
Atkins.com	3.86	A	O'Connell	Site
Better Homes & Gardens	3.86	A	O'Connell	Site
WebMD	3.71	A	Edmonston	Site
Morningstar.com	3.71	A	Edmonston	Site
Credit Today	3.71	A	Schaible	Site
The Daily Reckoning	3.71	A	Schaible	Site
Fit Forever with Denise Austin	3.64	A	Bly	Site
Baby Center	3.64	A	Edmonston	Site
Firehouse	3.64	A	Parker	Site
The Accounts Payable Network	3.57	A	Schaible	Site
Motor Trend	3.57	A	Schaible	Site
America's Test Kitchen	3.50	A	Kerstein	Site
Lending Tree	3.50	A	O'Connell	Site
eBay	3.50	A	Schaible	Site
The Motley Fool	3.43	B	Kerstein	Site
Wine Spectator Online	3.43	B	Mateus	Site
The Book Standard	3.43	B	Schaible	Site
WSJ.com	3.36	B	Edmonston	Site
Bottom Line Secrets	3.36	B	Schaible	Site
Roll Call	3.29	B	Kerstein	Site
AdAge.com	3.29	B	Schaible	Site
Book Reporter	3.21	B	Parker	Site
Blue Nile	3.20	B	Bly	Site
eDiets	3.14	B	Bly	Site
BlueDolphin.com	3.14	B	Mateus	Site
Element K Journals	3.10	B	Kerstein	Site
Monster	3.07	B	Clausen	Site
BLR.com	3.07	B	Mateus	Site
AutoTrader.com	3.07	B	Parker	Site
UsedBoats.com	3.07	B	Parker	Site
Computerworld	3.00	B	Edmonston	Site
Lawyers.com	3.00	B	Kerstein	Site
Rich Dad, Poor Dad	3.00	B	Parker	Site
Entrepreneur.com	2.93	B	Parker	Site
Moneylaundering.com	2.93	B	Schaible	Site
iFly.com	2.86	B	Mateus	Site
Means Business	2.71	B	Edmonston	Site
Briefings Publishing Group	2.64	B	Parker	Site
Fundcraft	2.50	B	Edmonston	Site
Insurance.com	2.50	B	Schaible	Site
Executive Travel Sky Guide	2.43	C	Edmonston	Site
SalaryExpert.com	2.43	C	Edmonston	Site
Texas Monthly	2.43	C	Schaible	Site
Personnel Policy Service	2.07	C	Schaible	Site
Hcpro	1.86	C	O'Connell	Site
CEO Perspectives	1.64	C	Parker	Site
Ragan Communications	1.57	C	Parker	Site

To create the 14 Mequoda Website Design Guidelines, we've reviewed hundreds of media websites and interviewed dozens of website authors, publishers and designers. We've conducted expert usability reviews and actual user tests to determine what we believe to be the top 14 website design best practices for the seven Mequoda Website Archetypes.

While these 14 guidelines are by no means the complete list of website design practices, they are essential to sound, effective website design. We're sure that implementation of these practices will result in happier, more satisfied, users.

• Mequoda Website Design Guideline #1: Strategic Intent
• Mequoda Website Design Guideline #2: Content Webification
• Mequoda Website Design Guideline #3: Relationship Building
• Mequoda Website Design Guideline #4: Community Building
• Mequoda Website Design Guideline #5: Persistent Navigation
• Mequoda Website Design Guideline #6: Task Depth
• Mequoda Website Design Guideline #7: Affordance
• Mequoda Website Design Guideline #8: Labeling and Language
• Mequoda Website Design Guideline #9: Readability and Content Density
• Mequoda Website Design Guideline #10: Content Organization
• Mequoda Website Design Guideline #11: Content Freshness
• Mequoda Website Design Guideline #12: Load Time
• Mequoda Website Design Guideline #13: Aesthetics
• Mequoda Website Design Guideline #14: Brand Preference