Tracing paper
Hypertext links are like a piece of tracing paper over a drawing.
A webpage has two layers of information - links and content. Links relate other webpages to the current page. A link pulls a nugget of information from another page and floats it over the current page.
Users make decisions using links
The link layer is a partial tracing of the page connected to other partial tracings of other pages. This is what makes the web.
Users look at links first.
Users often skip to a new destination without bothering with the page in hand.
A website depends on the clarity of its links
Designers are adept at disguising links. At a quick glance (eg when presenting the design to the client) this looks good but when push comes to shove (eg when the user is trying to navigate the site) this looks bad. You look bad. (Matt's principle of link obscurity = site obscurity).
Users only look at a small piece of the page Found and lost
Glass of water Designers and users look at a webpage in two completely different ways
