This Venn diagram by Randall Munroe, whose popular Web comic is known as xkcd, has gotten the notice of a number of universities.
The problem is simply this: an organization is pondering its own navel and thinking of its own needs, not those of visitors to its site.
The same thing is often true of corporate websites. When the Web first came into being, and corporations were putting up sites for the first time, they discovered that each division of the company thought it was the center of the universe. Website design came to imitate internal politics.
My biggest peeve: it's very hard to find the full legal name of a corporation -- is it Corp. or Inc.? I usually have to go to the privacy statement, where the lawyers cross the t's. Oh, and geographical location -- where in the world are you?
My solution is this. Determine who the most important visitor to your site is. Then, above the fold -- that is, without requiring the person to scroll down -- offer what that person is looking for. Moreover, offer what you want that person to do. Subscribe? Buy? Learn more? Put it right there front and center.
If there are other segments of visitors, offer them something as well but not so prominently. Making these decisions might lead to some interesting conversations.
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