I had the same thoughts when I first visited Useit.com--it is an ugly, ugly site. But I've had to return to it again and again for various articles, and I have to admit, I can always find what I need immediately. And the articles rank well in search engines. (Granted, that's probably mostly because they're so heavily linked to, but some of it is because the content is laid out well for search engines.)
I've returned to that site again and again, and there are hundreds of very attractive sites that I've never gone back to because I can't find what I need. It's kind of like Amazon--if you look at the Amazon product pages from purely a design standpoint, they're awful. They're disorganized, there's nothing to draw the eye through the page. Yet you can find and buy a book in a snap.
So Nielsen's site has given me a very practical education in usability. I'll take an ugly, usable site over a pretty, useless one every single time.
I had the same thoughts when I first visited Useit.com--it is an ugly, ugly site. But I've had to return to it again and again for various articles, and I have to admit, I can always find what I need immediately. And the articles rank well in search engines. (Granted, that's probably mostly because they're so heavily linked to, but some of it is because the content is laid out well for search engines.)
I've returned to that site again and again, and there are hundreds of very attractive sites that I've never gone back to because I can't find what I need. It's kind of like Amazon--if you look at the Amazon product pages from purely a design standpoint, they're awful. They're disorganized, there's nothing to draw the eye through the page. Yet you can find and buy a book in a snap.
So Nielsen's site has given me a very practical education in usability. I'll take an ugly, usable site over a pretty, useless one every single time.