"It's because they are 20 years old that they act differently to 40-year-olds," said Mr Nielsen.
I think he missed the mark. Design has little to do with popularity right now (think MySpace). Sure we can scale everything back so that my one finger typist dad can surf the web without learning something new. Or we can design to the next generation of users that will most assuredly use the web for the rest of their lives.
He's not talking about graphic design here. You can take one look at his site (useit.com) and realize that he doesn't give a darn about graphic design.
Yeah I thought he was talking about usability which covers design but I thought he was referring to broad browser compatibility and accessibility (CAPTCHA designs for instance)
I guess this guy's favorite web site must be microsoft.com. Cold business-style, pressing, unfriendly, but probably highly usable otherwise.
principles of good design and usability established over the last decade
Anything can be re-established if necessary. As long as you preserve the grammar of your language, do whatever you find appropriate for your users. If they love it, it means you got it right.
I think he missed the mark. Design has little to do with popularity right now (think MySpace). Sure we can scale everything back so that my one finger typist dad can surf the web without learning something new. Or we can design to the next generation of users that will most assuredly use the web for the rest of their lives.