Too many Web designers substitute a marketing agenda for a focus on what customers want. Users want speed, utility, and credibility - not portals, banners, or even community. Minimalist design rules. People don't spend lots of time on any one page, because in order to feel that they're accomplishing something, they have to keep moving. The best kind of site shows users what each page is about and then quickly gets them to the next page.
Most developers fail to treat the Web as a new medium with new rules.
It isn't like newspapers or magazines either. At IBM and at Sun, we studied how people read on the Web. So, on any given topic, people should write about half as many words for the Web as they would for the printed page. The ability to communicate online will be one of the most important job skills of the 21st century. At Sun, almost every project has its own Web site.