In other words, I am losing ground in proportion of the Web covered by the usability message. Basically, though, the traffic growth proves the value of publishing a column that dares take a strong stand and has a singular voice . Stick to it, even when the initial results are disappointing. The biggest victory for the Alertbox may be that almost everything I have written in 105 columns over five years remains relevant today . The reason old Alertboxes continue to offer valid advice is that they are based on human characteristics and not on the details of the technology or the latest tradeshow buzzwords.
People change slowly.
In fact, to shape a profitable Internet strategy, you are probably better off running a usability test with five customers than reading the latest volume from the Harvard Business School Press. The Alertbox was founded on the principle that success on the Web comes from simple rather than glitzy design and from making it easy for users to do what they want to do rather than imposing your own internal perspective on the users. Even though most of my predictions have come true and most of my recommendations have proven their value as the foundation for Internet success, the record is certainly not perfect. Most notably, I frequently predicted the emergence of micropayments as one of the main business models for the Web. I remain convinced that the only way to ensure high-quality Web content is to have the users be the paying customers.