Why?

This is the question I think is not asked enough in web design. The two articles from "The Non-Designer's Web Book" reinforced my belief that designers don't spend the proper time questioning their design decisions. I think if more time was spent during the design or during site revision analyzing the decisions that were made, there might be fewer 'unfriendly' sites out there, forcing us to read white text on a black background or scrolling horizontally.

The four basic principles listed in Chapter 6 - alignment, proximity, repetition and contrast) were a nice starting point to clean functional design. They proved, in my mind, that most design mistakes are made not by placing limits on design but not having enough limits. Creativity does not come about through addition, but through subtraction. That all-important question - why - will lead any level designer to a clearer site through a better understanding of their goals and purposes for each element in their site.