Evolution Trumps Usability Guidelines
http://www.uigarden.net/english/Evolution-Trumps-Usability-Guidelines

Spool, Jared M.
uiGarden
2006

Abstract:

'Use a Search Box instead of a link to a Search page.' This is one guideline from the plethora of recently created usability guidelines to help designers produce more usable web sites. It makes sense. After all, there are more than 42 million web sites on the Internet. It should be simple to study these sites and put together a list of 'do's' and 'don'ts' that, when followed, will produce easy-to-use sites. But...