What makes a good web site? Actually, that is not the question we should be asking. We should be asking, "What makes a successful web site?"
I can see your eyes rolling now . . . come on, talk about splitting hairs!
Not really.
Things are "good" because we like them. Each individual makes up the rules for what is good and what is not as good. Its all based on personal tastes, life styles and past experiences. We can not define ART, but we know if we like it.
When you introduce the word "successful", then there needs to be a definition of what successful means. With that definition therefore, judgment is taken away from the individual and the site is now judged by criteria.
If you build a "good" web site, probability tells us most people will not like it, since there are more people who are NOT like you than there are like you.
BUT if we define success then build a site to achieve our definition, look at the difference we can achieve by a applying a set of criteria based goals ... success.
No, we do not want to build a just a good web site, we want a successful web site.
We want to use good web design, good research, good visual design to make a successful web site based on our goals and user need.
Here is the really fun part ... people "like" successful sites. If you want a site people like, build it for success. So, by extension, a successful site is a "good" site. But a "good" site may not be successful.
Ok, NOW we are splitting hairs just a tad.