In a recent A List Apart article, author Nick Usborne cites a (rather interesting) example in how design decisions can adversely affect a Web site. In this example, he demonstrates how a hypothetical design change that he tested (and believed could help the site) actually resulted in a more than 50% decrease in revenue.

The article is certainly an example of how much impact a good design has on the success of a site, but it is also eye-opening to those considering certain revisions to a site's layout, and those of us designers who think we know everything. Moreover, the article demonstrates the importance of testing and analyzing the results of a page design in terms of conversion rates and sales.