So I have often wondered about the priorities that are going into site design these days.  I know everything is important, but if you had to rank things, what would be the most important thing?

The big debate I see comes down too, is it more important to have a lot of great data.  Or is it more important to present that data in a way that leaves the user feeling like wow, that was a cool site?

Both are important, but I think that the design is kind of like a short-term attraction.  It will wow them the first time or two, but after that, you really have to have some great data to keep them coming back.  And I have been on a number of sites that have terrible layout, but the data is so good, you keep coming back.

I see blogging and RSS and things like that as more proof of this.  These things allow data to get out very quickly without the need to really setup the UI and make everything look perfect.

So what do you think?  What is more important to you?  Here are the things I’d like to hear about…

• Think about what brings you to a new site and makes you want to explore it
• What brings you back to a site you have already been to
• What makes a site one that you want to bookmark
• Are there any common themes with sites you are interested in (no talking about the actual content) like style or design

Thanks, and look forward to hearing what people think.