A few months ago usability specialist and author Jakob Nielsen wrote a piece on his biweekly column top ten usability mistakes blogs make. Nielsen has called attention to common web design mistakes for years in the form of top ten mistake lists, and for kicks (since I'm starting another attempt at redesigning this site) decided to see how I stack up.

1. No author biographies

I do have an about page, but took the link out because it's so out of date. In my redesign project I'm considering doing away the the entire concept of an about page instead having a brief biography and listing entries that which tell you something about me as well as my favorite entries.

2. No author photo

This has more to do with me not liking my self photos more than anything else. I've been thinking of asking around to my photographer friends to take some good pictures. In the meantime, please enjoy these photos of me.

3. Nondescript posting titles

Yep, I'm guilty of this one too. Many of my titles like "Your Fearless Leader" or "Transitory" that don't give you any idea what you'll find, and I'd already forgotten why that last entry was named that.

4. Links don't say where they go

Ok, here's one where I try and be good, giving titles descriptive links and also trying to give some context other than the link name, like I did in the introductory paragraph of this entry.

5. Classic hits are buried

Another mistake I make. See item 1 above.

6. The Calendar is the Only Navigation

Have you seen my archive? Calendar navigation would be a huge improvement over what I've got now. This is another thing I'm fixing in my redesign.

7. Irregular publishing frequency

To underscore that point, I've been meaning to write this entry for almost two weeks now. I'm not sure if the fact I'm an interaction designer at Six Apart (maker of TypePad, LiveJournal andMovable Type) should count for or against me in this case, but I do spend my day working on blogging software and often just need a break from blogging after I leave the office.

8. Mixing topics

I take issue with mixing topics being a mistake. For a blog which was built around a certain subject, this is true, but what if the subject of your blog is yourself? Should I pick one thing to write about and cover nothing else? Should I start a separate blog for everything I'm interested in? (as though my entries aren't posted infrequently as it is) Perhaps instead of seeing it as a mistake, I should build around this, letting a visitor stay within a certain topic and only jump over to others if they want. (In my new design there will be categories and you can browse around within a category)

9. Forgetting that you write for your future boss

Let me offer a quick hello to everyone at Six Apart reading this, especially Anil who discovered I was looking for an interaction design position through my blog.

10. Having a domain name owned by a weblog service

I do have my own domain name, it's just rather long.

So all in all, I've made 7 of Nielsen's 10 mistakes I believe. I promise to try and do better in the future.