Simpler. Simpler. Simpler.

Websites that intend to sell; websites that intend to inform; websites that attract repeat visitors, in other words, most websites will be simpler.

The "header" containing logos, slogans, mission statements, photo montages will shrink. After a viewer has seen them once, they have a short half life and become worthless for the visitor who is there for content. Smart developers will display this material one or two times to new visitors and then clear the page for the site's real purpose: content, leaving a small logo type with the company's name.

Menus will become more and more conventional. They remind me of newspapers. When you pick up a newspaper, like many of us once did, you expect to find the main news on the front page with a lead story. You expected a sports section. A section dealing with the arts. Even in those slower times, no one wanted to waste time figuring out a new layout and no successful newspaper dared try one.

Same with menus. People want to look at a prominently placed menu and see where to find what they want. Items like "About" and "Catalog" and "Home" will be on menus for a long time.

Here's a nice list of simple websites curtesy of Spyredesign. Click through. Which do you think are easy to understand quickly? Which are overdesigned to the detriment of clarity?