If the standard is lousy, then develop another standard. (Edward Tufte)

Standards are good. Heck, standards are great!

They should not, however, be set in stone. The world changes, people change, technology changes. New data comes in, old theories are disproven, new ones arise. 

That something violated a standard should never be the end of discussion. I’ve run into plenty of instances where a standard might be out of date, or perhaps whoever put the standard together didn’t have all the information, or maybe the standard applies in 90% of the situations but definitely not in this particular one, or even that theory got in the way of actual data.

Indeed, that last point is a particularly important one. For me at least, these issues typically come up, not in some general philosophical discussion, but as the result of actual user research. So, if a test tells me that some standard got in the way of my users and their goals, I think it’s worth pointing out. Now, the reasons for the original standard may indeed still win out, but I definitely think it’s worth bringing up and talking about. And this is especially the case, if it comes up on not just one test, but multiple ones, or – heck! – one right after the other.

Case in point. My company likes to put FAQs on the right rail. In fact, we’ve got a standard for it! 

What I’ve been noticing lately, though, is that users tend to miss them when they’re over there. Those same users also point out that they typically expect to see them at the bottom of the page (and also that they really do value FAQs).

In other words, there already seems to be a standard out there. Perhaps we shouldn’t be reinventing the wheel here, folks. Perhaps we should take a look at that old standard and see if we might want to tweak it a little.

Honestly, what are the point of standards? Now, a lot of designers will point to efficiencies, saving time and effort, not endlessly hashing things over … as well as presenting a nice, clean look to the world. 

For me, though, it’s all about the user. Standards help users take a complex online world and make it a little more predictable. Whether internal (within your site) or external (with all the other sites out there), standards are crucial in making your design adhere to that classic user adage from Steve Krug, “Don’t make me think!”