Web design question

[George Porter]

One obvious problem with a right-aligned design is variable browser width.
By default, if there is going to be any horizontal scrolling (I know, I
know, that's a design flaw to be avoided), the right side of the screen is
what will disappear from view.  Considering the huge quantities of notebook
paper most people have viewed and written upon, prior to developing web
browsing experience, I'll go out on a limb and posit that the margins of the
web page are going to be somewhat marginalized in people's viewing habits.
Top &/or bottom of page or along a margin are THE places where people need
to find navigational aids.  Neilsen's most recent column, Voodoo Usability,
<http://www.useit.com/alertbox/991212.html> claims that over 50% of the time
people can't find what they're looking for on a website, even when it is
there somewhere.  With that kind of data, I'd say there's a fairly good
chance that the navigation links are the most valuable content on any given
page.  

>From a mechanical standpoint, I can't fault Andrew Mutch or Jakob Neilsen,
the cursor tends to be on the right side of my screen, regardless of
handedness.

George S. Porter
Sherman Fairchild Library of Engineering & Applied Science
California Institute of Technology
Mail Code 1-43, Pasadena, CA  91125
Telephone (626) 395-3409 Fax (626) 431-2681