Contrast from Ireland has a very unconventional website http://www.contrast.ie/

To me, it’s all about coming up with ways to tell a story. If the website does that, I’d love to see more and more unconventional designs.
.-= Tak Hikichi´s last blog ..Need Employee Recognition Awards Ideas? =-.

That said, if you are somewhat conventional in your site design (or how I present info in a TV show) you can experiment within the content. Something/someone that feels familiar is far more likely to be trusted as a source of inspirational information than someone/something that creates a sense of un-ease or confusion.

This is assuming that you are creating with the intention of inspiring growth in others, which certainly seems to be true of the community here at MenWithPens.
.-= Jerry Kolber´s last blog ..Stop Reading and Make Something =-.

@Patrick: Yes, narrower columns do help readability. There’s a reason why blog posts have short, quick paragraphs. Everything is more compact because the attention span is so short online and it’s also difficult on the eyes looking at the monitor for extended periods of time.

@Mark W: Absolutely! Don’t get carried away with widgets. So many people want to put everything but the kitchen sink in the sidebar and most of it’s crap. Keep it simple and stick to the basics and always, always remember, it’s not about you, it’s about your visitors!

@Kelly: You know, I think about that every time I eat Chinese, or Japanese food for that matter. It’s user friendly. And with the Japanese especially, it’s also about presentation, too. Both work in harmony to give the user the best experience possible.

@Barbara: When it comes down to usability on the web, the simpler the better. That’s not to say you’re dumbing down your site for anyone. Not at all. You’re providing a road map and it has to be as clear as possible so nobody gets lost.

@Robert: Clear not clever. That’s the key! The moment you start to get clever with any of your conventions you risk losing your audience. The real trick is to use just enough change to make it unique, yet retain some form of familiarity without causing confusion.

@Mariana: All very good points, especially when it comes to large websites with lots of pages. Nothing’s worse than getting lost in a site and you’re unable to find your way to where you started.

@Write a Writing: Usually if the content is worth reading and the site is hard to navigate I’ll use the feedreader

@Kaushik: The main navigation is key. That’s the one area where people are always going to look for direction and if you can fit all the basics in there, use that, and save your sidebars for other stuff.

@BebopDesigner: I think conventions should be changed slowly. It takes people some time to get used to them, and if they’re good ones, they’ll stick.