Navigating through Beauty

One of my favorite web sites is the American Orchid Society at http://orchidweb.org/aos/. It features a striking orchid visual that clearly illustrates what the site is all about. The links are simple and open in the same window, so there is no confusion about how to navigate from one to another. The photographs of beautiful orchids in bloom change with each link, making navigating the site an appealing, rather than a frustrating exercise. Although the home page features many links, they are easy to understand. They do not feature fly-outs, which is a device that I personally find annoying and Nielson suggests should be kept to a minimum. There is minimal redundancy in the links, i.e. membership and Join AOS. But overall, it is a great example of successful usability.