good vs bad web design...

My final exam is due tonight and part of it was to research 3 websites we found interesting/appealing. In doing so I realized that layout, color, animation, easy navigation, and many other aspects of a website...all have their own unique purpose. Some people use color to help guide you through the page, some just use it for making their site match their company colors and that is all. Some make their layout very simple and others make each button or link or part of the picture have its own individual animation. I noticed that some of the websites I looked at took too long to load and I got tired of waiting. Others the colors hurt my eyes, or there was too much going on so I didn't even want to read the information on the page because everything else on the page was moving or zipping on and off the screen. I truly realize the importance of considering all these elements now. Just looking at other sites for the sole purpose of critiquing them helps me realize what I need to spend time focusing on when I am designing my own sites, currently and in the future.