Web usability guru Jakob Nielsen criticized Web 2.0 as trendy and overhyped in a recent BBC interview, and warned that Web 2.0 sites risked falling into the “glossy but useless” Web design mold of the dotcom era. He says that in the rush to adopt Web 2.0 technologies, Web professionals are “neglecting good design.”

I have mixed feelings about Nielsen’s criticisms. He is famously cranky about new technologies; he has routinely railed against the use of Flash, and judging by his own sparse Web site, Nielsen considers even jpegs to be extravagant clutter. So, in many ways, his skepticism about Web 2.0 is unsurprising–and even a little endearing. Like an aging writer’s insistence on using a typewriter, Nielsen’s commitment to HTML austerity is charming, a little eccentric and possibly a bit passé at this point.

Nielsen’s claim that Web 2.0 sites are becoming as unusable as the dotcom sites of the late 1990s is vastly overstated, in my opinion. Most prominent Web 2.0 sites adhere strictly to Web standards, and are FAR cleaner and more usable than the cluttered, slow-loading sites of the dotcom era. I just disagree with him on that point.

But Nielsen is still a preeminent expert on Web usability and conducts significant research to back his opinions; thus, his warnings about Web 2.0 should not be dismissed entirely. I think he rightly points out that social networking tools are not useful by themselves–they must serve a greater purpose. Nielsen also sagely reminds geeks like me that a very small percentage of Web users will use social networking and interactive features–most people “just want to get in, get it and get out.” Sound content, design and usability should always come before functionality — and that is an important reminder amidst all of the 2.0 hype!