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I think my biggest gripe is people redesigning websites for the sake of redesigning it.

For some websites of the decorative type, this is ok, but like our local newspaper site...it has dozens of links, and about the time you learn where they all are, they change it all...it's like a 60 cycle of redesign. Same with the Georgia lottery page, been using it for several years, all of a sudden it's totally different and you have to drill down through 5 links to get the same info one click used to get you.

Before taking early retirement I was a systems analyst for the phone company, specializing in Lotus Notes/Domino; with the advent of the web side of Notes, Domino, we were instructed by IT that our InTRAnet pages must allow the user to reach the info he wants in not more than two clicks. Sometimes that was a challenge for the programmer but it was nice for the user.

I don't mind learning a new website, but when you have to keep relearning the same site every 60-days it gets old.

/rant off

I always used the three-click rule. However, the click rules are more of a general guideline, not the result of hard UI testing. Real UI testing shows that users rarely give up looking or become impatient after three clicks.

The click rule has its value in guiding designers to create logical, consistent, efficient, user-focused navigation, which itself is far more important than the actual number of clicks.

I know what you mean. The DC library used to have a clear and effective site for researching the catalog. Then they redesigned, and now often it is almost impossible to find anything. If I type in a title, I might get a list of thousands.