I've tried to abide by this rule for most of the 17 years I've done web development. There is, however, an exception to this rule: My mom. My mom (and my dad) belong to the group that - even after a decade of daily computer use - frequently fail to recognize distinct interface elements. They seem to have no general concept of the look / purpose of a link, a window, a modal box etc. Colors and chrome are meaningless t…
As a matter of fact I spoke to your parents the other day. They asked me if there was a space between the first and second word of my domain name. They also didn't understand that you can't just send an email to domainname you need an address at domainname. They didn't know what a browser bar was they just type my domain name in google and go from there.
In all seriousness you raise an excellent point.
It would be interesting if there was some data and metrics to backup the web saavyness of various audience types and how a particular link style impacts those groups. What works with one group might be a detriment in another group.
