Theory

User expectations are higher now, then before, and mediocre designs are not acceptable. This leads users to not bothering with it, and rendering your website unusable. They would switch to a competitor.
There are two big effects on interface design: rapid growth of interface idioms (types, styles) and loosening the rules on how they are created.
Style does not equal usability, and lots of choice make it harder to design. "Applications that are easy to use are designed to be FAMILIAR". -> Patterns.
Good interface design doesn't start with pictures, but with understanding of people - empathise! "Know thy users, for they are not you!" - the real art of designing interfaces is solving the right problem.

SAFE EXPLORATION: where user doesn't get lost or into trouble, therefore not getting annoyed. I added lots of extra buttons where you can go back to where you were.

INSTANT GRATIFICATION: accomplishing now, not later. Make it as easy and quick as possible to complete a task. Buttons and the way I organized my work should help find the user exactly what they were looking for.

SATISFYING: user doesn't need to acquire professional skills to navigate. Quickly scans through and clicks on the first thing they see. People don't like to think more than they have to. So give directions, short labels, quick to read, easy navigation. I provided all the things mentioned, so my website should be satisfying.

CHANGES IN MIDSTREAM: user can change their mind about what they want to do. Provide opportunities. I did that by linking my sources, so the user is able to engage in similar exploration to me, and possibly go off tangent.

DEFERRED CHOICES: don't ask unnecessery questions, allow to skip. Use good defaults. I don't require registering or answering questions.

MICROBREAKS: using waiting time for something else. Quick to access, not complicated, loads quickly, no need to sign in, allow restoration to previous point. My website isn't one which would be accessed by users during their microbreaks. I would imagine this would apply more to websites like Facebook, Pinterest and news websites. But I don't require a sign in, and it's quick to access as well as not complicated.

SPACIAL MEMORY: people use spacial memory to find things. Don't change menus dramatically. This doesn't apply to me, but my menu is generic.

STREAMLINED REPETITION: "I have to repeat this how many times?". Make access quick and easy. I don't think that applies to me either.

OTHER PEOPLE'S ADVICE: peer influence. Comment sections, reviews etc. Work better as a team. I don't think Hotglue lets you have comment sections, which is a shame.

PERSONAL RECOMMENDATIONS: more likely to look at something if you get refered to it.

PATTERNS:
Feature, Search, and Browse; News Stream; Picture Manager; Dashboard; Canvas Plus Pallette;
Wizard; Settings Editor; Many Workspaces.

My website is probably most like a dashboard pattern because it's just information organized in a space.

feature, search, and browse pattern

news stream pattern

picture manager pattern

dashboard pattern