I am designing a page, with tiny portlets. Now, I personally like my actions on the right side, yet I wonder if there are methodologies that are targeted about usability. After all, most applications are aimed at the user. What about yourself? Do you prefer information to be on top, on the left or on the right? I've you need to take some sort of action, do you prefer buttons on the left?
References to good books and webpages are very welcome!
I think it depends a lot on content and the kind of actions the user is meant to do on the page. On a magazine-style webpage/blog, I'm more likely to look at the sidebars than on a content page, where I focus on the article text/images and ignore the sidebars.
I'm used to seeing these things on the right, so having them on the left would make me notice them more, but they might be more annoying, so it's not a great thing.
Buttons should be big enough that I don't accidentally click on a link or another button trying to click on the button. Not sure about the placement, though. Depends on the portlet layout, I think.
As for books, I know of Don't Make Me Think which is about web usability in general.