Given my recent ramblage about Jakob Neilsen's Alertbox, what should arrive in my inbox today, but the latest Alertbox newsletter:
Celebrating Holidays and Special Occasions on WebsitesI was all set to diss Jakob for channeling Martha Stewart until I decided to actually read the article. It makes some good points.
Summary: Even small holiday decorations can increase joy of use and make websites feel more current and more connected to users' lives and physical environment. The key is to commemorate without detracting from your users' main reasons for visiting the site.
One can't help but notice that Herr Jakob's site is currently without holiday-themed adornment. Perhaps because, for Jakob, every day is Halloween.
[Addendum (29 October 2002): The holiday piece gets a right drubbing on IA Slash.]