make it easy and they will come, or use what already works well

I guess that this could be a chicken before the egg kind of conversation, but what is more important?
An easy to use site or something that they are familiar with.
Qn - can it be both?
My 2o cents (inflation): look at what the users are comfortable with and thn stretch the boundaries a little over time tweeking and enhancing.
Unless the website is suppose to be a bit moe future oriented, don't do gimicks as they are just not enjoyed by real world users to a site.