The Present is a point just passed – David Russell
Numerous people are talking about the Canadan research which claims to show that Internet users make their mind up in the blink of an eye whether they like a website or not.
It’s true to some degrees I suppose. If I don’t see an RSS icon appear in the address bar of my Internet browser (Safari for Macs), I typically don’t return.
I wonder do many companies bother to look at their website statistics or are they happy with the fact that they think their site looks pretty?
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5 Responses to “Blink and you’ll miss it”
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“If I don’t see an RSS icon appear in the address bar of my Internet browser I typically don’t return.” Couldn’t agree more.
Depends how that company use their site. If it’s, say, a regional PR consultancy’s website, then I don’t think they’ll be too concerned with how many people in the US visits. It’s used more as a promotional purpose. But if it’s an ecommerce site then I think statistics will have more meaning.
Even with blogs, a lot of people say the design is unimportant as it’s all about the content. True it is about the content but there’s no harm in having it appealing to the eye also.
I’d put navigation above design, but that obviously ranks high as well.
I’m not sure I’d put one above the other. A website that’s easy to navigate but has luminous green links on a bright pink background with all the text on one side of the page would be grim enough to visit. And going to a site designed by Armani isn’t much use if you can’t find the ‘home’ button, or, if I win the Euro Millions on Friday, the ‘add to trolley’ button.
We’re in the process of reviewing our website, which I think has navigation and design reasonably well covered (always room for improvement) but is severely lacking in content. Hopefully we’ll have a new content management system in place soon, and we can start trying to use our website effectively.
Good point Tom – the immediate impression created by the design, if favourable, has to immediately lead into a navigation structure that is simple, end user focused and intuitive.
There are a lot of sites that I have browsed to and left immediately because their visual design was awful – and a number of others where an attempt to find what I wanted was slow and/or difficult.
Effective design is a multi-disciplinary art-form!
keith
When I say I’d put one ahead of the other, I only mean that it’s what would get me to come back to a site on a regular basis. Its personal preference because I do most of my browsing via my RSS reader Pulp Fiction.
Definitely agree with you guys when talking about websites in general. Content though is key for me as you said Tom.
Things like usability are going to become bigger issues as people begin to understand websites a little better. Developers are charging a fortune for poor sites and don’t even bother with analytic packages to show how people are using the site, let alone how many visit it.
Content management systems are great for the lay person, I had one installed at work and I’m already seeing the returns. It’s easy to maange and a fraction of the cost of what was originally envisaged. good bless Macromedia Contribute and WordPress