Detailing the Importance of Web Imagery and Presentation
In 2006, Dr. Gitte Lindgaard and his research team from Carlton University in Ontario concluded that website designers only have as little as 50 milliseconds (1/20th of a second) to grab the attention of potential customers. In designing a website, functionality only comes into play after the user’s first impression of the design takes over the center stage. A user only needs a few seconds to assess your website design and if he is not impressed, he is most likely to leave for a better looking rival company website. On the other hand, if your website was able to catch his attention, then the countdown to acquiring a new customer just started.
Visual appeal is considered an indispensable factor in the process of web design. According to Dr. Lindgaard, a viewer’s first emotional impression on a website leads to a string of judgments that would involve the website’s usability and credibility, a concept also referred to as the “halo effect”:
“…the strong impact of the visual appeal of the site seemed to draw attention away from usability problems. This suggests that aesthetics, or visual appeal, may be detected first and that these could influence how users judge subsequent experience…. Hence, even if a website is highly usable and provides very useful information presented in a logical arrangement, this may fail to impress a user whose first impression of the site was negative.”
The laws of evolution apply even – especially - in the internet. It is the survival of the fittest. Websites that the users do not find appealing could get easily lost in the shuffle. Considering the overwhelming amount of rivals you have, you cannot afford to have a cluttered and unpleasant looking website that would not inspire confidence to your company. With so many design strategies emerging year after year, web designers should make it a point to keep abreast and know what would work best on target users. You should be able to identify with your target viewer and visualize his expectations for you to meet them. For instance, if you are selling extreme sports equipment, stay away from pastel colors and feminine fonts. A website could be attractive but if the design does not suit the nature of the business and correspond with the preferences of the target demographic, the design won’t be effective.
Keep a balance of the design elements in your website. The contents should go together, and images should complement with text aspects. If you doubt whether a particular element should be there, be prepared to take it out of the equation unless you find good reason for it to remain. You might have spent too much time and effort on flash animation for your homepage but once it proves to be incompatible with the website theme and other elements, it simply has to go and not compromise the overall quality of your design.
Aesthetics should go hand in hand with usability. Remember, the “halo effect” eventually fades. You cannot focus too much on aesthetics and sacrifice usability in the process. Aesthetics is the key player in grabbing the viewer’s attention but later on, usability will play the crucial role in holding the viewer’s interest. No matter how impressed the user is by the website design, he wouldn’t remain there if he cannot understand the way it works. Plan and align your web design and content carefully to make the relationship between aesthetics and usability effective.
Keep in mind the three main principles of effective visual communication – organize, economize, communicate.
- Organize – Provide the user with a distinct and reliable conceptual structure. A good grid structure makes it easier for one to recognize menus, dialogue boxes, and control panels, and also makes the screen layout look less cluttered. Establish the relationships between the elements of your website and group the similar ones together. Do not make it difficult for the user to navigate or move around your website.
- Economize – There are four major points to be considered: simplicity, clarity, distinctiveness, and emphasis. Do not overwhelm the users with excessive graphic and textual content and find a way to draw attention to the most important points. The users should also be able to recognize all the components and their individual properties.
- Communicate – Consider the user’s capabilities. The text must look refined and readable. Demonstrate consistency by making sure a group of similar elements have the same general appearance. Skilled manipulation of color will aid you in emphasizing important areas and enhancing the desired ambiance of your website.
A viewer reacts to a website in two different ways – emotionally and analytically. The website design, more likely to appeal to the user’s emotions, should be impressive enough for the viewer to be willing to go to the next stage of response, which would be more focused on cognitive thought. Do not take for granted the viewer’s emotional reaction to a website - it must be favorable or the rest of his judgments, even analytical, will be influenced negatively. Impressing the viewer with your website design might be the first step but it is still crucial especially if converting a viewer into a customer is your priority.
Somni Creative, Inc., rich media marketing professionals from Los Angeles, California, specialize in providing online customer conversion services. We value our customers, both old and new. We welcome the challenge of getting you ahead in the corporate race. Call us at (310) 6973199 or visit www.somnicreative.com.
References:
Smashing Magazine - Web Design Trends For 2009
Smashing Magazine - More Web Design Trends For 2009
Webcredible - Website Aesthetics
Importance of Visual Images in Lectures: Case Study on Tourism Management Students
WebSiteOptimization.Com - First Impressions Count in Web Design
Effective Visual Communication for Graphical User Interfaces