First impressions count for the web

According to researchers at a Canadian university it takes one twentieth of a second for a web design to make a lasting impression on an Internet user.

Dr. Gitte Lindgaard and colleagues from Carleton University's Human-Oriented Technology Lab in Ottawa flashed websites for 50 milliseconds and asked study participants to rate them for visual appeal. The study authors later repeated the exercise for a longer viewing period with the same results.

"Visual appeal can be assessed within 50 milliseconds, suggesting that Web designers have to create a design that will make a good impression in about 50 milliseconds,"said the report, published in the journal Behaviour & Information Technology.

Clearly these findings have significant competitive implications for web-based design business.

Obsession with search engine positioning is of little value if the website design does not capture the visitor in that crucial 50 milliseconds.

But 50 milliseconds gives pause for thought –no point in filling a page with copy –unless it can be read in the blink of an eye!

The experience of Realnet clients has shown that the impact of a well-designed page can be dramatic in terms of drawing visitors into the site and to the action page.

In fact the creation of an online solution needs to address all issues with the same amount of care and skill if the visitor is to complete the task the site was created for.

Take a look though our Portfolio to see how attractive web design can work hand in hand with ease of use and high search engine rankings.

Story from BBC News: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/4616700.stm