I was pondering recently how quickly I form an impression of a company or service the first time I visit a website. I attended a session a short time back where a number of site designs were flashed in front of the audience for around half a second each. I had a distinct opinion on the sites that I trusted, and how I felt about the companies purely based on exposure to the design for a very short space of time.
You frequently hear people talking about how good design is about communication, not decoration, but you only get a strong feel for this when you actually pay attention to your own behaviour on exposure to a new design.
I looked at a number of sites recently and realised that I very rapidly come to trust or reject a company based on how I ‘feel’ about them. This is usually a snap judgement made on a subconscious level within the first couple of seconds of seeing the site.
I can come away with a radically different opinion of a company purely based on the design of their site. I think it’s fascinating how all of the small decisions that you make with a design all convey a message and contribute to the first impression that people form.
I think a lot of the craft involved is not so much coming up with a good design, but one that conveys the right message when people make their snapshot judgement.
Incidentally, there is a very interesting book called Blink all about how we make these kind of rapid assessments when exposed to new information.
