Blink!
October 10 2006
by Jake Liddell
The study is interesting - volunteers were shown images of different websites, and then asked for their opinions on the site. The first viewing was for 50 milliseconds, and the second was for much longer. The conclusion was that there was very little difference between the two sets of ratings - users had already made up their minds, and their opinions weren’t changed through longer review.
This research has similar conclusions to another such experiment that I read about recently, in Malcolm Gladwell’s book, “Blink!”. Here students were asked to view five second shots of university lecturers, and then provide their opinion of what the people were like. They were asked the same questions again after several weeks of being taught by the lecturers. Guess what? No real change to the results.
We really do need to make those first impressions count. It’s this knowledge that is behind FourHats’ emphasis on good design. It’s really no matter that we know all about the other important aspects of internet selling, like good architecture, great hosting, accessibility, reliable e-commerce, regulatory requirements, etc, etc. All this stuff is key to a good site, but not if, in those first few seconds, your users decide “No thanks!”. A great site is more than great design, but without great design, you’re nowhere.
Why not give the blink test a go when you’re browsing round the internet. Do a two-second glance at a new site. Do you like what you see?
For an old, but interesting article on what we look at first, and how we read web pages, check out http://www.poynterextra.org/eyetrack2004/main.htm.