First Impressions and Scanability

In support of the information studied so far in Chapters 1 and 2, I discovered an article that talks about two VERY important things to consider in web design - First Impressions and Scanability.

http://www.uie.com/articles/communicate_quick/

First Impressions

Of course a web site needs to be well organized, but first impressions are everything. According to this article, the user will decide within 2 to 3 seconds if they are going to stay on the page or click away. Too much information and chaos will NOT encourage the user to stay to continue reading.

Scanability

The user needs to quickly be able to determine if the information they are trying to find is contained on the page. In approxiamtely 10 seconds, the user will decide whether or not the page will be useful to them.

As explained in this article, one of three things happens when a user lands on a web page:

• A person looks over the page and determines it is not relevant to their goals.
• A person looks over the page and determines it might be relevant to their goals then quickly scans the page for the information they need.
• A person looks over, then quickly scans the page, finds the information they need, and stays awhile.

Article Link:
http://www.uie.com/articles/communicate_quick/