http://socket7.net Crisis Averted! A weblog by Brett Stimmerman. brettstimmerman@gmail.com (Brett Stimmerman) brettstimmerman@gmail.com (Brett Stimmerman) http://backend.userland.com/rss 60 http://socket7.net/article/think-fast-making-first-impressions-on-the-web <p><P>The case for creating visually appealing and usable web sites (and applications) now has more ammunition. <A href="http://www.nature.com/news/2006/060109/full/060109-13.html" title="Web users judge sites in the blink of an eye">An article</A> on nature.com reveals a university study suggesting evidence that web users make their first impressions much more quickly than one might expect.</P></p> <p><BLOCKQUOTE> We all know that first impressions count, but this study shows that the brain can make flash judgements almost as fast as the eye can take in the information. ... [Researchers] found that impressions were made in the first 50 milliseconds of viewing. </BLOCKQUOTE></p> <p><P>Fifty milliseconds is incredibly fast. One twentieth of a second is a single frame of 20fps video, or roughly half the time it takes to blink.</P></p> <p><P>The article goes on to suggest that overall simplicity, a trend borne of the the Web Standards movement, is a crucial step towards making a lasting impression:</P></p> <p><BLOCKQUOTE> These days, enlightened web users want to see a "puritan" approach ... It's about getting information across in the quickest, simplest way possible. </BLOCKQUOTE></p> <p><P>This is hard evidence that we as web designers and developers must create a good, lasting first impression, or we are not doing our job.</P></p> design information usability web standards http://socket7.net/article/think-fast-making-first-impressions-on-the-web#comments http://socket7.net/article/think-fast-making-first-impressions-on-the-web Sat, 14 Jan 2006 11:37:00 -0800