New Study: Successful Websites Make Their Case in 1/20th of a Second

Time and again, I get myself into conflicts by insisting that design makes or breaks a website. Often, those who disagree with me say things like, "well, we are an information site; our users don't care", or "maybe if we were going after an audience of teeny boppers, I'd agree -- but were aiming for an audience of busy professionals." I always knew they were dead wrong, and their decisions were going to harm the potential success of their websites -- but now I have studies to back up my argument.

I'd always followed the 3 second rule. So the rule goes, you have three seconds to grab someone who has stumbled on your page. Apparently, even the three second rule was overly optimistic. According to a study in Nature, a user's opinion of your website is made within the first twentieth of a second.  The importance of this snap judgement should not be underestimated:

The lasting effect of first impressions is known to psychologists as the 'halo effect': if you can snare people with an attractive design, they are more likely to overlook other minor faults with the site, and may rate its actual content (such as this article, for example) more favourably.

This is because of 'cognitive bias', Lindgaard explains. People enjoy being right, so continuing to use a website that gave a good first impression helps to 'prove' to themselves that they made a good initial decision.

Yep. Design does matter. No matter how great the content, and function of a website, you must aim to hook your users within 1/20th of a second -- or else, no one is going to stick around. Embrace this reality, and make your website a success.