Web Site Usability: To Blink or To Think, That is the Question!

I don’t know if you have ever read the book entitled “Blink” by Malcolm Gladwell. It is another master piece from the author of “The Tipping Point.” One can extend Gladwell’s books to sociology, business, marketing or even one’s personal life. Gladwell, in his book Blink, implies that the people make a decision in a blink of an eye. He goes even further suggesting even after getting all the details, people tend to make the same decisions they made in a flash. They just treat the details as supporting elements for their impulse decision.

Interesting enough, recently, I was reading an article (for details visit here) that supports Mr. Gladwell’s idea in the web environment. The study shows that the brain can make flash judgments almost as fast as a blink of an eye, in about 50 milliseconds. This shows that we, as marketers, do not have much time to impress our visitors. So, it is very important that the site design be appealing enough to grab the attention of the visitors right away. The headlines, features and call to actions on the site should also be prominent and relevant enough to help visitors find what they are looking for and know what steps to take next in a blink.

As a response to Blink, Michael LeGault, wrote a book entitled “Think!: Why Crucial Decisions Can’t be Made in a Blink of an Eye.” He also has a point here! If we want to put his ideas in work in the web environment, we can conclude that in case of products and services that need higher level of commitment from visitors, it is important to provide them with enough information to help them decide the product/service fits their needs.

So, from the website usability point of view, it is important that visitors understand the web page’s objectives and are given clear trails to follow. Trails that lead visitors to their needs and the business to its objectives.

Filed Under: Web Analytics