Does the design matter?

I recently found a youtube video that asked a series of internet users "Does the quality of an organisation's Web site impact your perception of that organisation?”  The video shows a montage of users (it is a US video) being asked the question and their answers were all very clear – Yes.

Professionally designed websites look different – they look credible and believable. It is pretty clear when a company or brand has skimped on the quality of its design. 

The strategy behind a good website may be scientific in its methodology but the craftsmanship of the visual presentation layer shouldn’t be dismissed just because the infrastructure and architecture of the site is solid. Web designers aren’t obsolete just yet!

Some of the quotes from the video include “if the site is well presented I have more trust in that company”, “If the design is amateur… it reflects poorly on that organisation”.  One user compared a poorly designed site to “a movie with low production values – I am suspicious of it”. The video finishes with “an unprofessional website tells me it’s a hokey company”. No one wants to look like a hokey company!

Another piece of research I found from a Canadian company suggests a user forms an opinion on a website within 50 milliseconds based on visual appeal alone. This may not be the only factor but it is consistently the first one mentioned in user testing.

Visual design is the first element of a positive user experience from the user perspective – what it looks like matters to them and so it should matter to you.

You can watch the video here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w5Ea82xGijw