{"id":30883,"date":"2009-12-07T15:07:22","date_gmt":"2009-12-07T15:07:22","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.corporate-eye.com\/blog\/?p=30883"},"modified":"2009-12-02T15:09:41","modified_gmt":"2009-12-02T15:09:41","slug":"website-impressions-faster","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.corporate-eye.com\/main\/website-impressions-faster\/","title":{"rendered":"Website Impressions: Faster than a . . ."},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Umpqua\"<\/a><\/div>\n

Looking for some insights into website design, I found myself time-traveling back to 2005.\u00a0 That was the year two well-publicized studies appeared: one on first impressions, the other on gender preferences.\u00a0 Although there have probably been some shifts in the meantime\u2014as more people (and especially more women) have spent more time on more websites\u2014the basic findings of these two studies almost surely continue to offer useful information.<\/p>\n

First: <\/strong>The Human Oriented Technology (HOT) lab at Canada\u2019s Carleton University found that people made their judgments about a site in 50 milliseconds\u2014and those judgments did not change much with extended viewing.\u00a0 (Here\u2019s a BBC summary of the HOT study<\/a>.)<\/p>\n

Obviously that instantaneous impression is created by the graphic design, not by usefulness of content or ease of navigation.\u00a0 It turns out, however, that the initial pre-cognitive response creates a \u201chalo effect\u201d which carries over into the visitor\u2019s perceptions about everything else on the site.\u00a0 So a positive first impression creates positive expectations\u2014and since people like to be right, they tend to continue reinforcing their own opinions.<\/p>\n

The HOT study does not provide details about just what attracted\/repulsed test subjects.\u00a0 When viewers spent a longer time looking at the sites, they were asked to rate on broad categories such as \u201cinteresting\/boring\u201d and \u201cgood design\/bad design.\u201d \u00a0So the major takeaway from this study is . . . whatever<\/em> you do, it had better work really fast.<\/p>\n

Second: <\/strong>A study at the University of Glamorgan found significant differences in site design preferences between women and men.\u00a0 (Here\u2019s a BBC summary of the Glamorgan study<\/a> and here\u2019s the more detailed Glamorgan account<\/a>.)\u00a0 Generally, men preferred straight lines and formal language, while women liked rounded shapes, more color, and informal language.\u00a0 That in itself may not seem too surprising, but the study also found something we might not have anticipated.\u00a0 When asked to evaluate the websites of more than thirty websites from higher education institutions, the male test subjects preferred sites designed by men, and the women preferred sites designed by women.<\/p>\n

Problem?\u00a0 Most of the websites (92%) were designed along the \u201cmasculine appeal\u201d lines by male web designers.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s important to note that the websites evaluated in the study were academic institutions\u2014which typically have the need to attract people of both<\/em> genders.\u00a0 And in that, they are very like the corporate Careers site.<\/p>\n

Once I started thinking about this, I realized that a substantial majority of the Careers sites I visit are arranged on a straight-line grid, with a limited palette and a fairly formal approach to language.\u00a0 Put another way:\u00a0 they are designed to appeal to men.\u00a0 And that may be why I (not a man) find so few that really appeal to me.<\/p>\n

For example . . . this probably accounts for why I especially like the Umpqua Bank<\/a> site.\u00a0 It is very slightly feminine.\u00a0 Not, I think, in a way that would offend men, but there is a bit of curviness (subtly placed in the background pattern) and the design is more colorful and less formal than the majority of sites.<\/p>\n

Obviously, what\u2019s wanted is balance.\u00a0 So consider whether the landing page for your company\u2019s Careers site offers visual elements that appeal to women as well as men\u2014in one-twentieth of a second.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Looking for some insights into website design, I found myself time-traveling back to 2005.\u00a0 That was the year two well-publicized studies appeared: one on first impressions, the other on gender preferences.\u00a0 Although there have probably been some shifts in the meantime\u2014as more people (and especially more women) have spent more time on more websites\u2014the basic […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[9,25],"tags":[41,332],"class_list":{"0":"post-30883","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-best-practices","7":"category-careers","8":"tag-corporate-website","9":"tag-website-design","10":"entry"},"yoast_head":"\nWebsite Impressions: Faster than a . . . - Corporate Eye<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.corporate-eye.com\/main\/website-impressions-faster\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Website Impressions: Faster than a . . . - Corporate Eye\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Looking for some insights into website design, I found myself time-traveling back to 2005.\u00a0 That was the year two well-publicized studies appeared: one on first impressions, the other on gender preferences.\u00a0 Although there have probably been some shifts in the meantime\u2014as more people (and especially more women) have spent more time on more websites\u2014the basic […]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.corporate-eye.com\/main\/website-impressions-faster\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Corporate Eye\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2009-12-07T15:07:22+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.corporate-eye.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/11\/Umpqua-299x158.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Cynthia Giles\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@lucynixon\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@lucynixon\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Cynthia Giles\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.corporate-eye.com\/main\/website-impressions-faster\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.corporate-eye.com\/main\/website-impressions-faster\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Cynthia Giles\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.corporate-eye.com\/main\/#\/schema\/person\/58241bb9b531d4ce4e6bea1e86f915a1\"},\"headline\":\"Website Impressions: Faster than a . . .\",\"datePublished\":\"2009-12-07T15:07:22+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.corporate-eye.com\/main\/website-impressions-faster\/\"},\"wordCount\":552,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.corporate-eye.com\/main\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.corporate-eye.com\/main\/website-impressions-faster\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.corporate-eye.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/11\/Umpqua-299x158.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"corporate website\",\"website design\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Best Practices\",\"Careers\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.corporate-eye.com\/main\/website-impressions-faster\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.corporate-eye.com\/main\/website-impressions-faster\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.corporate-eye.com\/main\/website-impressions-faster\/\",\"name\":\"Website Impressions: Faster than a . . . - Corporate Eye\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.corporate-eye.com\/main\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.corporate-eye.com\/main\/website-impressions-faster\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.corporate-eye.com\/main\/website-impressions-faster\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.corporate-eye.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/11\/Umpqua-299x158.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2009-12-07T15:07:22+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.corporate-eye.com\/main\/website-impressions-faster\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.corporate-eye.com\/main\/website-impressions-faster\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.corporate-eye.com\/main\/website-impressions-faster\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.corporate-eye.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/11\/Umpqua.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.corporate-eye.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/11\/Umpqua.jpg\",\"width\":1109,\"height\":585},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.corporate-eye.com\/main\/website-impressions-faster\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.corporate-eye.com\/main\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Website Impressions: Faster than a . . .\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.corporate-eye.com\/main\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.corporate-eye.com\/main\/\",\"name\":\"Corporate Eye\",\"description\":\"...compare, compete, excel\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.corporate-eye.com\/main\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.corporate-eye.com\/main\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.corporate-eye.com\/main\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Corporate Eye\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.corporate-eye.com\/main\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.corporate-eye.com\/main\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.corporate-eye.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/corporate-eye-logo.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.corporate-eye.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/corporate-eye-logo.png\",\"width\":283,\"height\":42,\"caption\":\"Corporate Eye\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.corporate-eye.com\/main\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/x.com\/lucynixon\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.corporate-eye.com\/main\/#\/schema\/person\/58241bb9b531d4ce4e6bea1e86f915a1\",\"name\":\"Cynthia Giles\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.corporate-eye.com\/main\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/00b4c2d781f5c3112f4bdd0ed82e6e42e943bd02b01a6cac8ea479bb1abecb50?s=96&d=identicon&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/00b4c2d781f5c3112f4bdd0ed82e6e42e943bd02b01a6cac8ea479bb1abecb50?s=96&d=identicon&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Cynthia Giles\"},\"description\":\"Cynthia Giles has followed a serpentine career path from academia to publishing to marketing and design to information technology and corporate communications. There\u2019s plenty of detail about this journey at www.cynthiagiles.com, but briefly--the common theme has been ideas, and how to present them effectively. Along the way, she became an accidental expert on data warehousing and business intelligence, and for the past ten years she has combined corporate contracting with an independent consulting practice that focuses on marketing strategy for smaller businesses and non-profits. Having spent quite a bit of time looking for work, and anywhere from two weeks to two years inside a wide variety of American companies\u2014she has given much thought to what works (and what doesn\u2019t) when it comes to creating a great employment fit.\",\"sameAs\":[\"http:\/\/www.cynthiagiles.com\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.corporate-eye.com\/main\/author\/cynthia\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Website Impressions: Faster than a . . . - Corporate Eye","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.corporate-eye.com\/main\/website-impressions-faster\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Website Impressions: Faster than a . . . - Corporate Eye","og_description":"Looking for some insights into website design, I found myself time-traveling back to 2005.\u00a0 That was the year two well-publicized studies appeared: one on first impressions, the other on gender preferences.\u00a0 Although there have probably been some shifts in the meantime\u2014as more people (and especially more women) have spent more time on more websites\u2014the basic […]","og_url":"https:\/\/www.corporate-eye.com\/main\/website-impressions-faster\/","og_site_name":"Corporate Eye","article_published_time":"2009-12-07T15:07:22+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"https:\/\/www.corporate-eye.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/11\/Umpqua-299x158.jpg","type":"","width":"","height":""}],"author":"Cynthia Giles","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@lucynixon","twitter_site":"@lucynixon","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Cynthia Giles","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.corporate-eye.com\/main\/website-impressions-faster\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.corporate-eye.com\/main\/website-impressions-faster\/"},"author":{"name":"Cynthia Giles","@id":"https:\/\/www.corporate-eye.com\/main\/#\/schema\/person\/58241bb9b531d4ce4e6bea1e86f915a1"},"headline":"Website Impressions: Faster than a . . .","datePublished":"2009-12-07T15:07:22+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.corporate-eye.com\/main\/website-impressions-faster\/"},"wordCount":552,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.corporate-eye.com\/main\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.corporate-eye.com\/main\/website-impressions-faster\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.corporate-eye.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/11\/Umpqua-299x158.jpg","keywords":["corporate website","website design"],"articleSection":["Best Practices","Careers"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/www.corporate-eye.com\/main\/website-impressions-faster\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.corporate-eye.com\/main\/website-impressions-faster\/","url":"https:\/\/www.corporate-eye.com\/main\/website-impressions-faster\/","name":"Website Impressions: Faster than a . . . - Corporate Eye","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.corporate-eye.com\/main\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.corporate-eye.com\/main\/website-impressions-faster\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.corporate-eye.com\/main\/website-impressions-faster\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.corporate-eye.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/11\/Umpqua-299x158.jpg","datePublished":"2009-12-07T15:07:22+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.corporate-eye.com\/main\/website-impressions-faster\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.corporate-eye.com\/main\/website-impressions-faster\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.corporate-eye.com\/main\/website-impressions-faster\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.corporate-eye.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/11\/Umpqua.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.corporate-eye.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/11\/Umpqua.jpg","width":1109,"height":585},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.corporate-eye.com\/main\/website-impressions-faster\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.corporate-eye.com\/main\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Website Impressions: Faster than a . . ."}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.corporate-eye.com\/main\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.corporate-eye.com\/main\/","name":"Corporate Eye","description":"...compare, compete, excel","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.corporate-eye.com\/main\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.corporate-eye.com\/main\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/www.corporate-eye.com\/main\/#organization","name":"Corporate Eye","url":"https:\/\/www.corporate-eye.com\/main\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.corporate-eye.com\/main\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.corporate-eye.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/corporate-eye-logo.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.corporate-eye.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/corporate-eye-logo.png","width":283,"height":42,"caption":"Corporate Eye"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.corporate-eye.com\/main\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/x.com\/lucynixon"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.corporate-eye.com\/main\/#\/schema\/person\/58241bb9b531d4ce4e6bea1e86f915a1","name":"Cynthia Giles","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.corporate-eye.com\/main\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/00b4c2d781f5c3112f4bdd0ed82e6e42e943bd02b01a6cac8ea479bb1abecb50?s=96&d=identicon&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/00b4c2d781f5c3112f4bdd0ed82e6e42e943bd02b01a6cac8ea479bb1abecb50?s=96&d=identicon&r=g","caption":"Cynthia Giles"},"description":"Cynthia Giles has followed a serpentine career path from academia to publishing to marketing and design to information technology and corporate communications. There\u2019s plenty of detail about this journey at www.cynthiagiles.com, but briefly--the common theme has been ideas, and how to present them effectively. Along the way, she became an accidental expert on data warehousing and business intelligence, and for the past ten years she has combined corporate contracting with an independent consulting practice that focuses on marketing strategy for smaller businesses and non-profits. Having spent quite a bit of time looking for work, and anywhere from two weeks to two years inside a wide variety of American companies\u2014she has given much thought to what works (and what doesn\u2019t) when it comes to creating a great employment fit.","sameAs":["http:\/\/www.cynthiagiles.com"],"url":"https:\/\/www.corporate-eye.com\/main\/author\/cynthia\/"}]}},"modified_by":"Lucy Nixon","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.corporate-eye.com\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30883","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.corporate-eye.com\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.corporate-eye.com\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.corporate-eye.com\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.corporate-eye.com\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=30883"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.corporate-eye.com\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30883\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":31083,"href":"https:\/\/www.corporate-eye.com\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30883\/revisions\/31083"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.corporate-eye.com\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=30883"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.corporate-eye.com\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=30883"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.corporate-eye.com\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=30883"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}