Every now and again, I hear someone say something like “no Emmanuel, the site doesn’t need to look good, it just needs to be easy to use”. I have seen very few sites that are, probably, able to get away with such a crime – top on my list, ironically is usability guru Jakob Nielsen’s Useit.com (you’re still the best, J).
People who say this lose sight of the fact that a Web site really is a piece of marketing tool (a big, online display ad, if you like). In this Web 2.0 age of savvy users, people (users) do judge the book by its cover. When someone lands on a site’s home page for the first time, they form their initial impression by the general look and feel. Even though they are not looking, yet they see images, colours, and in many cases are subconsciously already beginning to decide whether they want to be here or not.
These days, branding is one of the key contributing factors to customer loyalty, and indeed user loyalty. I once worked for an employer who had strong, fantastic, sticky and aesthetically pleasing offline brand experiences. It was (and is still) hugely successful in this regard. However, this organisation has a disparately (un)branded Web site, and you couldn’t help but feel a disconnect between its physical and virtual presences.
The thing about visual design & ease of use is that they go hand-in-hand. It can be dangerous to have one without the other. It’s the right mix of stimulation for the left brain (logic) and the right brain (art).
I believe that serving pages and experiences that are readable and usable needs to be made easier by being easy on the eyes, which in turn becomes appealing to the senses. Even though the user is not looking for these things, they do notice when they are missing. Taking a cue from product design, and the iPhone in particular: Sleek + Usable = Loved by user. For the same reasons why ads are meant to be appealing in their visual presentation – so are web experiences. A compelling design can be key to turning an easy user experience to a memorable one. Underline memorable – it creates stickiness, and keeps the user coming back.
An interesting article. It is so common that a company spends too many resources on the aesthetics of a website and neglects the usability. I was aware that Useit.com had usability without aesthetics, but assumed that it was a one-off.
Interesting to think that in some companies the argument needs to be made to spend more on aesthetics and less on features and usability.