50 milliseconds to make a good first impression: Lindgaard, Fernandes, Dudek and Brown

50 milliseconds is not an amount of time I can conceptualize, but according to the three phase study study conducted by Lindgaard, Fernandes, Dudek and Brown at Carleton University, it is long enough for an average website viewer to form an accurate and lasting opinion. The "halo effect" or importance of first impression in determining subsequent judgements of a person, experience or object, suggests these split-second reactions permanently color the way a user views a website. The authors discuss the speed of emotional versus "rational" responses in humans. Since emotional reactions are triggered much faster than rational reactions, it is possible to assume that first impressions are physiological, rather than cognitive. The scope of the study didn't permit the authors to determine what elements of websites contribute to positive first impressions, but it is pretty safe to assume that it is worth finding out...

One part of this study that particularly intrigues me is the idea that perception can be more important than "reality"...Lindgaard writes, "...objects in the world may not necessarily be defined by their objective identity: what matters is how they are perceived." In the context of web design, I guess this goes some distance toward collapsing the dialectic of "form vs. content." Effectively, a website IS how it APPEARS...

I am in the very beginning stages of trying to put together a basic template for my sememster project, and these findings makes me really consider the differences in writing a paper and putting together a website. I am so used to the linear format of paper-writing, where it is worthwhile to painstakingly craft sentences and artfully select adjectives. In website creation, if care isn't taken to create a good first impression, no one will ever read any sentence, painstakingly crafted or otherwise....